Impact of Hurricane Francine: Airlines and Cruise Ships Affected

It’s official—Francine, the storm gathering in the Gulf of Mexico over the past couple of days, is now a hurricane and is headed toward Louisiana.

Hurricane Francine is likely to make landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday afternoon or evening, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The storm will then move northward into the Mississippi Wednesday night and Thursday.

Currently, the storm is producing winds of nearly 75 mph, but as it moves north and strengthens, that number is expected to go up before Francine makes landfall. The NHC has a Hurricane Warning in effect for the Louisiana coast from Cameron eastward to Grand Isle. New Orleans is north of Grand Isle, just about 100 miles inland.

Flight changes

Airline waivers are already out and are continuing to be updated—Air Canada, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, Southwest, and United have all issued change fee waivers for airports in the area.

Flight changes are also piling up at area airports. According to FlightAware, here is the situation in area airports as of 10 a.m. EST on Wednesday:

• New Orleans International (MSY): 59% of all departures canceled.
• Houston Bush International (IAH): 4% of all departures canceled (27 flights total).
• Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW): 16 departures, which is just 1% of its schedule, are canceled.
• Baton Rouge Metro (BTR): 63% of all departures are canceled.
• Lafayette Regional/Paul Fournet Field (LFT): 47% of all departures are canceled.

Cruise ship changes

Carnival Cruise Line has two cruise ships in the area. Carnival Liberty left Port of New Orleans on Sunday, headed on a seven-night Western Caribbean itinerary. Carnival Valor, currently on a five-day Western Caribbean sailing of its own, is scheduled to come into Port of New Orleans on Thursday.

As of Monday evening, there have been no changes to either itinerary, but a Carnival spokesperson told TMR that it is actively monitoring the storm and is alerting guests on the Sept. 12 Valor cruise via text (guests can sign up for alerts by texting CCL1 to CRUISE (278473)).

“As the safety of our guests and crew is our priority, we will continue to monitor the storm, factor in guidance from the National Hurricane Center, U.S. Coast Guard, and the local port authorities to provide timely updates as more information becomes available,” Carnival said.

The Port of Galveston was closed by the U.S. Coast Guard on Monday evening and is not expected to reopen until the storm passes overnight Tuesday. The next ships scheduled to enter the port are both from Royal Caribbean—Mariner of the Seas on Sept. 12 and Harmony of the Seas on Sept. 14.

TMR has reached out to Royal Caribbean for news about any changes for either ship.