While it has not fully developed into a hurricane yet, Tropical Storm Helene appears set to follow a path up the Gulf Coast gaining steam as it goes. That puts a number of cruise ships in its path and MSC and Royal Caribbean have already made route changes for some ships.
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The National Hurricane Center has been monitoring the developing storm.
“The system is moving toward the northwest near 9 mph (15 km/h). This general motion is expected later today and tonight (Sept. 24), followed by a faster northward to north-northeastward motion on Wednesday and Thursday. On the forecast track, the center of the system is forecast to move across the northwestern Caribbean Sea through tonight, and then over the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday and Thursday,” it shared.
The federal agency shared that there’s a near certainty the system will develop into a hurricane.
“Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 km/h) with higher gusts. Strengthening is expected during the next few days, and the system is forecast to become a hurricane on Wednesday and continue strengthening on Thursday as it moves across the eastern Gulf of Mexico,” it added.
MSC and Royal Caribbean change itineraries
“A developing tropical system in the western Caribbean is prompting cruise lines to adjust itineraries. Now MSC Cruises has already changed the route of MSC Seascape to avoid the storm’s potential path originally set for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel,” shared Doug Parker on his popular Cruise News Today YouTube series. “The ship will now stop in Grand Turk, Porta Plata, and Nassau with an additional day at sea.
Carnival Cruise Lines, he added said that their fleet operations center is monitoring the information and “is tracking the storm and working with their captains and bridge teams for any necessary action.”
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Margaritaville at Sea has not commented on any changes to its MAS Islander sailings, which sails out of Tampa, but it’s likely that ship could be impacted by the storm.
Royal Caribbean has already changed itineraries for two of its ships Wonder of the Seas and
“Captain has just announced that we will be canceling all current stops on the Western route to go to the East route. We will be going to St. Thomas and St. Maarten,” shared one Wonder of the Seas passenger to the Royal Caribbean Blog.
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Serenade of the Seas will also swap out its itinerary.
“Just like Wonder, Serenade will swap out her original Western Caribbean itinerary for something else. In this case, the ship will head to The Bahamas,” the blog, which is not affiliated with the cruise line, reported.
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