Hurricane Harvey: 20,000 Cruise Ship Passengers Stranded At Sea

GALVESTON, TX — While most are trying to get out of the Galveston area as Hurricane Harvey zeros in on the coast, vacationers hoping to debark three Carnival Cruise Ships and one Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship at the Port of Galveston will be at sea a little longer.

The Carnival Cruise Ships Freedom and Valor, which have been on a voyage to the western Caribbean from the Port of Galveston for several days, were scheduled to dock in Galveston this weekend but will instead be redirected to New Orleans until Hurricane Harvey passes.

Hurricane Harvey, which was upgraded to a category 3 storm on Friday, is projected to make landfall late Friday, resulting in the closure of the Port of Galveston.

The closure of the port stranded an estimated 20,000 passengers and crew members on four ships, the Houston Chronicle reported..

Officials said passengers on Freedom and Valor will be ferried back to Galveston on the cruise ships, or they can debark the ships on their own with no penalty, KHOU reported.

A Royal Caribbean Cruise ship was also scheduled to dock this weekend, and the Carnival Breeze, which is still in Cozumel, will spend the night docked there before making its way back to the coast.

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