Hurricane Debby Closes Tampa Port, Causes Multiple Cruise Changes

Several cruise lines have had to make changes to in-progress and future sailings thanks to Hurricane Debby, which forced the closure of Port Tampa Bay on Sunday. The port remains closed pending an assessment by the Coast Guard.

At 8am local time today, Hurricane Debby was already over Florida moving in a north-northeast direction. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 75 mph, and the storm is expected to weaken as it moves over land throughout the day and into tonight. Tropical storm conditions will continue over areas along the Florida Gulf coast through the morning, and begin along portions of the Atlantic coast by this evening.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Paradise, which was scheduled to arrive back to Tampa earlier this morning remains out to sea. There is currently no projected arrival time for the ship, as an assessment of the port will need to be made before the vessel is permitted back. Guests booked for the next sailing, scheduled to depart today, have been alerted their cruise will now depart on Tuesday, for a five-day cruise rather than a six-day sailing.

Carnival Elation, which was scheduled to depart Jacksonville today on a five-day sailing, instead departed yesterday to avoid the storm.

Margaritaville at Sea

Margaritaville at Sea Islander was due back to the Port of Tampa Bay on Sunday, but remains out at sea while the port is closed. The ship’s return to port will be further delayed until Tuesday, Aug. 6. The Islander’s next sailing, which should have departed yesterday, will now depart on Tuesday, Aug. 6. Because the next sailing will be a day shorter, the ship will no longer call at Key West as originally scheduled.

Royal Caribbean

Symphony of the Seas skipped its scheduled stop at Port Canaveral on Sunday, opting for a day at sea instead. The ship is in the midst of a week-long Bahamas cruise that left Bayonne on Friday.

Vision of the Seas can canceled its overnight in Bermuda originally scheduled for tonight, and will instead depart today.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Sky also altered its itinerary, skipping a scheduled port of call to Key West on Saturday, and stopping at Nassau instead of Great Stirrup Cay on Sunday.