Carnival cruise altered due to tropical storm

The Carnival Conquest revised its eight-day cruise because of Tropical Storm Erika.

The ship calls in
Grand Turk today instead of St. Kitts, is at sea tomorrow instead of docking in San Juan,
stops in Nassau on Friday instead of Grand Turk, is at sea on Saturday and
returns on schedule to Fort Lauderdale on Aug. 31.

Royal Caribbean is monitoring the situation, but no
itinerary changes have been announced.

Airlines have waived
cancellation and change fees through Aug. 28 for flights to St. Maarten, St.
Croix, St. Thomas and airports in Puerto Rico.

Regional Caribbean carrier LIAT said that all
flights in and out of Dominica have been canceled until further notice, due to
serious flooding of the runway, where eight inches of rain fell in six hours.

Four people died in Dominica due to heavy rains
and mudslides.

The carrier canceled 16 flights today in the
eastern Caribbean.

Tropical storm Erika is battering the Leeward
Islands today and is on a track toward the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico
later tonight.

Erika is forecast to turn west-northwest later
today, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm has intensified
slightly with 50 mph winds and was 30 miles southeast of Antigua early Thursday.
Later the storm will pass over the Leeward Islands, travel near the Virgin Islands
and pass north of the Dominican Republic by Friday. 

A tropical storm watch is in effect for the
southeastern Bahamas, and much of the Caribbean is under a tropical storm
warning.