Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Breakaway wasn’t supposed to bring cruise passengers back to Manhattan until February 3, but severe weather off the U.S. East Coast forced the ship to return earlier today.
The 4,819-max capacity ship just finished a Caribbean sailing that was initially slated for 11 days. Thanks to a “bomb cyclone” and very high winds, the ship has returned early for the safety of passengers and crew.
Itinerary Changes and Weather Impact
The ship left New York on January 23. To stay ahead of the storm system, NCL canceled a scheduled visit to St. Thomas on January 30.
After a visit to the port call in St. Maarten, Norwegian Breakaway began heading north toward the U.S. East Coast.
Cruise Industry News shared the letter sent to guests in which the cruise line explained:
“A large winter system moving through the eastern United States and the North Atlantic is affecting our ability to return to New York City on the original schedule and is making it challenging to maintain the speed needed for our planned turnaround.”
Conditions at Sea
Firsthand accounts from passengers on board showed just how intense the storm was. On the morning of February 2, instruments on the ship recorded peak wind speeds of 95 knots (approximately 109 mph) while passing the coast of Virginia.
A passenger took to Reddit to described the situation:
“Well, it is 4:54 in the morning and we cancelled our stop in St Thomas to rush back to NY 30 hours early to avoid the ‘bomb cyclone’. We are now off the coast of Virginia and we are apparently right in the middle of this thing. PS. 95 knts = 109 mph winds. It’s been a rough night.”
As the ship continued north, the weather had a definite impact on its speed back to New York. By 7:35 PM, the same passenger said:
“Captain announced we are going to be delayed getting into NY because we are only running on two generators. We have not gone over about 8.5 kts since this morning. We are fighting the wind so we are barely moving.”
Ice Issues in New York
The Breakaway-class ship reached New York on Monday, but it faced more delays when trying to enter the Manhattan Cruise Terminal due to ice.
Extremely low temperatures and ice buildup have been an issue around New York over the last several days as ice breakers have had to constantly break up the ice to make way for ships and smaller vessels.
The U.S. Coast Guard has been using several ice breaker vessels to keep the shipping lanes open around New York. According to some local reports, the ice has become thick enough to stop all NYC Ferry services.
Passenger Accommodations
Because the ship reached New York ahead of its official Tuesday morning return, NCL is offering overnight stays for guests that want to remain on board the ship through the original disembarkation date on Tuesday.
Passengers that want to leave early are able to do so as well.
All shore excursions for the canceled port of call at St. Thomas were refunded to passengers’ onboard accounts.
Norwegian Breakaway is expected to begin its next scheduled sailing on February 3.
Just last week Cruise Fever reported that Carnival Sunshine also returned to its homeport earlier than originally scheduled. In this case the cruise line decided to sail back to Norfolk, Virginia ahead of a major winter storm that was on its way.
Looking for the Best Cruise Deals?
Search Multiple Sites at Once
Instant Real Time Pricing
Search Now
