Every cruise out of Florida cancelled Friday due to Irma

It was the day the cruise ships stopped sailing.

With hurricane Irma bearing down on Florida, cruise lines cancelled every voyage scheduled to depart from the state on Friday — an unusually broad stoppage. Many of today’s sailings had already been cancelled.

The Friday cancellations include sailings on three Miamibased ships: Carnival’s 2,758passenger Carnival Victory, Royal Caribbean’s 2,446-passenger Enchantment of the Seas and Norwegian Cruise Line’s 2,004-passenger Norwegian Sky.

Also cancelled are voyages on two Port Canaveral-based ships: Disney Cruise Line’s 2,500-passenger Disney Dream and Royal Caribbean’s 2,350-passenger Majesty of the Seas. Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line’s Palm Beach-based Grand Celebration also is sitting out its Friday departure.

The ports of Miami and Port Canaveral are the two busiest cruise ports in the world, moving nearly 10 million passengers a year between them. Another Florida port, Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades, is the world’s third busiest cruise port.

In addition to the cancellations of Friday sailings, five of 10 sailings scheduled to begin in Florida today have been cancelled or delayed. They include all departures scheduled for Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line.

Only Carnival’s five Saturday voyages out of Florida remain listed as on schedule.

At least some of Carnival’s sailings today are likely to be cancelled or delayed as Florida’s cruise ports begin to shut down in advance of the storm. Port Canaveral CEO John Murray this week said the port likely will close today or sooner. The official decision will be made by the U.S. Coast Guard’s captain of the port.

Murray said the timing of Port Canaveral’s reopening would depend on how quickly the hurricane passes, as well as the condition of the port’s shipping channel and facilities.

Murray marvelled at the storm’s potential impact to Florida’s three big cruise hubs. “Three of the busiest ports in the world, and [this is] a storm that looks like it’s going to run over all three of them,” Murray said.

Several lines including Disney and Royal Caribbean already have cancelled or delayed voyages from Florida scheduled for Sunday and Monday.

Voyages scheduled to start over the weekend that have been delayed include today’s sailing of Royal Caribbean’s 5,479-passenger Harmony of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, and the Sunday sailings of its two sisters, Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas.

All of the lines that have cancelled voyages are offering passengers a full refund as well as an additional credit that can be used for a future trip. The amount of the credit varies by line. Passengers on delayed sailings are getting a pro-rated refund for missed days and also have the option of canceling the trips.

In all, the cancellations and delayed departures have affected the vacations of more than 50,000 people.

Irma is expected to be in the vicinity of Florida by Sunday.