The three Florida ports that were closed due to the approach of Hurricane Ian are back open. All of the ports that were closed earlier in the week reopened on Saturday.
On Tuesday, as Hurricane Ian bore down on the west coast of Florida, and as Port Canaveral closed to marine traffic at 12 a.m. on Wednesday, PortTampa Bay closed to marine traffic. The port was shut down at 12 p.m.
Five cruise lines were forced to cancel voyages out of the three ports that had been scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
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Half a dozen cruise ships that have been stuck at sea for the past couple of days will be able to return to their bases on Saturday. It was due in Port Canaveral on Thursday as well.
The closest cruise ports to the path of Hurricane Ian were closed. The ports were not in the path of Hurricane Ian, which has caused destruction and loss of life in Southwest Florida.
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The cruise port closest to where the storm hit with winds of around 150 mph was more than 100 miles away. As it moved across the state, the storm weakened greatly.
The boat ramps and Jetty Park at the port will be closed until further notice due to storm damage, but the roadway around the port are open and cruise ships have been cleared to resume operations.
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Passengers on cruises scheduled to depart this weekend should check with the cruise lines for the most up to date schedules, according to a statement from the port.
No damage to port facilities was reported in a statement on the website. The assessment of the docks, wharfs and terminals was done by the Port's PUSH teams. The port is open for business because commercial vessel traffic is being held back for a return to full operations.
JAXPort did not mention any port damage and said that it was open.
Three of the ships that were delayed returning to the three ports this week, Carnival Paradise, Carnival Liberty and Carnival Elation, will be back in port Saturday.
The Carnival ships scheduled to return to the ports of Baltimore, Norfolk, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina on Saturday morning would arrive late because of Hurricane Ian.
Carnival said the Baltimore-based Carnival Legend and Norfolk-based Carnival Magic would arrive later than expected. The subsequent departures of the ships will be delayed.
Carnival said that it would return to the city once the port reopens. The ship was supposed to leave Saturday, but it is now delayed. The ship is expected to leave on Sunday instead of Saturday. It will be shortened by one day.
Passengers on the delayed sailing will get a pro-rated refund of the cruise fare and a $50 onboard credit. Passengers can cancel their trip at the last minute for a full refund.
The Independence of the Seas, which was stuck at sea due to Ian, would return to its home port on Saturday.
Disney Wish, one of the Disney Cruise Line's ships, will now return to Port Canaveral on Sunday.
The airports in the vicinity of the ports reopened as well. On Friday, American Airlines resumed operations out of two airports. On Saturday, the carrier resumed operations.
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