Hurricane Dean's presence in the Western Caribbean has forced over a dozen cruise ships to quickly change their itinerary towards the eastern side of the Caribbean this week. The storm, currently moving as a Class Three hurricane through the Yucatan peninsula, has affected Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) the most. According to the company's site, as of Sunday, August 18th, the itineraries of over ten Carnival ships have been altered, forcing them to dock in Eastern ports-of-call or cancel a part of their stay. CruiseCritic.com has reported that a dozen of Carnival's ships were impacted from Dean. The company could not be reached for comment. Only three Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE: RCL) ships needed to steer clear of the storm.
Despite many weather stations calling Jamaica "Ground Zero" all weekend, the island nation received a glancing blow on Sunday. Gene Sloan of USAToday's "The Cruise Log" reported today that Royal Caribbean will be the first to test Jamaica's waters on Wednesday, as originally scheduled. Carnival's spokesman Vance Gulliksen told Sloan their line expects to resume calls in Jamaica next week and plans to return to the Caymans as early as later this week, but is "awaiting final confirmation."
The major question is the impact of Dean on Cozumel and other Mexican ports on the Yucatan Coast. Check out CruiseCritic.com's Hurricane Zone for an updated list of the damage reports.
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