Stormy weather has prompted several cruise ships to cancel scheduled port calls or make detours in Alaska. The storm is bringing rain and heavy gale force winds of up to 60 miles per hour in coastal areas of Southeast Alaska.
Three Princess Ships Rerouted
Three Princess cruise ships – Sapphire Princess, Ruby Princess and Discovery Princess – canceled today’s (September 17) calls in Juneau. Ruby Princess and Discovery Princess are instead in Skagway, while Sapphire Princess was heading to Ketchikan, according to Cruisemapper.
The National Weather Service Juneau issued a storm warning advisory covering the coast and islands of Southern Alaska, like Annette Island, Prince of Wales Island, Baranof Island and Western Kupreanof Island, as well as cruise destinations Juneau and Skagway.
“Rain chances decrease on Thursday as the system will weaken and dissipate. Lower rain chances will linger thereafter as an unsettled pattern remains in Southcentral Alaska,” the NWS advisory said.
Additionally, Caribbean Princess is extending its scheduled stay in Juneau. It arrived on September 16 and will hunker down there until at least 6 pm local time today. This means the ship’s scheduled September 17 call at Skagway has been canceled. The ship expects to continue the remainder of its scheduled itinerary as normal, including calls to Glacier Bay and Victoria, BC.
The storm has upended the schedule of Holland America Line ship Nieuw Amsterdam too. Today’s planned visit at Skagway was scrapped with the ship rerouting to Haines, where it will remain until late evening. It is joined in Haines by small ship American Constellation.
“Due to adverse weather with high winds and heavy swells, we have cancelled our call to Skagway. Instead, we will call to Haines, Alaska until 9:00 pm,” a letter sent to Nieuw Amsterdam guests said.
