Cruise Lines Cancel Sailings as Hurricane Ian Forces Port Closures

As Hurricane Ian approaches landfall in Florida, ports along the Western and Eastern coast of the state are shutting down. Among them are three used regularly by the cruise lines: Port Canaveral, Port Tampa Bay and Jaxport (the port of Jacksonville). All three are at or will be at Port Condition Zulu, the U.S. Coast Guard’s highest alert level, by midday today.

In response, cruise lines, including Carnival Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises, are canceling cruises, while Royal Caribbean is delaying a sailing.

Carnival Cruise Line
The September 29 sailings of Carnival Paradise, out of Tampa and Carnival Elation, out of Jacksonville; and the September 30 sailing of Carnival Liberty out of Port Canaveral have been canceled. Booked guests will receive a full refund and a 25% future cruise credit.

Additionally, several other Carnival ships have altered their itineraries in response to Hurricane Ian. Carnival Horizon, which is currrently sailing a six-day cruise that departed Miami on September 25, did not stop at Grand Cayman today and is instead spending the day at sea. Carnival Sunrise, which is currently sailing a five-day itinerary that departed Miami on September 24 did not stop at the Port of Bimini today and is instead spending the day at sea. Similarly, Carnival Liberty, which is currently sailing a four-day itinerary that departed Port Canaveral on September 26, did not stop at Princess Cays today. The ship will attempt to visit Freeport on September 29. 

Disney Cruise Line
The September 30 sailing of Disney Wish out of Port Canaveral has been canceled. Booked guests will receive a full refund back to their original form of payment, along with a 20% future cruise discount, which must be redeemed by October 5, 2022 (for a sail date within 24 months of September 30, 2022).

MSC Cruises
MSC Divina’s three-day sailing out of Port Canaveral on September 29 has been canceled. The current sailing was diverted away from Ocean Cay yesterday to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, where it overnighted. It is tentatively scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on September 30. Guests on the canceled sailing may reschedule their cruise without penalty, accept a future cruise credit or request a full refund. A small subset of the guests booked on the three-day cruise were scheduled to stay onboard for the following seven-night cruise. They have the additional option of accepting a prorated refund for embarking this coming Sunday and sailing only the seven-night portion of the itinerary. 

Norwegian Cruise Line
The September 29 sailing of Norwegian Getaway out of Port Canaveral has been canceled. Booked guests will receive a full refund to their original form of payment, plus a 25% future cruise credit. The FCC will be available as of October 10 and can be used for any sailing departing through December 31, 2023. 

Royal Caribbean
Mariner of the Seas’ September 29 sailing from Port Canaveral has been pushed back one day, with boarding not scheduled to begin on September 30. According to the line, the ship is still scheduled to visit Nassau and Perfect Day at CocoCay, but cautions the “situation remains fluid.”