Florence is expected to ravage coastal areas of the US when it makes landfall between Thursday evening and Friday night.
Evacuation orders for more than one million people are in effect, with the National Hurricane Centre predicting its winds could reach up to 150-155mph.
Many cruise ships have been forced to change their itineraries to protect their passengers with many thousands of holidaymakers affected by the route changes of several major cruise companies.
Among the changes have been that of Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Escape, headed for Bermuda, which was forced to divert to the Bahamas after leaving New York on Sunday.
The change affected over 4,000 holidaymakers as the cruise journey changed from a three-day visit to Bermuda’s King’s Wharf to calling at Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas as well as Port Canaveral, Florida. Escape is also making unexpected stops in Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia; St. John, New Brunswick; and Bar Harbor, Maine.
Meanwhile, Norwegian’s Boston-based 2,340-passenger Norwegian Dawn is now heading for Canada and New England on Friday rather than its original itinerary of Bermuda.
Royal Caribbean’s 2,446-passenger Grandeur of the Seas has had to reroute from Bermuda to the Bahamas, while Carnival Cruise Line’s 2,124-passenger Carnival Pride is also having to reroute from Bermuda to the Bahamas after leaving Baltimore on Sunday.
