Hurricane Fiona affecting the cruise industry

With Tropical Storm Ian having formed in the western Caribbean Sea and likely turning into a hurricane, all eyes are still on Hurricane Fiona as it churns up the eastern Atlantic.

And Fiona has been a beast, particularly on the cruise industry.

Earlier this week, Norwegian Cruise Line was forced to re-route the Norwegian Getaway from its planned sailing from New York to Bermuda and instead send the ship north instead to Canada.

“While we always intend to maintain original itineraries, at times, as with hurricanes, it is necessary to modify our ports of call,” the cruise line told guests in a letter it provided to USA TODAY. “As you can imagine, we have been closely monitoring Hurricane Fiona. Due to the storm’s projected path, we will no longer be able to call to Bermuda.”

But even that was iffy and likely not to happen again at the moment since Fiona has also made its way north and, as of today, Saturday, September 24, is battering ports in eastern Canada. More than 400,000 people are currently without power in the country after Fiona came ashore on Friday, hammering the Atlantic coast. According to AccuWeather, ports in Prince Edward Island, eastern Nova Scotia, western Newfoundland, and southeastern Labrador are affected with either high winds, flooding, or both.

It’s the worst hurricane to hit Canada in almost 50 years, since 1977.

There is some good news, however. After Fiona barreled through the Dominican Republic, the island nation said its cruise ports are back up and running.

“The areas affected the most by the hurricane are in the eastern and northeastern part of the country, all areas and provinces towards Punta Cana and Samana. In Santo Domingo the effect was minimal,” Federico Schad, president/director Bahia Cruise Services, told Seatrade Cruise News. “In most of the affected areas power has been re-established and they are receiving important help from the government, the private sector, and NGOs (non-governmental organizations). In the resort areas in Punta Cana most hotels are OK and back in operation. In Samana we have some hotels with damages which will need some repairs.”