The two smallest and oldest Carnival cruise ships, Carnival Elation and Carnival Paradise, must both remain out to sea and will be unable to return to their respective homeports because of the path, size, and strength of Hurricane Helene.
Carnival Cruise Line has reached out to booked guests for each ship’s next sailing, alerting them that their cruises will not be able to operate as planned.
“The Port of Tampa will close tonight in anticipation of the storm, and it is now clear we will not be able to operate your cruise tomorrow, Thursday, September 26,” the message to Carnival Paradise guests read.
The exact same message was sent to booked guests for Carnival Elation, except that vessel is homeported from Jacksonville.
For both ships, Carnival Cruise Line will send out a further update by 1 p.m. on Thursday with new information about when the ships may return and the next cruise can begin, as well as potential compensation or other details.
Carnival Cruise Line has posted official updates on its website, noting all different homeport impacts and itinerary adjustments.
“Our Fleet Operations Center in Miami continues to actively monitor Hurricane Helene, which is now entering the Gulf of Mexico,” the website said as of 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. “The safety of our guests and crew remains our priority and our ships are sailing a safe distance from the storm.”
For both the homeports of Jacksonville and Tampa, the cruise line indicates that each ship is sailing safely away from Hurricane Helene.
“Once the storm passes and the port reopens, officials will be able to fully conduct a post-storm assessment before giving clearance to return,” updates for the current sailings read. “We are very tentatively anticipating sometime Friday, September 27, possibly later.”
Carnival Elation departed Jacksonville on Saturday, September 21 for a 5-night Bahamas itinerary, with visits to Nassau and Princess Cays.
Carnival Paradise departed Tampa on Saturday as well, but was unable to keep her planned 5-night Western Caribbean itinerary. The ship cancelled her Tuesday visit to Cozumel, but diverted to Costa Maya as an alternative instead.
Because both vessels will be at least a full day delayed in returning to their respective homeports, the next sailings will be unable to depart on Thursday, September 26 as originally planned.
Guests booked on those next cruises – a 4-night Bahamas trip for Carnival Elation and a 4-night Western Caribbean voyage for Carnival Paradise – are urged to sign up for text alerts to stay updated about plans for their cruises.
To be clear, Carnival Cruise Line does not control when homeports reopen and ships are permitted to return. Those operational decisions are made by port officials and the US Coast Guard after the storm has passed and safety inspections are complete.
Cruise Port Closures
Port Tampa Bay officially closed marine channels at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, September 25, as the US Coast Guard set Port Condition Zulu – gale force winds expected within 12 hours. While onshore operations will continue as long as safely possible, the port is now closed.
“The storm will have an impact to our cruise schedule. If you have any questions about a specific sailing, we recommend you contact your cruise line directly as all changes to itineraries will be communicated by your cruise line,” the weather update from the port read.
In addition to Carnival Cruise Line, ships from Margaritaville at Sea and Royal Caribbean both sail from Port Tampa Bay. Only Carnival Paradise is impacted on Thursday, September 26, however.
Port Tampa Bay, Florida (Photo Credit: Feng Cheng)
While the Port of Jacksonville remains open on Thursday evening, the US Coast Guard has already indicated that Port Condition Zulu will take effect at midnight and the port will be fully closed at that time. Only Carnival Elation sails from Jacksonville.
Read Also: Which Cruise Ships Are Affected by Hurricane Helene?
Hurricane Helene, currently a Category 1 storm but expected to strengthen, is moving generally north across the Gulf of Mexico, with landfall anticipated in the Big Bend or eastern panhandle area of Florida late on Thursday.
The storm’s wind field is extensive, with hurricane-force winds up to 25 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds as far as 345 miles from the center. This means many regions will see impacts from the storm, even though the eye may be hundreds of miles away.
At the moment, the center of the storm’s projected track takes it roughly 145 miles from Tampa with the closest approach early Thursday afternoon. Similarly, Helene’s center track is roughly 165 miles from Jacksonville at her closest, most likely very late on Thursday.
Appeared first on: Cruisehive.com
