Ida Rumbles On

Ida left some very sad marks on Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Reports are that over 100 lives were lost and more than 500 homes were destroyed. Americans, please remember our southern neighbors in your prayers
Now weakened again to a Tropical Storm - after becoming a Category 2 hurricane, Ida is now poised to make her presence known to the upper Gulf Coast of the United States.

Cruise itineraries have been affected - some more, some less.
A few ships substituted another port for Cozumel, spent an unscheduled day, or re-ordered their port stops. These included Carnival's Liberty, Inspiration, and Conquest, as well as the Crown Princess. NCL's Spirit found it necessary to leave from New Orleans about an hour and a half early for her current cruise. Hopefully, all the cruisers on these ships were equipped with their favorite cure for motion sickness , such as Cruise Ready Store's best-selling natural motion sickness remedy, Gin-gins double strength hard ginger candy


Passengers on two other ships will experience more drastic changes to their cruise vacations.
CARIVAL FANTASY's November 10 six day cruise will be shortened to five days, departing on November 11, with the visit to Progresso being eliminated. These passengers willl will receive a one day pro-rated refund of the cruise fare paid for the 6 day cruise.
CARNIVAL TRIUMPH's November 10 four day cruise will be shortened to a three day cruise, departing on November 11 instead. The ship will not visit Cozumel, and passengrs will receive a 50% refund of their cruise fare.

Ida Approaching Hurricane Strength in NW Caribbean

First things first - there has been no reported loss of life in either Nicaragua or Honduras from Ida. This may be due to the fact that she took a more northerly than first expected route across the two countries, and spent less time than projected getting herself back out into open water.

She emerged earlier than forecast into the NW Caribbean Sea, as a Tropical Depression, but has quickly ramped back up, and now, with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, is once again nearing hurricane status.

The northeastern coastline of the Yucatan Peninsula (including Cozumel) is under a Hurricane Watch, while other areas of the Caribbean are under Tropical Storm Warnings and Watches, including western Cuba, Grand Cayman, and the Isle of Youth. Cozumel is probably in for some real weather

ITINERARY CHANGES - IDA
The Carnival Liberty will alter her itinerary, postponing the schduled port of call at Cozumel, and calling instead at Ocho Rios on Monday. Other changes may also be needed with other ships. I will post any that I am made aware of. Now is the time for everyone who is about to cruise to keep a wary eye on Ida. If at all possible, it would be wise to arrive at your port of embarkation a day early, just to be on the safe side.

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EDIT at of 5 AM Sun, Nov 8, Ida is a strong catetory 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 90 MPH. She was upgraded to a hurricane just before midnight last night.

Tropical Storm Ida Has Formed

Tropical Depression Number 11, which formed earlier today in the southwstern Caribbean Sea, not far from the coastline of Nicaragua, has intensified to tropical storm strength, and is named Ida. Ida is the 9th named storm of the 2009 Atlantic Basin Hurricane Season. Within the last hour, an Air Force Rconnaissance plane found sustained winds of nearly 60 MPH, with a minimum central pressure of 996 mb.

The system is moving slowly toward the WNW, but is expected to slow more, turn NW, and make landfall on Nicaragua's east coast sometime tonight, possibly producng very dangerous flash flooding and mud-slides. Ida's 'long term' future will be determined by where she hits, and what path she takes over Nicaragua. Meanwhile, the short term future of many Nicaraguans will be determined by Ida. I'll worry about what might happen to Ida down the line after her initial encounter with land. For now, let's hope the people of Nicaragua escape any major effects from this late season storm.