Hurricane Gustav Alters Some Caribbean Cruise Itineraries

Royal Caribbean International altered the itinerary of Mariner of the Seas out of Port Canaveral, given Hurricane Gustav’s location and projected path. Hurricane Gustav made landfall Tuesday on Haiti with winds up to 90 mph and was expected to head toward Cuba, Jamaica and possibly the Cayman Islands.

At press time on Tuesday, Gustav was a Category 1 storm with the possibility of strengthening to Category 2 by day’s end and even stronger over the next few days. Royal Caribbean International altered the itinerary of Mariner of the Seas out of Port Canaveral, given Hurricane Gustav’s location and projected path.

Mariner of the Seas, which departed Port Canaveral on Aug. 24, did not visit Labadee, Haiti, on Tuesday and will not call at Ocho Rios on Wednesday, Grand Cayman on Thursday or Cozumel on Friday. Instead, the ship spent Tuesday at sea, will visit St. Thomas on Wednesday and St. Maarten on Thursday.

The ship will be at sea Friday and Saturday as it returns to Port Canaveral Aug. 31, as scheduled. Carnival Cruise Lines said the Carnival Conquest, which departed Galveston on Aug. 24, cancelled its Aug. 27 call at Montego Bay and changed the order of other ports of call.

The vessel will visit Grand Cayman on Wednesday, Cozumel on Thursday and Progreso, the port call replacing Montego Bay, on Friday. Carnival Triumph, which sailed from Miami on Aug. 24, cancelled calls at Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios. The revised itinerary is a sea day on Thursday, Half Moon Cay on Friday and Nassau on Saturday, returning to Miami as scheduled Aug. 31.