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Dangerous Hurricane Milton impacts Florida ports, cruises

Hurricane Milton 'poses an extremely serious threat,' forecasters said Monday night, and closures of all six Florida cruise homeports were expected.

Anne Kalosh, Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review

October 8, 2024

3 Min Read
The National Hurricane Center's five-day forecast for Hurricane MiltonCHART: NOAA

Tuesday update: Milton weakened slightly overnight to Category 4 after Monday's Category 5 maximum sustained winds near 180 mph/285 km/h with higher gusts, coming all too soon following devastating Hurricane Helene and affecting many of the same cruise ships and itineraries.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of life-threatening storm surge and winds as Milton approaches the west coast of Florida on Wednesday.  

Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Margaritaville at Sea have already changed itineraries for ships from a range of ports, with more likely to come, and Disney Cruise Line advised passengers to stand by for updates.

Port closures

At 8 p.m. Monday the US Coast Guard set Port Condition Yankee, meaning the possibility of gale force winds within 24 hours, for Port Tampa Bay. Yankee was set at midnight Monday for PortMiami, Port Everglades and the Port of Palm Beach and anticipated at 8 a.m. Tuesday at the Port of Jacksonville and Port Canaveral.

Carnival Cruise Line

Tampa-based Carnival Paradise, on a four-day cruise that sailed Oct. 6, will visit Costa Maya insread of Cozumel on Tuesday and its return to Tampa may be impacted. Passengers on the Oct. 10 sailing were told not to proceed to Tampa until they receive an operational plan for their cruise.

JAXPORT-based Carnival Elation, currently on a five-day voyage that left Oct. 5, may be impacted, and passengers on the Oct. 10 cruise were advised to await updates.

Carnival Sunrise, which sailed from PortMiami Oct. 5 on a five-day cruise, could be affected, and passengers on the Oct. 10 departure should await information.

Carnival passengers may sign up for text alerts by texting CCL3 to CRUISE (278473).

Bermuda and possible Charleston changes

Carnival also altered Carnival Pride's current seven-day Bermuda cruise, which sailed from Baltimore Oct. 6. With Milton possibly impacting conditions in Bermuda later this week, Pride's Bermuda call was adjusted to from 3 p.m. Tuesday to 1 p.m. Thursday.

Other Carnival ships that may have impacted itineraries include Carnival Breeze from Galveston, Carnival Liberty from New Orleans, Carnival Glorida from Port Canaveral and Carnival Sunshine from Charleston.

Royal Caribbean

Grandeur of the Seas, which sailed Monday from Tampa, is going east instead of west, and will call at Nassau Oct. 10, skipping Costa Maya and Cozumel. Serenade of the Seas is swapping days for Costa Maya and Cozumel.

Miami-based Independence of the Seas will call at Puerto Plata Tuesday instead of Cozumel. Icon of the Seas is replacing Perfect Day at CocoCay and with a sea day and extending its calls at St. Kitts and St. Thomas.

Galveston-based Harmony of the Seas is missing Roatán on Wednesday, substituting Costa Maya instead. Mariner of the Seas dropped Cozumel.

Symphony of the Seas' current cruise from Cape Liberty in New Jersey will miss Port Canaveral, Perfect Day at CocoCay and Nassau, and go to Puerto Plata on Wednesday, followed by Labadee on Thursday.

Port Canaveral based Wonder of the Seas is going to Falmouth on Wednesday, skipping Roatán and Costa Maya, and postponing its Cozumel call from Wednesday until Friday. And fellow Canaveral ship Utopia of the Seas is swapping the dates for its CocoCay and Nassau calls, while Adventure of the Seas is substituting Grand Turk for CocoCay.

Celebrity Cruises

Port Everglades-based Celebrity Reflection is missing Key West and Perfect Day at CocoCay and going to Nassau instead, on Tuesday.

Margaritaville at Sea

Getting ahead of Tampa's expected closure, Margaritaville at Sea Islander's Oct. 8 departure was moved forward, so the ship sailed Monday, and its itinerary was to be adjusted from the original Key West and Cozumel schedule. Passengers who weren't able to move to Monday's new departure date were advised their reservation would be automatically preserved as a future cruise credit to apply to a future sailing of their choice.

Passengers may reschedule any time in the next 14 days.

For the Port of Palm Beach-based Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, the Oct. 7 and Oct. 9 cruises were expected to keep their sailing dates however Margaritaville at Sea cautioned itinerary extensions or adjustments may be needed.

About the Author

Anne Kalosh

Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review

Anne Kalosh covers global stories, reporting both breaking and in-depth news on cruising's significant people, places, ships and trends. A sought-after expert on cruising, she has moderated conferences around the world, including the high-profile State of the Industry panel at Seatrade Cruise Global. She created and led the acclaimed itinerary-planning case study for Seatrade's cruise master classes held at Cambridge and Oxford universities. She has been the cruise columnist for AFAR.com, and her freelance stories have appeared in a wide range of publications, from The New York Times to The Miami Herald.

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