Hurricane Lee impacting cruise ship itineraries. Here are the changes so far

Lee is a major hurricane and a storm of its magnitude results in cruise ship itinerary changes.

The tropical storm went from a category 1 to a category 5 before falling back to a category 3 on Friday night.  After quickly reaching category 5 intensity 36 hours ago, Hurricane Lee has been struggling against wind shear.

Nonetheless, weather experts predict the storm will remain a menace.

The path is not clear yet, but its path could cross many common avenues cruise ships use to traverse the Caribbean.

Lee is already impacting some cruise ship itineraries, with Royal Caribbean announcing course changes.

Royal Caribbean made these changes to ensure an enjoyable and safe experience, “To ensure we have a safe and smooth journey, and to stay well away from Hurricane Lee’s path, we’ve adjusted our itinerary,” said the email sent to booked passengers. 

Here’s the list of cruise ship changes so far.

Adventure of the Seas – September 9, 2023 sailing

Royal Caribbean plans for Adventure of the Seas to depart Fort Lauderdale on Saturday as planned.

The ship will now visit Roatan, Honduras on Day 3 and Cozumel, Mexico on Day 4.

Wonder of the Seas – September 10, 2023 sailing

Royal Caribbean changed Wonder of the Seas to go from an Eastern Caribbean itinerary to the Western Caribbean.

The ship was scheduled to visit Perfect Day at CocoCay, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten.

Instead, the world’s largest cruise ship will visit CocoCay on September 11; Cozumel, Mexico on September 13; and Roatán, Honduras on September 14. 

Harmony of the Seas – September 9, 2023 sailing

Harmony of the Seas is also swapping itineraries.

The September 9th sailing is now going to Roatán, Honduras; Cozumel, Mexico; and Perfect Day at CocoCay. 

Vision of the Seas – September 9, 2023 sailing

Vision of the Seas is sailing from Baltimore and will depart as scheduled.

Instead of going to Bermuda, Vision will go to Perfect Day at CocoCay on Day 3 and Nassau, Bahamas on Day 4.

Monitoring the hurricane

Royal Caribbean employs its own full-time meteorologist to help track the path of the storm.

Craig Setzer has been Royal Caribbean’s Chief Meteorologist since August and is involved with the National Hurricane Center, teaching at World Meteorological Organization workshops, and presenting at American Meteorological Society conferences around the country.

Guests on ships with revised itineraries were informed by Aurora Yera-Rodriguez, the Assistant Vice President of Guest Experience for Royal Caribbean International, how the company is making these changes: “Along with our Chief Meteorologist and nautical experts, we’re closely monitoring the development of Hurricane Lee and any potential impacts to our itineraries.”

The path of Lee

Most weather experts are calling for Lee to make a turn to the north, but it’s unclear when that may occur.

Hurricane Lee is about 440 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The hurricane is moving west, northwest at 13 mph, and is forecast to pass to the north of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico over the weekend and into early next week.

According to Mr. Setzer, the uncertainty occurs when & where the turn to the north takes place on Wednesday. A sooner turn, a more likely recurve (out to sea), a later turn/faster motion before the turn, a less likely recurve (out to sea).

“I cannot stress this point enough. Until that turn takes place, and we observe where it happens, we will not know exactly who in the US, Canada, Bermuda will be impacted, or if impacted at all,” he posted in a tweet on Friday.

He was also quite blunt about providing any kind of accurate predictions, “With that in mind, there is no need to ask me about your specific area and its threat, because I have no idea, nor does anyone else.”