Update Tuesday 8:00 am: TS Alberto has been downgraded to a tropical depression with winds of 35 mph. The tropical depression is not expected to affect any cruises or to make landfall as the storm heads out to sea.
The first tropical storm of the season has formed off the coast of South Carolina. Tropical storm Alberto currently has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is centered 100 miles off the coast.
The storm is currently moving West-Southwest at 6 mph and is expected to move towards North Carolina’s Outer Banks in the next few days before it heads out to sea. Alberto is not expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it moves north.
A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when maximum sustained winds are greater than 74 mph.
The only cruise at this time that looks like it could be threatened by the storm is the Carnival Fantasy that sails from port Charleston on 5 night cruises to the Bahamas. There has been no word from Carnival on any changes to the itinerary of this cruise ship as of Sunday morning.
Tropical storms and hurricanes can be unpredictable in their movements so Cruise Fever will continue to monitor the storm and bring you any updates to Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Disney, and other cruise lines if they become affected by this storm.
For the latest updates, please visit the National Hurricane Center. The hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, although storms can form before and after those dates.
