Cruise lines have adjusted their itineraries to avoid Hurricane Rafael.
The hurricane made landfall in Cuba on Wednesday as a Category 3 storm, battering the island with strong winds and knocking out the power grid. Western Cuba will see continued periods of heavy rain on Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
“Flash flooding and mudslides are possible along higher ground,” the advisory said Thursday morning. The storm is expected to “move slowly across the south-central Gulf of Mexico” early next week.
▶ Royal Caribbean International’s Harmony of the Seas ship will skip a stop in Cozumel, Mexico, on Thursday and instead spend the day at sea. According to CruiseMapper, the cruise departed from Galveston, Texas on Sunday.
“Working with our chief meteorologist, we have been monitoring the progress of Hurricane Rafael and have made an itinerary change to keep our guests safe and comfortable,” a Royal Caribbean spokesperson told USA TODAY in a statement by e -mail. “Guests were immediately informed.”
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▶ Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Horizon ship reversed its route, visiting Cozumel on Tuesday and Ocho Rios, Jamaica on Thursday, the company said. The cruise departed from Miami, Florida on Sunday.
Carnival Miracle, which also departed Galveston on Sunday, skipped a scheduled stop in Grand Cayman on Wednesday.
▶ MSC Seascape in turn replaced a stop in Falmouth, Jamaica, with Costa Maya, Mexico, on Monday and visited Roatan, Honduras, instead of George Town in Grand Cayman, on Tuesday. “The ship will return to Miami as planned on Saturday, November 9,” an MSC Cruises spokesperson said in an email.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Rafael forces Royal Caribbean, Carnival to reroute cruises
