Hurricane Igor forces Bermuda-bound cruise ships to alter course

By Gene Sloan
September 16, 2010

Cruise lines with ships scheduled to visit Bermuda over the next few days are scrambling to find alternate destinations as Hurricane Igor bears down on the island nation.

Citing plans to close Bermuda's ports over the weekend as the storm approaches, Royal Caribbean today announced the 2,446-passenger Enchantment of the Seas' next voyage to the island -- scheduled to begin on Saturday -- will be rerouted to the Bahamas.

Also announcing a course change today is MSC Cruises, which says the 2,550-passenger MSC Poesia, currently sailing across the Atlantic to New York from Europe, will head to Boston instead of Bermuda for a two-night stay starting on Saturday.

Royal Caribbean says officials in Bermuda have decided to close its ports beginning on Friday through Tuesday as a precaution as the powerful storm heads toward its shores.

Also scheduled to set sail for Bermuda in coming days is Norwegian Cruise Line's Boston-based Norwegian Spirit and Holland America's New York-based Veendam.

Norwegian Cruise Line is saying passengers sailing to Bermuda on the Spirit, scheduled to depart for Bermuda on Friday, will be informed of any necessary course changes after they arrive at the port.

"At this time, all ships will depart their respective home ports according to the published schedule," the line says on its website in a statement posted at 12:30 pm ET today. "Guests will be notified upon embarkation if there are any necessary itinerary changes."

A spokesman for Holland America says the line is keeping an eye on the storm but notes the Veendam isn't scheduled to visit Bermuda until Tuesday. The Veendam doesn't set sail for Bermuda from New York until Sunday.

Royal Caribbean says the Baltimore-based Enchantment will make an overnight visit to Nassau, Bahamas on Monday and Tuesday before returning to Baltimore.

Royal Caribbean says that "as a gesture of goodwill and to thank guests for their understanding" it will provide each cabin full of passengers an onboard credit. Passengers also can cancel the voyage and receive a letter of credit for the amount of cruise fare paid applicable to a later voyage.

As of 11 am AST, Igor was 910 miles south-southeast of Bermuda and moving to the northwest at 7 miles per hour. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour, making it a powerful Category 4 hurricane.

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Hurricane Igor forces Bermuda-bound cruise ships to alter course

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