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Passengers Booked for Bahamas Cruise Diverted to Halifax, Canada
Royal Caribbean rerouted the Oasis of the Seas from a planned Bahamas sailing to Halifax, Nova Scotia, because of forecast storms, leaving more than 5,000 passengers with little notice.
More than 5,000 passengers who boarded Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas in New Jersey expecting a warm-weather getaway instead found themselves bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia. The ship had been scheduled for a seven-day cruise to Florida and the Bahamas when the cruise line changed the itinerary because of forecasts of stormy weather off the East Coast.
The vessel departed New Jersey on October 18 and stopped in Halifax for about 24 hours, giving passengers time to go ashore, shop and take harbor rides. It left Halifax on Wednesday evening and is scheduled to return to New Jersey on Sunday after three days at sea. The northern detour meant that the trip, marketed as a tropical escape, became a cold-weather itinerary.
According to reports, Royal Caribbean announced the change the evening before the ship sailed, leaving passengers little time to adjust. New Jersey resident Marie Durning told CTV News that her husband reacted with disbelief. “My husband said to me, ‘This is a joke, right?’” she said. Durning added that she had packed winter gear, including a hat and earmuffs, but had forgotten a scarf and was left scrambling to repack.
Weather in Halifax this week has been cool, with daytime temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s Fahrenheit and overnight lows in the 30s, according to weather reports. That was a sharp contrast to the Bahamas beaches many passengers had expected.
Reactions among passengers varied. Jim Matthews, who lives near Paterson, New Jersey, said he was making the best of the situation. “I’m grateful and I’m going to make the best of it,” he told the outlet. “And I have found out that Halifax is a beautiful city.” Others were less pleased. Nicholas Meli, who drove seven hours with his family from Toronto to New Jersey to board, said he was already from Canada and had wanted to go to the Bahamas.
Online discussion of the change, including in a Reddit thread on r/canada, mixed sympathy for the travelers with praise for Halifax. One commenter called it their favorite Canadian city to visit but said they would be “bummed” to end up there while expecting a Bahamas beach vacation. Another wrote, “Halifax is gorgeous, but it is not the Bahamas.”
PEOPLE reported that passengers received a 50 percent travel voucher and refunds for shore excursions. Royal Caribbean’s website states that weather and other circumstances can lead the company to alter or substitute ports, and that it is not necessarily required to refund fares or provide compensation in such cases. Fox News Digital has reached out to Royal Caribbean for comment.
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