Irene Damages Cruise Lines Private Islands

While Hurricane Irene passed through the Bahamas, she blew through Royal Caribbean’s CocoCay and Norwegian’s Great Stirrup Cay, as well as rerouting a Disney ship in order to inspect their facilities at their private island, Castaway Cay.  The storm forced two cruises to have extended voyages, and also shortened some cruises whose departures were scheduled for last weekend. 

Royal Caribbean stated that they do not yet know when their ships will be able to return to CocoCay, citing that they have a Miami team heading to the private island now to assess the damage, spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez reported to USA Today. 

Additionally, Norwegian’s spokeswoman Amanda Green stated that their team is already out there assessing the damage to their Great Stirrup Cay, and will be providing updates accordingly.

It is not certain until the damage is assessed how the storm’s effects on the islands will alter cruise scheduling in the future, but visits to CocoCay and Great Stirrup Cay for now are halted.