Tropical Storm Idalia is already forcing major cruise lines to adjust their plans, in some cases changing the entire itinerary.
Idalia is intensifying in the Gulf of Mexico, and is expected to take a path through the Gulf of Mexico up to the west coast of Florida. As of Monday morning, Idalia had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph.
Experts are calling for the storm to reach category three status.
Carnival and Disney Cruise Line have made changes to keep its cruise ships away from Tropical Storm Idalia.
Carnival informed guests on the current sailing of Carnival Conquest that the ship will skip the ports of Key West and Cozumel.
"We know this change impacts your plans and are sorry for any disappointment this causes. However, we trust you understand this decision was made with everyone's safety in mind."
Carnival Valor will visit Cozumel but skip Costa Maya.
Disney Cruise Line also rerouted guests booked on the Disney Fantasy.
The Disney Fantasy will no longer take a cruise to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Falmouth, Jamaica. Instead, she will go to Tortola and St. Thomas.
Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas will skip Costa Maya and visit Cozumel later in the week.
Wonder of the Seas will skip a scheduled visit to Roatan, Honduras and instead spend the day at sea. The ship pushed back its visit to Cozumel to Thursday.
Celebrity Equinox swapped a visit to Grand Cayman with Falmouth, Jamaica.
Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady will visit Grand Turk on Tuesday instead of Costa Maya.
MSC Cruises said it will change the itinerary of MSC Seaside because Idalia will make it unsafe to dock at the line's private island of Ocean Cay.
MSC Seaside will instead do an overnight visit to Nassau, Bahamas between August 28 and August 30.
"For our safety and to give you the best possible experience, I have decided to remain in Nassau until tomorrow until 5:00pm," the ship's Captain said in a letter to passengers.
"This change is due to factors that are beyond our control. Our mission is to always ensure your safety and wellbeing. I appreciate your understanding."
The storm will likely affect more cruise ships over the coming days as it traverses the Gulf of Mexico and approaches the west coast of Florida.
Port Tampa Bay is closed to inbound vessel traffic until further notice.
Royal Caribbean chief meteorologist Craig Setzer said part of the difficulty in predicting the path of the storm has to do with the impact of the jet stream.
"Decades of doing this has taught me to be extremely careful when a trough is nearby because our model skill is not great at predicting when a storm begins to feel that jet stream dip & begin to turn," Setzer posted on Twitter.
"If Idalia senses the dip sooner than predicted (e.g. Ian, Charley, etc), then it makes landfall much closer to Tampa Bay."
Where is Tropical Storm Idalia headed?
Florida's southwestern coast as early as Tuesday morning will start to feel the effects of the storm.
Gusty winds are likely across a large portion of Florida, including inland areas, by Tuesday night as Idalia’s outer bands lap inland.
It is expected the storm will make landfall on Wednesday morning as a hurricane along the state’s Gulf Coast.
A large swath of Florida is expected to experience impacts from Idalia, but the worst of what the storm has to offer will stretch from Tampa northward through the Big Bend region and into portions of the Panhandle.
Matt Hochberg
Matt loves to cruise, and started Cruise.Blog as a place to share different cruise experiences, advice, and what to know before going on a cruise.
He lives in Florida with his wife and two daughters, where he can be found on any given day trying to convince his wife they "need" to book another cruise.
