Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition

Cruise lines forced to change itinerarie­s.

- By Johnny Diaz

Hurricane Dorian is disrupting the cruise industry, causing a change in travel plans for many ships in the Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Disney Cruise Line have all announced itinerary changes:

Royal Caribbean

Due to projection­s of the storm’s track, Royal Caribbean announced that will close its private island CocoCay on Wednesday and reopen it Sept. 4.

“Our CocoCay Team is made up of over 400 Bahamian locals on the island and it’s important that they evacuate to care for their families and secure their homes, as soon as possible,” said Melissa Charbonnea­u, a spokeswoma­n for the Miami-based cruise line. “We evaluated all options, and this is the best decision, as there is no room for error when it comes to the safety and security of our guests, crew, and employees. This is our top priority.”

The company also provided updates on several impacted sailings.

The Navigator of the Seas, which had a scheduled stop in CocoCay on Wednesday, and the Mariner of Seas, which was also supposed to stop in CocoCay on Thursday, will now head to Nassau instead on those days. The Empress of the Seas, which was set to cruise Friday, will now stop in Cozumel that day. The ship’s scheduled stop in CocoCay Saturday will be replaced by a day at sea.

And the Symphony of the Seas, billed as the biggest cruise ship in the world, will stop in Nassau Friday instead of CocoCay. The Navigator, Empress and Symphony are scheduled to return to PortMiami this weekend. The Mariner of the Seas will return to Port Canaveral Aug. 30.

Royal Carribbean is updating its changes at royalcarib­bean.com/cruise-ships/itinerary-updates.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival also announced it was rerouting some ships Wednesday.

The Carnival Breeze was scheduled to stop in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday and will now remain at sea. The ship will stop as scheduled in Grand Turk on Thursday. The ship returns to its home base of Port Canaveral on Saturday.

The Carnival Sunrise, which was at sea Wednesday, will now stop in San Juan on Friday instead of Grand Turk as previously planned. The ship will continue to Amber Cove on Saturday instead of San Juan. It will dock in Grand Turk on Sunday instead of Amber Cove. The ship returns to its New York home port Sept. 4.

Carnival Magic will remain at sea Thursday instead of stopping as planned in Amber Cove. On Friday, it will continue to Nassau instead of previous plans at sea. The ship returns to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.

“Our Fleet Operations Center continues to monitor the storm and will make any adjustment­s as needed as the safety of our guests and crew is our number one priority,” said Vance Gulliksen, a spokesman for Carnival.

Disney Cruise Line

Disney’s Fantasy ship was also rerouted to a western Caribbean route because of the storm, according to a spokeswoma­n.

Trips to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands on Tuesday and St. Thomas on Wednesday were being replaced with stops in Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

“We will continue to monitor the path of Tropical Storm Dorian and make additional itinerary changes as needed,” the spokeswoma­n said. The ship returns to Port Canaveral on Saturday.

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