While it's hurricane season and anything can happen, it's rare that two hurricanes strike one after the other along similar paths.
Americans are still suffering from Hurricane Helene while they brace for the impact of Milton, a storm expected to develop into a Category 3 hurricane.
Related: Royal Caribbean shares bad weather warning for passengers
Milton's path won't be exactly the same as Helene's, which might spare some of the people in the Carolinas who are still without power. But Florida's West Coast, including Tampa, appears to be in the path. That has led to a number of cruise lines, including Carnival and Royal Caribbean, issuing statements on the storm.
Both cruise lines are making preemptive itinerary changes, although the changes so far have been minimal. The companies have issued statements telling their passengers everything they know up to now.
Separately, Margaritaville at Sea announced that its Islander Cruise, which was scheduled to leave Tampa on Tuesday, will leave on Monday.
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Image source: Matthew Frankel/Come Cruise With Me
Carnival Cruise Line shares weather update
Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald has the very difficult job of telling his company's passengers that there really aren't any answers yet.
"Many of you asking me today about Tropical Storm Milton. As always I promise that our Chief Communications Officer Chris and his team will share any updates and I will do the same here for you all. There are no changes yet of course but we are making announcements to guests on some ships. Here is one example:
CARNIVAL PARADISE – 10/06/2024
MONITORING TROPICAL STORM MILTON
CAPTAIN’S ANNOUNCEMENT:
Good afternoon, Carnival Paradise guests. Welcome aboard. This is Captain Persico with an update regarding the weather.
In partnership with our Fleet Operations Center in Miami, we are actively monitoring Tropical Storm Milton that has developed in the Gulf of Mexico. Everyone’s safety is our priority, so we will continue to monitor weather forecasts and provide timely updates if it becomes necessary to make changes to our itinerary.
Heald also offered his sympathy for people still feeling the impact of Hurricane Helene.
"And it is of course those who are writing to me who lived through Helene in recent days and who still have no power that I feel such sympathy for. I can only hope that that Milton passes you by and that you stay safe and well," he added.
Royal Caribbean has a chief meteorologist
While Carnival Cruise Line has a consulting meteorologist, Royal Caribbean employs Craig Setzer as its full-time chief meteorologist. He has been offering storm updates on his X, the former Twitter, page.
"There is not much change to the forecast track with Milton Saturday evening, but the intensity forecast now calls for category 3 near landfall on the west coast of Florida," he wrote.
He did offer some certainty of the path.
"Unlike a storm moving north & along the coast where little track shifts make large up/down the coast differences," he wrote, "little shifts will not change landfall location as much, bigger shifts matter and that's what we will watch for. Regardless, along the west coast we will need to start preps for a potentially significant hurricane event on Sunday."
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Helene hit Florida's West Coast, but also caused problems at Port Canaveral. Fort Lauderdale and Miami were minimally impacted. The cruise line has already made itinerary changes for Harmony of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas and Utopia of the Seas.
None of those ships have had their arrival or departure date affected, according to Royal Caribbean Blog, which is not affiliated with the cruise line.
Update 9:56 a.m.:
Setzer added a new Tweet and shared some added insight.
"One thing I will be watching closely is the Tuesday morning turn to the northeast. This turn, when it happens and how much it is realized, will likely have large implications for where on the Florida west coast the hurricane core makes landfall," he wrote.
That could have a major impact on sailings out of Tampa.
"If the turn is delayed, then Milton could end up coming ashore well south of Tampa. However, if the turn is earlier, then it could come in north of Tampa. Either way, Tampa remains in the middle of the threat, and more importantly, we can't wait until Tuesday to start preps, they need to be started now," he added.
Setzer does not believe that South Florida's ports face a significant impact.
"I think the turn will happen, just how much. I don't think South Florida will have a direct impact, but outside bands could be stronger if the track slides further south," he wrote.
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