Zuiderdam - Key West Today

[Krazy Kruizers]

According to the schedule, the Zuiderdam was scheduled to be in Key West today.

Did she stop or skip the port?

[finest14]

According to cruisecal.com the Zuiderdam did skip Key West today...

[Esme]

On Wed. I got this message from the ship.

 

Hurricane Dennis is heading towards Jamaica. We should be able to stay well ahead of it on our way to Key West.

 

I've written our friend (works on board) and asked him what happened. Maybe seas were too rough, even for docking.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks

Don't know why I didn't think about that link earlier.

I see that Royal Caribbean had 4 ships that altered their itineraries.

[Twaincruisers]

I heard a reference today on local news that the port of Key West was closed today to cruise traffic. Everyone was ordered to head for the hills...reminds me that I need to check the Sloppy Joe's cam.

 

The web cam shows the business across from Sloppy's to be boarded up; street is wet and there is some pedestrian and auto traffic.

[trubey]

Eeks, thanks for this thread! My m-i-l lives in Key West and I didn't know I should have checked up on her. susan.

[Santa Fe Jim]

The HAL website has this news:

 

"ms Zuiderdam, the only Holland America Line ship in the region, will maintain scheduled operations, arriving at Fort Everglades, Saturday, July 9th at 8:00am and departing for its next cruise at 5:00pm. The ms Zuiderdam did cancel its Key West call today due to a decision by the U.S. Coast Guard to close that port.

 

All other Holland America Line ships are operating as scheduled. At Holland America Line, the safety and comfort of our guests are always our top priorities."

 

 

SFJ

[Fort Everglades?]

[watchdiva]

We were in Key West on Thursday when we learned that the entire Keys were under a mandatory evacuation for all tourists and non-residents and had to cut short our 3 day stay.

 

The Majesty of the Seas was in port that day. During lunch, we spoke with a long-time resident who said she expected that the Port would close on Friday since the storm was expected to be very close to them late Friday afternoon. As it turned out, the storm slowed over Cuba and it was late last night that the effects began to be felt (windy, feeder bands of rain, etc). This AM our local news station is showing feed from Key West and Marathon with periods of intense driving rain and high wind gusts.

 

Seems to me that this was a smart decision on the part of the Coast Guard.

 

Ft. Lauderdale's weather last night and this AM has periods of gusty winds (one gust clocked at 51 mph) and feeder bands of rain. The airport has reported minor cancellations due to weather.

[wdw1972]

On Wed. I got this message from the ship.

 

Hurricane Dennis is heading towards Jamaica. We should be able to stay well ahead of it on our way to Key West.

 

I've written our friend (works on board) and asked him what happened. Maybe seas were too rough, even for docking.

 

 

Key West was closed to all tourists until Monday 7/11. The residents are being allowed to return Sunday 7/10, after being evacuated in case Dennis caused more of a problem. They don't want or need tourists in the area when the residents are getting settled.

[trubey]

However much they tell you that residents are evacuated. Don't believe it. s.

[Krazy Kruizers]

There will always be those who will stick out any storm - anywhere!