Hurricane Jerry Forces Cruise Ship Itinerary Changes

(5:30 p.m. EDT) — As Hurricane Jerry swings close to the Eastern Caribbean, some cruise lines have altered their itineraries to avoid Category 1 storm as projections call for it to turn northward toward Bermuda.

The forecast from the National Hurricane Center notes that the storm is projected to travel “well north” of Puerto Rico on Saturday, September 21, bypass the Bahams the next day and arrive in Bermuda between Tuesday September 24 and Wednesday September 25. The island is still recovering Hurricane Humberto.

Here are the itinerary changes released by cruise lines so far:

Carnival

Carnival Breeze, scheduled to depart Port Canaveral on Saturday September 21, will no longer visit Bermuda. Instead, the ship will sail to San Juan, Amber Cove and Grand Turk.
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Carnival Sunshine, scheduled to depart on Sunday September 22 from Charleston, will visit Princess Cays and have an overnight in Nassau, as opposed to spending two days in Bermuda.

The line is also monitoring the storms to see if changes need to be made to Carnival Horizon and Carnival Elation sailings in the Eastern Caribbean.

Disney

Disney Fantasy, which was scheduled to visit St. Thomas and Tortola on its September 21 cruise, will instead sail to the Western Caribbean in order to avoid rough water and wind. (Tropical storm-force winds extend outward from the center of the storm for up to 80 miles.)

The line issued a statement Thursday morning, while Jerry was still a tropical storm.

“We have been closely monitoring Tropical Storm Jerry. Based on the storm’s forecast track and the possible impact to the Eastern Caribbean over the next few days, we have made the decision to change the Disney Fantasy, September 21, itinerary to visit ports in the Western Caribbean. Instead of visiting Tortola and St. Thomas, the ship will now visit Cozumel, Mexico on Monday; George Town, Grand Cayman on Tuesday; Falmouth, Jamaica on Wednesday; and Castaway Cay on Friday.”

Cruise Critic will continue to update as information becomes available: