Royal Caribbean is making changes to avoid Hurricane Milton.
UPDATED: October 08, 2024 9:40 AM
The storm is a massive hurricane, expected to reach Category 5 before making landfall in Florida midweek.
In anticipation of the storm, Royal Caribbean has changed the itineraries for eight ships so far to avoid the storm.
The world's largest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, will skip a visit to Royal Caribbean's private island because of the major hurricane.
"In order to steer clear of any adverse weather, we'll need to skip our visit to Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas, and enjoy a Sea Day instead."
The ship was scheduled to go to CocoCay on Friday.
To make up for the change, Icon of the Seas will stay docked in port longer in St. Thomas and St. Kitts until sunset.
Mariner of the Seas is also skipping a port day.
Because Cozumel, Mexico is closed to sea traffic, Mariner of the Seas will remain at sea and enjoy a sea day.
Mariner was sailing from Galveston, Texas on a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise.
Harmony of the Seas, which will leave Galveston, Texas on Sunday, will skip a visit to Roatan, Honduras and visit Costa Maya, Mexico on Wednesday.
In addition, Harmony will enjoy a Sea Day on Day 3, and depart Cozumel, Mexico, at 5:00 PM on Day 5.
Symphony of the Seas is departing from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey on Sunday and will now skip a scheduled visit to Port Canaveral, Florida and replace it with a sea day.
Symphony has also decided to skip visits to Nassau, Bahamas and Perfect Day at CocoCay and head to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and Royal Caribbean's private destination of Labadee.
Another megaship, Wonder of the Seas, had made changes to avoid the widespread effects of Milton.
Wonder will skip a visit to Roatan, Honduras and Costa Maya, Mexico. Instead, Wonder will visit Cozumel on Day 6 and Falmouth, Jamaica.
Utopia of the Seas has re-ordered its itinerary due to the storm.
Utopia will swap the days the ship will visit Nassau, Bahamas and Perfect Day at CocoCay. They will visit CocoCay on Tuesday and then wait to visit Nassau until Thursday.
One of Royal Caribbean's ships sailing from Tampa, Florida is completely changing its itinerary.
Grandeur of the Seas was originally scheduled to offer a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise to Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico. Instead, she will sail to The Bahamas and visit Nassau on Day 4.
Independence of the Seas will skip a scheduled stop in Cozumel and instead go to Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic.
"We’re terribly sorry for the last-minute change caused by the weather – your safety is our top priority. Please know, being onboard is one of the safest places because our ship can quickly move out of the way of any inclement weather," the cruise line said in a statement.
What about other ships?
If you have a cruise on another ship this coming week, expect updates if the occur to be communicated by the cruise line.
Royal Caribbean advised passengers with cruises in the projected path of the storm to keep an eye on their emails.
Given the uncertainty of where exactly the storm will hit, the precise strength, and path, other changes will take a little longer to come to fruition, especially cruises that depart or return to Florida mid-week.
Royal Caribbean employs its own meteorologist to help track storms.
Royal Caribbean Chief Meteorologist Craig Setzer works with cruise ship Captains to determine the best plan when a tropical storm hits.
Milton expected to be a major hurricane
Forecasters believe Milton will wallop the west coast of Florida as a major hurricane.
As of Monday morning, Milton is about 735 miles southwest of Tampa with winds now sustained at 150 mph with a forward motion to the east-southeast at 8 mph.
Most cruises depart on weekends, and the storm should be impacting Florida between Wednesday and Thursday.
The storm is forecast to possibly reach Category 5 before making landfall on the west coast of Florida on Wednesday afternoon.
Models are not in agreement yet which part of Florida will be directly in the path of the storm. But it appears all but certain to be a problem for Central Florida.
Mr. Setzer wrote on X/Twitter, "The cone represents where the center is expected to track 2/3’s of the time. Because the system is still coming together there may be some larger track shifts, especially at days 4 and 5. It’s not impossible but also lot highly likely."
That's part of why Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines may take time to determine further changes to itineraries.
