Cruise lines cancel voyages as Hurricane Ian heads toward Florida

Cruise lines are canceling trips and rerouting ships as Hurricane Ian approaches Florida, where those in the storm's path readied on Wednesday for storm surges and potentially deadly winds. 

Carnival Cruise Line has canceled a Thursday, Sept. 29 cruise on the Carnival Paradise from Tampa, where the port is currently closed to maritime traffic, along with a sailing the same day from Jacksonville. Passengers will receive a full refund and a 25% credit for future cruises, Miami-based Carnival said in an update posted Wednesday.

Carnival Elation, which departed the now-shuttered Jacksonville port on Saturday, is switching up its itinerary around the Bahamas to bypass the hurricane and will stay at sea until Jacksonville's JaxPort reopens. Carnival Paradise, which left the Port of Tampa Bay on Saturday and was in Cozumel on Wednesday, said it will extend its current sailing until the hurricane has passed and the port in Tampa reopens, possibly on Saturday. 

Friday's Sept. 30 sailing by the Carnival Liberty was canceled from Port Canaveral, which is closed and not expected to reopen until Friday. Further, Carnival cruises that left from Mobile, Alabama; Miami and New Orleans are rerouting their ports of call.

Disney Cruise Line late Tuesday canceled its Friday, Sept. 30 sailing of the Disney Wish due to forecasted weather conditions for Port Canaveral and Central Florida. It also said customers would be fully reimbursed and offered a 20% discount on future cruises. 

Royal Caribbean postponed Thursday's Mariner of the Seas departure from Port Canaveral until Friday, Sept. 30, but that plan is subject to change. 

Norwegian Cruise Line rerouted its Norwegian Sky to Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands from a planned itinerary that had included Grand Cayman, Honduras, Belize and Mexico. The line also canceled a 10-day Caribbean sailing on Norwegian Getaway that was to depart Thursday from Orlando, it stated on its site.

The high seas and winds also prompted the Big M Casino to cancel all of its cruises Thursday, Friday and Saturday, tweeted the company, which operates gambling vessels from Little River, South Carolina.