Guests who are planning to board Carnival Sunshine to embark on a Bahamas cruise on August 8, 2024, may want to pay close attention to their emails and text messages.
The Sunshine-class ship is slated to embark from Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday evening – which unfortunately coincides with when the East Coast port is expected to be slammed by Tropical Storm Debby.
John Heald, Carnival’s Brand Ambassador, shared a message from the cruise line on his Facebook page on August 6, 2024, to help spread the word.
“Our Fleet Operations Center is actively monitoring Tropical Storm Debby, which is now located off the Georgia and South Carolina coastline. The storm is forecasted to move inland in the upcoming days, impacting the Charleston area Thursday,” read the message from the cruise line.
“Although forecasts can change, at this time, based on the current track, we are expecting Debby to affect our scheduled departure from Charleston,” continued the memo.
It’s currently unclear how much the 4-night sailing will be impacted, but the 27-ship cruise line will continue to monitor the forecast and make adjustments accordingly, with the safety and comfort of its guests and crew members as the top priority.
Assuming all goes to plan, the sailing includes one port call – scheduled for August 10, 2024, at Nassau, Bahamas.
The 3,0006-passenger vessel also isn’t the only Carnival cruise ship to be impacted by Debby’s wrath.
Carnival Paradise had a delayed return to Florida’s Port Tampa Bay, which was temporarily closed due to the storm. As a result, the subsequent sailing – a 6-night Western Caribbean Cruise that was supposed to embark on August 5, 2024 – has been shortened.
Looking at the other cruise lines, Margaritaville at Sea Islander remained stuck at sea until storm conditions passed and couldn’t disembark her sailing as planned in Tampa Bay on Sunday, August 4.
Indeed, Tropical Storm Debby made landfall near the town of Steinhatchee, Florida, over the Big Bend Coast, as a Category 1 hurricane on the morning of Monday, August 5, 2024.
Similarly, Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas had to cancel its scheduled call on Port Canaveral (Orlando) Florida, on Sunday, August 4.
South Carolina Ports Brace for Severe Weather
As in Florida, the South Carolina Ports Authority will likely shut down operations at its ports while the Tropical Storm passes through, which is expected to make a second landfall in South Carolina on the morning of August 8 and last through at least August 9.
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHS), the storm is expected to bring potentially catastrophic precipitation and flooding – with parts of the Carolinas and Georgia anticipating up to 25 inches of rain.
Tropical Storm Debby Track
“Dangerous storm surge and tropical storm conditions will spread northward along the southeast U.S. coast from northwestern Georgia to North Carolina through Thursday. Storm surge and tropical storm watches and warnings are in effect for portions of these areas,” reads the most recent update from the NHS, which was posted at 11 a.m. EST on Tuesday, August 6.
“Potentially historic heavy rainfall across eastern South Carolina through Friday will likely result in areas of catastrophic flooding,” continued the update.
Sustained winds are expected to reach around 40 mph and will be paired with stronger gusts. The impacted areas may also be impacted by flash flooding, loss of power, and downed trees and power lines – even in the days after the storm passes.
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So far, the South Carolina Ports Authority has not announced an official closure, but will be operating with reduced hours at the Port of Charleston and at Inland Port Dillon on Wednesday, August 7, in anticipation of Debby’s arrival.
The gates will close to maritime traffic by 2 p.m. local time at both locations – with additional operational updates expected soon as the storm looms closer.
Appeared first on: Cruisehive.com
