Nearly 15000 cruisers stranded on ships in the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricane Harvey

Cruisers on three Carnival Cruise Line ships and one Royal Caribbean International vessel are likely to be stuck in the Gulf of Mexico most of the weekend as Hurricane Harvey barrels toward Texas.

Nearly 15,000 travelers are sailing on the four ships, all of which are scheduled to stop in the Port of Galveston this weekend. But the port closed earlier in the week in advance of the Category 3 storm’s arrival and it’s unclear when it will reopen.

Carnival Freedom and Carnival Valor will stop in New Orleans, Louisiana Saturday to replenish fuel, water and food supplies.

As a result, the Carnival Freedom and Valor, each with capacity for about 2,980 passengers at double occupancy, are remaining a “safe distance” from the storm at sea and skipping a stop in Galveston scheduled for Saturday, Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer De La Cruz said.

The ships will instead stop in New Orleans, Louisiana, Saturday to replenish fuel, water and food supplies, she said. At that time, cruisers who wish to disembark the ship may do so, or wait out the journey back to Galveston via sea.