By Richard Tribou
Orlando Sentinel
(Orlando Sentinel) — Hurricane Milton walloped Port Canaveral on a path across Florida from Wednesday night into Thursday, but was able to open on Friday morning, although several cruise lines had to cancel or delay some sailings.
The port opened as of 11:30 a.m. with no ship restrictions, while Jetty Park and the beach will reopen on Saturday morning, although the Jetty Park campground and fishing pier will remain closed until further notice, the port announced.
The U.S. Coast Guard had already reopened Port Miami, Port Everglades and Key West on Thursday, opening up plans for South Florida’s sailings, although some have delayed arrivals. It also reopened the Port of Tampa, but not cleared to take cruise ships. It’s open with some restrictions.
The port of Jacksonville and Palm Beach also opened Friday morning.
Cruise lines began shifting plans as Florida’s ports closed or limited traffic as Hurricane Milton approached this week.
MSC Seashore, Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas, Disney Wish and Carnival Glory were all slated to arrive back to Port Canaveral on Friday.
Port Canaveral has opened up landside operations, but the waterways remain closed and in recovery mode, the port posted on its website.
Two ships had to cancel their port of call visits to Port Canaveral on Tuesday with both the MSC Meraviglia and Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas skipping their visit.
Disney Cruise Line then canceled its planned Disney Wish sailing that was set to leave Port Canaveral on Friday.
“Refunds will be automatically processed back to the original form of payment used for the cruise booking. An email with more information will be sent to booked guests or their travel agents,” the line posted on its website.
The line continues to monitor the port as Disney Fantasy is set to return Saturday after a seven-night sailing that left Oct. 5.
Carnival Cruise Line lists a bevy of changes and cancellations in its weather update page.
The Carnival Paradise that sailed from Tampa is now docking at Miami on Friday.
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“Guests will have the option to return to the Tampa cruise terminal via complimentary shuttle or reboard the ship and remain onboard until Monday,” the line stated. “We plan to disembark in either Port Canaveral (complimentary shuttle service to Tampa would be provided) or Tampa (provided the port reopens).”
The changes forced the planned Thursday sailing of Paradise and will either sail from Port Canaveral or Tampa if it reopens for its Oct. 14 sailing, again with complimentary shuttle service to Port Canaveral if needed.
The Carnival Elation sailed from Jacksonville is currently at sea on a five-night voyage.
“The ship is now sailing a safe distance from the storm while we wait for clearance to return to Jacksonville. Due to strong winds and rough seas on Florida’s east coast, we will not be able to return before sometime Saturday,” the line posted.
The Elation’s next sailing is now planned to be a short two-night sailing leaving Saturday with no port visit.
At Port Canaveral, Carnival Glory is amid a four-night sailing and will not be able to return as scheduled on Friday, but hoping to dock Saturday as the vessel sails a safe distance away from the storm. The planned Friday departure will not sail for the next itinerary, but Carnival hopes to sail a shortened cruise departing Saturday. More information should come from Carnival.
While PortMiami is open, Carnival Sunshine currently on a five-night sailing was not be able to return Thursday, but plans to dock Friday. The line plans to sail a shortened sailing on Friiday for the next itinerary since it was not ablt to depart Thursday.
The line has other ships that could be affected sailing out of New Orleans and Charleston, South Carolina.
Royal Caribbean itinerary changes are posted to its weather update site.
It announced a delay in the return of Utopia of the Seas, which means a planned departure Friday for the next sailing has been pushed to Saturday, departing by 4 p.m. That means the itinerary has been adjusted to drop Nassau, Bahamas from the voyage.
Adventure of the Seas will also be delayed in returning to Port Canaveral so boarding for what was supposed to be a Friday sailing will now be Saturday departing by 4 p.m., meaning the sailing will need to skip the visit to Willemstad, Curacao.
Out of Miami, Independence of the Seas has been delayed in returning, so will now depart Friday and skip a planned stop at Labadee, Haiti in favor of a sea day and visit Perfect Day at CocoCay on Sunday.
Mariner of the Seas will also be delayed in its return, so boarding on Oct. 10 will be adjusted.
More complicated is the ships sailing out of Tampa.
“Please know our return to Tampa Bay is fluid, and once our times are finalized, we’ll send an email with updated check-in times,” the line posted.
Grandeur of the Seas’ planned return and departure Saturday is delayed now targeting Sunday for departure with a lost of Costa Maya on the new itinerary.
Serenade of the Seas is in the same situation with a delayed return and now targeting Sunday for its next departure.
Enchantment of the Seas is also going to be delayed in returning to the port, and will now depart on Monday.
MSC Cruises has a weather update site with Milton’s affects out of both Port Canaveral and PortMiami.
MSC Seashore departed Port Canaveral on a four-night sailing last Sunday, but will not be able to return to the port until it is opened by the Coast Guard, currently expected to be Friday at a time to be determined. The ship’s planned Thursday departure on a three-night voyage was canceled with refunds to be given, but MSC expects Sunday’s planned cruise to not be affected.
As for Miami, the MSC Magnifica left the port on Monday for a four-night sailing, and while the path of Milton altered its ports of call, it is expected to return as planned on Friday morning with the next sailing not affected as well.
Also for Miami, the MSC Seascape on a seven-night voyage is expected to return as planned Saturday with no issue on its next sailing.
Norwegian Cruise Line does not have a weather update section on its website. Its Tampa itineraries don’t begin until November, and its Port Canaveral sailings don’t begin until the end of October.
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