Hurricane Milton roared ashore on Florida’s central west coast last weekend and traveled across the state with hurricane-force winds and driving rain. It also spawned numerous tornados. All major cruise home ports—Port Tampa Bay, Port Canaveral, JAXPORT, Port Everglades and PortMiami—were closed for a time, but began to open late in the week. All those ports have now reopened but port officials urged guests to contact their individual cruise line or travel advisor of any schedule change details. Some ships were stuck at sea during the storm and several cruises were canceled.
In other cruise news, Royal Caribbean International will create a new private-island-style experience, Perfect Day Mexico, to open in 2027 along the Caribbean coast in Mahahual. That follows a previous announcement about Perfect Day Cozumel, opening in 2026.
Silversea plans to open a hotel in Chile’s Puerto Williams, the southernmost city on Earth, according to sister publication Luxury Travel Advisor. The goal is to create an experience for guests headed to explore Antarctica, and they’ll enjoy Silversea’s signature service throughout the experience. Guests on the line’s "Antarctica Bridge" fly-cruise program will fly directly to Puerto Williams from Santiago, Chile’s capital city.
More Cruise News
On the river cruise front, AmaWaterways has unveiled "Soulful Experience" sailings for 2025. Heritage Line, a Southeast Asia boutique river cruise line, has announced two new packages in collaboration with three resorts: Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle in Thailand, Rosewood Luang Prabang in Laos and Capella Hanoi in Vietnam.
Ponant has launched new winter 2024-25 itineraries to Central America, Greenland, Scandinavia and beyond. Explora Journeys has announced a new dining offer at sea, while Cunard Line will collaborate with the Cuban Ballet Company.
On the trade front, Azamara announced a revamped global reservation system, RezA, aimed at enhancing the booking experience for travel advisor bookings. In addition, Four Seasons Yachts has named Shane Buksh as director of trade sales, while Star Clippers appointed Mary Grimes as business development executive for the western U.S.
Scenic Group also announced that it is offering new exclusive travel advisor incentives and client offers.
Sustainability-wise, Hurtigruten Norway shared updates plans for its zero-emissions ship.
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