Carnival Cruise Line has postponed a few cruises that were scheduled to depart today from Florida due to Hurricane Helene.
Hurricane Helene currently has top wind speeds of 105 mph and is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane before making landfall in Florida this evening.
Several cruise ports in Florida are closed today. Carnival Cruise Line has postponed at least three sailings that were scheduled to depart from Tampa, Jacksonville and Port Canaveral.
Since the ports are closed, cruise ships were unable to return this morning and are waiting out the storm at sea.
Carnival Elation was scheduled to sail a four-night cruise to The Bahamas from Jacksonville today. The cruise will not depart today and Carnival said that they are monitoring the situation and are hoping the ship can return on Friday, or at the latest on Saturday.
Officials will need to conduct a post-storm assessment before they give clearance for the ship to return to port.
Carnival is giving text alerts for the cruise, you can sign up by texting CCL1 to CRUISE (278473).
Have you ever wondered what happens when there is a hurricane or tropical storm during your cruise dates? You can read our comprehensive guide here.
Carnival has also postponed today’s sailing on Carnival Paradise out of Tampa. Carnival Paradise was originally going to sail a four-night cruise to the Western Caribbean with a port stop in Cozumel.
Just like in Jacksonville, Carnival will have to wait until the storm passes and officials can conduct a post-storm assessment.
Once they are given the green light, the cruise ship can return to Tampa. Right now, the cruise line said that they are tentatively anticipating this to happen sometime on Friday, or possibly on Saturday.
Carnival also has text alerts set up for this sailing. You can sign up for them by texting CCL2 to CRUISE (278473).
Port Canaveral is also closed and Carnival Glory was scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning. Since the ship will not be able to arrive early in the morning, it will have a delayed departure.
Carnival anticipates the ship to depart tomorrow with revised operational plans. You can sign up for text alerts by texting CCL3 to CRUISE (278473).
Lastly, Carnival Horizon was able to return to Miami this morning. However, due to periodic strong winds and safety, local pilots will not be able to operate until early tomorrow morning.
The ship will depart from Miami when weather conditions improve, but for now, it will remained docked at PortMiami. The delay is not expected to affect the ship’s port visit to Half Moon Cay on Saturday.
Carnival Cruise Line is expected to give its next update on these sailings at 9:00am EST tomorrow.
These are the only four ports that are currently affecting Carnival cruises. New Orleans, and Galveston remain open.
Carnival Cruise Line is monitoring the storm from their Fleet Operations Center in Miami. They stated that the safety of guests and their crew members remains their priority and that they keep their ships sailing a safe distance from the storm.
Cruise Fever will continue to monitor these Carnival cruises and will update this article as more information from Carnival gets released.
To get the latest on Hurricane Helene, you head over to the National Hurricane Center’s website.