NORFOLK, Va. – Three Royal Caribbean cruises originally scheduled to return to Baltimore are now coming to Norfolk instead —another ripple effect of the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge on Tuesday.
Nauticus said passengers who are were aboard the Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas cruise ship as of March 29 would arrive at Norfolk's Half Moone cruise terminal, which is operated by Nauticus, April 4. Two other cruises on the same ship will leave Norfolk shortly after, Nauticus added.
The Vision of the Seas holds 2,500 passengers.
Royal Caribbean tells News 3 passengers impacted by the change are receiving accommodations to make any necessary arrangements. They shared the following statement with us:
"Due to the impact of the tragic collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, on Thursday, April 4, Vision of the Seas will now complete its current cruise in Norfolk, Virginia. Our guests on board will be provided compensation and complimentary shuttle transportation as well as Wi-Fi and phone calls to adjust their travel arrangements.
For Vision’s upcoming April 4 and April 12 cruises, the ship will sail from Norfolk. Our guests booked to sail with us will receive compensation due to the necessary adjustments made to their vacations. After returning from the April 12 cruise, Vision will head to The Bahamas for its previously scheduled maintenance.
Our guests and travel partners are being directly notified of these updates. "
Kim Keizer is a travel advisor in Chesapeake.
As of Friday, she was getting a lot of questions from people interested in taking a cruise after learning at least two cruise ships will be making unexpected stops in Norfolk.
Along with Royal Caribbean, Carnival also chose to divert one of its Baltimore-bound cruise ships to Norfolk.
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there," said Keizer.
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Carnival’s Legend was scheduled to arrive March 31 to drop off passengers at the end of a cruise and then take on new passengers and head back out the same day for another cruise.
“Carnival Corporation and the travel industry, the most important thing is they know that we have our sincere condolences for the tragedy that happened in Baltimore. That said, there are going to be cancellations. So if you are local and you want to go on a cruise with carnival you’ll just need to get on a wait list,' Keizer explained.
If you do, be prepared. You may only get one day’s notice that you’ve gotten a spot and the ships could go back to Baltimore at any time.
“If you do not have a passport, you have to have an original birth certificate issued by the state, not a hospital one, and a government issued ID," said Keizer. "You want to make sure you have any medical conditions noted on your account.”
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“It’s just such a great way to travel," Newport News resident Sharon Hyer said about cruising.
Hyer is excited to have an opportunity to possibly cruise.
She went on a cruise in 2023 and didn’t think she’d be able to go on another one until 2025.
“I’m sorry for the reason they’re going out of Norfolk this year, it’s horrendous," said Hyer. "I can’t stop what happened. If I could turn the clock back, I certainly would, but I might as well try to get on one of them as long as they’re going out of here.”
Norfolk wasn’t scheduled to have any cruises this in 2024 because of a roughly year-long renovation of the city’s cruise terminal taking place.
