Hurricane Safety and Preparedness

Cruise Lines Divert Ships to Avoid Hurricane Florence

Rating Hurricanes: The Saffir-Simpson Scale

Hurricane Florence is more than 700 miles southeast of Bermuda, but the storm has already caused cruise lines to alter ships' itineraries.

The Carnival Pride, which leaves Baltimore on Sunday, won't travel to Bermuda, Cruise Hive reports. Instead, the Carnival Cruise Line ship will sail to Grand Turk, with plans to arrive Wednesday. Next, the ship will go to Half Moon Cay and Freeport in the Bahamas. It is scheduled to depart on Friday and should arrive back in Baltimore on Sept. 16. The Carnival Horizon, which left New York City last Wednesday, extended its stay in Grand Turk instead of going to Bermuda. Horizon also canceled plans to visit San Juan in Puerto Rico on Sunday. It is expected to arrive in New York on Thursday.

In addition, in order to avoid Tropical Storm Isaac, the Carnival Cruise Line reversed the schedule for Carnival Vista, the Associated Press reported. The ship will call on St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan and Amber Cove before returning to Miami on Sept. 16.Norwegian Cruise Line modified plans for the Escape, which left New York on Saturday. Instead of Bermuda, the ship will stop in Port Canaveral, Florida, and Great Stirrup Cay and Nassau, Bahamas. Instead of sailing south to Bermuda, the Norwegian Dawn sailed north. The ship, which departed on Friday from Boston, will sail to Halifax and Sydney, in Nova Scotia; St. John, New Brunswick; and Bar Harbor, Maine.Royal Caribbean announced that the Grandeur of the Seas, which left Saturday, will skip a stop at Kings Wharf, Bermuda, and sail to Nassau, Bahamas.

(LATEST: Florence Regains Hurricane Strength)

A spokesperson for Oceania Cruises told Travel Agent Central that the Sirena's itinerary was changed to bypass the ship's Bermuda call, which had been scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. Instead, the ship will call at Nassau on Saturday, before returning to Miami the next day.

It's still a bit early for airlines to issue change waivers because of the storm, but Florence is likely to affect airports along the coast and further inland. Two major hubs, Delta’s Atlanta and American Airlines’ Charlotte, are potentially in the path of the storm.

The Points Guy says either or both could face mass cancellations and delays next Friday and Saturday.