Florida is preparing for the overnight impact of one of the worst hurricanes to ever come ashore in the state. While the state’s West Coast and Tampa Bay area is expected to take the brunt of the storm as it comes ashore, Hurricane Milton will impact the majority of the state as it moves across Florida and into the Atlantic. Hours before landfall there are already reports of tornados, strong winds, and increasing rainfall.
At least 16 cruise ships are directly impacted along with at the latest count more than 1,800 flights. At least 12 counties have ordered mandatory evacuations with six of the state’s airports and major seaports including Tampa, Port Canaveral, and Jacksonville entirely closed. Florida’s other large seaports including PortMiami and Port Everglades are also under restrictions with no vessels permitted to enter the ports. Current projections are that the main seaports will be able to resume operations on Friday after the storm passes and the U.S. Coast Guard completes damage inspections. Some cruises however are advising they do not expect to be able to return to port until Saturday.
The Florida cruise industry is just entering its busy season. At last count, at least 16 cruise ships have been forced to alter their programs with all the major companies including Carnival Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, and Royal Caribbean International reporting they were closely monitoring the development of the storm. The mid-week timing aided the ships that typically depart on the weekends for the Caribbean or Mexico.
Most of the cruise ships in the Bahamas or due to return to Florida have been repositioned to the south or east of the Bahamas to ride out the storm. Passengers have been advised that their cruises are being extended free of charge with the timing for the return to port being updated after the hurricane moves away from the state.
Passengers aboard Princess Cruises’ newest ship, Sun Princess, were due to reach Port Everglades today Wednesday, October 9, 16 days after departing Southampton, England on the ship’s inaugural Atlantic crossing. The line initially planned to disembark passengers a day early, but with the restrictions at Port Everglades, the arrival has now been tentatively deferred to Friday. Adding to the complications and pre-hurricane strains, there was a medical evacuation from the cruise ship which has now repositioned and is cruising along the northern coast of Cuba.
Several cruises were able to depart early, including the Margaritaville at Sea Islander from Tampa. The ship is skirting the storm in the Gulf of Mexico on a revised itinerary bound for Mexico. Similarly, passengers aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship departing Galveston, Texas posted videos of strong winds and rough seas as they were traveling behind the storm to Mexico.
The Port of Jacksonville was ordered closed by the U.S. Coast Guard as of midday on Wednesday as the winds increased. Cruises from JAXPORT are delayed with Carnival advising passengers to continue to monitor for updates.
Disney Cruise Line has already notified passengers due to depart from Port Canaveral on Friday aboard the Disney Wish that the cruise is canceled. The cruise line cannot be certain when the port will reopen and when flights will be able to resume. Similarly, Margaritaville at Sea Paradise canceled its short cruise to the Bahamas and the ship is in the Florida Strait with its AIS signal saying “for orders” while it waits for the storm and the restrictions to be removed on Port Palm Beach.
Due to the size of the storm, many itineraries are being altered. Carnival rescheduled one of its ships for an early departure from Bermuda due to the uncertainty of where the storm will head after crossing Florida. They are also advising that a cruise from Charleston, South Carolina could be delayed.
Cruise lines continue to advise passengers to check for updates before heading for the terminals.