Royal Caribbean is making adjustments to the itineraries of at least four cruise ships as Hurricane Rafael intensifies. The storm is on track to make landfall later this week and is expected to become a Category 2 before arriving in Cuba.
The four ships impacted by the storm include Radiance of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas, Vision of the Seas, and Brilliance of the Seas.
Radiance of the Seas is currently on a 7-day cruise out of Tampa, having left the port on November 2nd. The original itinerary had the Radiance-class vessel visiting Bimini, Freeport, and Perfect Day at CocoCay. The adjusted schedule will now see the ship making ports of call in Cozumel, Roatan, and Belize in the western Caribbean
Freedom of the Seas is currently on a 6-day voyage out of Fort Lauderdale. The ship will be changing the dates for two scheduled stops to avoid the hurricane. Stops will still be made in Labadee, Haiti and George Town in the Cayman Islands, but the dates will be swapped.
Vision of the Seas sailed out of Baltimore, Maryland on October 31 on a 9-day sailing. The ship was scheduled to visit Nassau and Perfect Day at CocoCay after stopping in Bermuda. Because of the storm, the ship will now spend more time in Bermuda, skipping the stops in the Bahamas. Vision of the Seas will also be stopping in Port Canaveral as a port of call.
Brilliance of the Seas is on a 7-day sailing out of New Orleans that left on November 2. The ship was scheduled to stop in George Town in the Cayman Islands today but will now visit Belize City instead.
Hurricane Rafael is expected to reach western Cuba later tonight with winds over 100 miles per hour.
Most models predict the storm will continue to move towards the Gulf of Mexico and reach the United States on Saturday or Sunday. The storm is expected to weaken by that time, but cruise lines are on alert for any updates.
