A new tropical disturbance is brewing, and Royal Caribbean is already moving some of its cruise ships away.
The National Hurricane Center is monitoring an area of low pressure in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, but this system has a low chance of developing over the next week.
So far four different ships have had their itineraries changed as a result of the weather.
The November 2nd sailing of Radiance of the Seas was the first ship to have her scheduled itinerary changed.
The ship was scheduled to originally sail through The Bahamas and visit Bimini and Freeport, Bahamas, along with a visit to Royal Caribbean's private island of Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Passengers received an email notifying them of the change, "Along with our Chief Meteorologist, Craig Setzer, we've been monitoring inclement weather along our intended path due to a developing storm system forecasted to bring increasingly strong winds across the sea, impacting our planned ports and potentially making them unsafe to visit."
As a result, Radiance will head into the Western Caribbean to avoid the path of the storm.
"As a result, we'll be unable to visit the planned ports of call on our itinerary. To provide you with the most enjoyable sailing experience, we'll now visit some of our popular Western Caribbean destinations - Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize and Costa Maya Mexico!"
Radiance will arrive in Cozumel on Monday and sail her revised itinerary, ending the string of port calls on Thursday before heading back to Tampa for her scheduled return on Saturday.
A second ship will also bypass The Bahamas with Vision of the Seas.
Vision is sailing from Baltimore, Maryland and was scheduled to go to Nassau, Bahamas and CocoCay.
Instead, Vision will spend more time in Bermuda and include a visit to Port Canaveral, Florida.
Freedom of the Seas is also getting a change in her planned schedule.
The scheduled November 3rd sailing will have its itinerary flipped around to keep the ship away from the worst weather. The good news is they'll still be able to visit the same set of ports, just on different days.
Instead of visiting Grand Cayman; Falmouth, Jamaica; and Labadee, the new itinerary will be Labadee; Falmouth, Jamaica; and Grand Cayman.
A fourth ship, Brilliance of the Seas is also changing ports of call due to the storm.
The November 2nd sailing from New Orleans originally was scheduled to visit Cozumel, Mexico; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Grand Cayman.
Instead, they will drop a visit to Grand Cayman and visit Belize City, Belize instead.
"We're terribly sorry for the last-minute change caused by the weather - your safety is our top priority," Royal Caribbean said in a letter to guests.
Royal Caribbean's forecast
Royal Caribbean employs its own meteorologist, Craig Setzer, and he posted his thoughts on the storm chances on his X/Twitter page on Saturday morning.
"While uncertainty about exact details remain (how strong, exactly where), combining weather systems over the next several days will impact Florida, The Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, & Caymans with exceptionally windy and stormy periods this week.
"The message from the Euro model is for near tropical storm winds (green area) & higher gusts with passing squalls likely."
"Focus might be on hurricane development potential (which is low at this time), but longer duration tropical storm-like impacts are possible over South Florida/Keys & The Bahamas by early this week, even without a named storm."
Brewing storm
While November is the last month of Hurricane Season, it's not over yet.
While it may not become a tropical storm, there's enough rain and wind to make it undesirable for cruise ships.
The National Hurricane Center is giving this system a slight chance of becoming a tropical depression over the next couple of days.
"Some heavy tropical downpours will affect the northeastern Caribbean islands for the next couple of days as the system tracks to the west," the NHC said. "Next week, it will likely be absorbed by the developing disturbance in the Caribbean."
Another disturbance in the Southwestern Caribbean Sea
A disturbance in the southwestern Caribbean Sea of concern is likely to develop into something.
The NHC expects it to become at least a tropical depression.
As of Saturday morning, the system remained a cluster of disorganized showers and thunderstorms in the southwestern Caribbean Sea. However, the National Hurricane Center expects gradual development over the weekend, with a tropical depression likely to form within the next few days as the system progresses across the central and western Caribbean.
