The Carnival Legend, which has a passenger capacity of 2,667 arrived in port on Sunday morning and was expected to depart Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. The Majesty of the Seas, which hosts some 2,350 guests, was expected to arrive in the capital on Sunday as scheduled.
Royal Caribbean Cruiseline’s Navigator of the Seas, which has a passenger capacity of 3,114 cancelled its scheduled voyage to The Bahamas on Sunday
Disney Cruise Line, which offers a four night, or three day Bahamian Cruise, as well as a 7-day Caribbean cruise also cancelled its arrival to The Bahamas on Monday.
Its fleet the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder hosts some 875 state rooms each.
The Disney ship was slated to arrive in Nassau at 8:00 a.m. today.
Carnival Cruise Line’s Paradise, which has a total passenger capacity of 2,606, also cancelled its Monday voyage. It was scheduled to arrive at 6:00 a.m. today.
The United States Department issued a travel warning, recommending that tourists avoid The Bahamas.
Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe on Sunday said it’s a normal situation when cruiselines divert from their schedules in light of travel advisories such as the one regarding Hurricane Isabel.
“That’s a normal situation, when decisions are made to reposition, then they come to The Bahamas. It’s the usual alternative when they
cannot carry out their rotation, because of our proximity and the fact that we are always willing to accommodate.”
Presently, the ministry’s New York-based office, along with senior officials in the capital, is on stand by, monitoring the hurricane’s stance and ready to alert the traveling public he said.
“Of course, we are praying that there is no hurricane to visit The Bahamas this year. We’re praying that we can get through this very strained situation without any major incident,” he said.
By Vanessa C. Rolle, The Nassau Guardian
