The Flagg Agency

Tropical Storm Irene as of 5pm 8-28-11

UPDATE 7 p.m. EDT 8/28/11

You should expect that many of the private islands in the Bahamas to have suffered some damage because of the storm. I will try to keep you updated as I hear of any updates, but like I have said before you need to be flexible when you cruise during hurricane season.

• Royal Caribbean’s CocoCay will be closed to port calls for the next few cruises
• Norwegian Cruise Line’s Great Stirrup Cay may have suffered some damage but I have not seen an official report as of yet.
• Disney’s Castaway Cay was skipped today by Disney Dream. There has not been an official report but cruisers on the current cruise have been told that there was some damage and heavy equipment was being sent to the island.
• Grand Turk should be ready for calls by Tuesday, but keep checking for an up to date report
• Carnival’s/Holland America’s Half Moon Cay did suffer some damage but a person who had been to the island reports all 47 of the island’s horses were doing just fine and had suffered “nary a scratch.”
• Micky Arison, Chairman and CEO of Carnival sent out the following tweet a few minutes ago:

Half Moon Cay Update

Holland America Line 

• ms Veendam -The ship will remain in New York overnight on Sunday, August 28, and will now depart Monday, August 29, at 2:00 pm. Guests will be able to embark as scheduled on Sunday provided there is access to the cruise terminal. Due to the government declared evacuation of some areas of the city and impending transit challenges, access to the cruise terminal may be limited or closed on Sunday.
• For guests considering embarkation on Sunday, Holland America Line encourages guests to check local New York City transit and government websites (www.NYC.gov or www.mta.info). If you are in the local area, you can also call our special information line at 732-698-1222 for the latest information on access to the pier.
• The revised itinerary is below:

Celebrity Cruises

• Celebrity Summit is now scheduled to arrive in Bayonne, New Jersey, on Monday, August 29.  Because of the ship’s late arrival, Celebrity Summit’s next sailing will now depart on Monday, August 29.
• Please note -  Embarkation of Celebrity Summit has been delayed until 2:00 pm. Guests are requested to not arrive before then as the facilities at Cape Liberty are not ideal for large crowds and long waits.

Carnival Cruise Lines

• Carnival Pride – is now moving back to her normal pier and should be there around 8pm and ready to start embark as scheduled in the morning.
• Carnival Glory -  will cancel the scheduled call in St. John’s on Tuesday, August 30th and call Halifax tomorrow Monday, August 29th at docking 4:00 PM. She will depart from Halifax on Tuesday, August 30th at 6:00 PM.

Royal Caribbean

• Freedom of the Seas will call on Nassau, Bahamas, on Monday, August 29 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• The island of CocoCay, Bahamas, was impacted by the storm, and Royal Caribbean has has Majesty of the Seas‘ call to CocoCay on Saturday, August 27, and Monarch of the Seas‘ call to CocoCay on Sunday, August 28.
• Monarch of the Seas will now stay overnight in Nassau, Bahamas, arriving at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 27 and departing at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, August 28.
• Majesty of the Seas will now spend Saturday at sea and call on Nassau, Bahamas, on Sunday, August 28 as scheduled.

Norwegian Cruise Line

• Norwegian Gem will remain at sea, keeping a safe distance from the storm, on Sunday, August 28 instead of returning to New York as scheduled. The ship will arrive in New York at 8 am on Monday, August 29. All guests for the August 28 cruise are asked to arrive at the pier on Monday, August 29 beginning at noon. The ship is scheduled to depart New York at 4 pm on Monday en route to Bermuda.

These are the most up to date itinerary changes I have received. I continue to check for more updates. If you are sailing soon, you need to keep your eye on the weather and the news. If you can, plan to arrive and stay at your port of embarkation early. We will be updating this page as conditions warrant and when and if changes are announced.

Chuck and Laura Flagg are fee-based travel consultants.

We own The Flagg Agency in Canton, and our number is  770-355- 9569

We are fee-based travel consultants. We help people make better travel decisions

so they may find an experience that matches both their wants AND their needs.

Image: Courtesy of StormPulse