Tropical Storm Emily has prompted cruise itinerary changes as it heads toward the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Royal Caribbean’s 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas skipped its call Tuesday in St. Thomas and will miss St. Maarten on Wednesday, heading west instead.
It will call in Mexico ports Costa Maya and Cozumel on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, and is scheduled to return to Port Everglades, Fla., on Saturday as scheduled.
The 3,600-passenger Freedom of the Seas will also avoid St. Thomas and St. Maarten Wednesday and Thursday, and instead will call in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. It is slated to return to Port Canaveral on Sunday as scheduled.
The 3,646-passenger Carnival Dream’s seven-night cruise from Port Canaveral will call in Grand Turk Tuesday instead of St. Thomas, spend Wednesday at sea instead of in St. Maarten, and call at Freeport, Bahamas, on Thursday instead of being at sea.
The Dream will return to Port Canaveral as scheduled on Sunday.
The 2,974-passenger Carnival Liberty’s seven-day cruise from Miami will visit Grand Turk Tuesday instead of St. Thomas, stay at sea Wednesday instead of calling in San Juan, visit Key West Thursday instead of Grand Turk, and go to Freeport on Friday instead of staying at sea.
The Liberty is scheduled to return to Miami on Saturday as planned.
Princess Cruises' only ship in the Caribbean, the 3,100-passenger Caribbean Princess, missed its scheduled call Tuesday in San Juan. No other changes to the ship's itinerary have been made.
Norwegian Cruise Line said all of is ships are sailing as scheduled, and that it is closely monitoring the path of Emily.
Emily was southeast of Puerto Rico at midday Tuesday with winds of 40 mph and could strengthen, according to the National Hurricane Center.
On the forecast track, the storm’s outer bands could reach the Dominican Republic late Tuesday or early Wednesday.