Helene disrupts cruise line schedules across Gulf of Mexico
Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall in Florida late Thursday.
Hurricane Helene strengthens as Florida braces for life-threatening winds, storm surge
Helene reached hurricane strength Wednesday morning as it continues to undergo rapid intensification along its journey into the Gulf of Mexico, where it eventually is aiming for a destructive landfall along the Florida Gulf Coast.
As Hurricane Helene swirls toward the Gulf of Mexico and Florida this week, some cruise lines notified passengers of changes to their schedules.
Carnival Cruise Line adjusted itineraries for five of its ships, according to a recent statement.
Carnival Paradise, Carnival Valor, Carnival Breeze and Carnival Horizon canceled scheduled visits to Cozumel, Mexico, this week. Carnival Horizon also canceled a visit to Grand Cayman.
FILE: The Carnival Valor cruise ship. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
In place of Cozumel, Carnival Paradise was rerouted to Costa Maya on Tuesday, while Carnival Horizon will visit Amber Cove, Dominican Republic on Thursday.
For passengers of Carnival Valor, since no other port options were available, officials said the ship was sailing back to New Orleans.
Helene might also affect the status of ports in the U.S. for ships.
Carnival Paradise is slated to port at Tampa Bay, while Carnival Elations is scheduled to port at Jacksonville, but officials noted that the return to those ports may be impacted by the storm.
On the Atlantic coast of Florida, Port Canaveral, a popular port for cruise lines, is on alert as Helene's impacts are expected to stretch across the Sunshine State.
The U.S. Coast Guard set the Port Condition to "X-RAY" for Port Canaveral early Tuesday. This means that the port remains open under normal operations, but expects changes to come as they monitor the situation.
Helene is expected to make landfall in Florida late Thursday.