Cruise ships avoid Hurricane Florence by docking at Port Canaveral

UPDATE: Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas, which was diverted to Port Canaveral yesterday morning and was originally scheduled to leave Thursday afternoon will be staying another day and is now scheduled to depart on Friday morning.

Previous: For the second time this week, a cruise ship has been forced to find safe waters at Port Canaveral due to Hurricane Florence.

Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas docked Wednesday morning. The ship and it’s approximately 2,000 passengers are expected to stay until at least Thursday afternoon, but port CEO John Murray said officials are prepared for an extended stay.

John and Kathy Best of Maryland said they knew before they boarded the ship in Baltimore Saturday that the cruise line had changed their itinerary due to the storm, opting for a stop in the Bahamas rather than Bermuda.

“I was worried about getting on the ship in the first place, so then I felt a lot better that they were concerned about us and their boat,” Kathy Best said.  

An extra two days away from home were unexpected, requiring Marcy Bilgrav and Adam Lovelace of Virginia to make a shore excursion to one of the Space Coast’s less touristy attractions.  

“To the laundromat!” Bilgrav said with a laugh, “Because our cruise has been extended and we didn’t pack enough!”

But passengers weren’t complaining as they came ashore.

“It’s an extended vacation.  Five days is turning into nine days and we are very happy!” said Karen Fountain of New York.  

The Norwegian Escape stopped at Port Canaveral, rather than Bahamas, on Tuesday.

Be sure to keep up with the latest on the 2018 Hurricane Season HERE. And you can download your Hurricane Guide in English HERE or in Spanish HERE