Severe Winter Storm Forces Odyssey of the Seas to ...

There’s nothing like feeling your cruise ship head out to sea to start out your trip and you are feeling these first waves beneath your ft. For company boarding Odyssey of the Seas on Sunday, February 22, 2026, nevertheless, that feeling will come later than anticipated.

Odyssey of the Seas is homeported from Bayonne, New Jersey (Cape Liberty), and an impending winter storm will maintain the ship at her homeport in a single day, fairly than setting sail on her 7-night Bahamas cruise.

Royal Caribbean has reached out to company boarding the Quantum-Extremely Class ship to alert them to the state of affairs and what to anticipate for his or her Sunday embarkation.

“Because of the winter storm approaching the Bayonne space, we expect excessive winds and tough seas,” the notification defined. “For that reason, we’ll stay alongside in a single day till situations are secure.”

The previous month has been significantly difficult for any cruise ships homeported alongside the Atlantic coast from Charleston to New York. Cruise Hive has reported on quite a few ships delayed by completely different winter storms.

The Sunday forecast for Bayonne contains morning rain altering to snow and strengthening to blizzard situations by night, with winds which may be as excessive as 25 miles per hour within the night hours. Gusts might attain 50 miles per hour.

The National Weather Service has a blizzard warning in impact from Sunday at 1 p.m. till Monday at 6 p.m. A complete accumulation of 12-18 inches of snow is anticipated, with the strongest winds Sunday night into Monday afternoon.

Presently, there isn’t a change to the ship’s embarkation timing or course of, and company are nonetheless anticipated to reach throughout their arrival time appointments and be onboard earlier than the ultimate boarding time.

“We shall be closing the gangways to align with our deliberate departure time,” the cruise line confirmed.

Which means that despite the fact that the cruise ship will stay docked in a single day, company who arrive late won’t be permitted to board. Odyssey of the Seas can welcome as many as 5,510 company when absolutely booked, and all vacationers should arrive on time.

The night’s onboard expertise will, by necessity, be adjusted considerably. Native legal guidelines and laws require that the onboard retail outlets and the Royal On line casino stay closed till the ship departs.

Will the Itinerary Be Modified?

Friends booked on the cruise are naturally involved about whether or not or not their deliberate itinerary can proceed or if there shall be any port cancellations or changes.

Odyssey of the Seas was anticipated to go to Port Canaveral on Tuesday, February 24, adopted by Excellent Day at CocoCay on Wednesday and Nassau on Thursday earlier than the ship heads again to New Jersey for debarkation on Sunday, March 1.

Whereas there have been no confirmed itinerary adjustments as but, the ultimate determination won’t be made till the ship’s departure time from New Jersey is confirmed.

“We’ll share an up to date itinerary with you as quickly as our departure time from Cape Liberty is finalized,” the cruise line stated.

Friends who’ve had earlier sailings delayed by storms in the identical means have shared typical changes on Reddit, noting that it’s unlikely the ship will maintain all her authentic port visits.

“We had this in October on Symphony. Ended up leaving Bayonne/Cape Liberty Tuesday round 5 am as an alternative of Sunday,” one visitor described. “We ended up skipping Port Canaveral and Nassau however had additional time at CocoCay.”

Royal Caribbean will try and protect as a lot of the unique itinerary as potential, however the security of the ship, her company, and her crew are all the time the primary precedence.

Friends ought to journey fastidiously to the cruise port on Sunday and keep affected person with the crew onboard as the ultimate crusing plan is labored out for the absolute best cruise trip in these difficult climate situations.