MIAMI (WSVN) - A Royal Caribbean cruise that was headed for Texas was forced to make its way to Miami instead.
Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas will dock at PortMiami Tuesday afternoon. The ship was supposed to go to Galveston but was diverted due to Harvey.
Passengers were on board for a total of nine days instead of the original seven days they anticipated.
“They kept us really safe. No complaints at all,” said one passenger.
Photos show passengers onboard the cruise ship watching hurricane coverage on the ship’s TVs.
Cruise line officials originally thought there was a window in which the ship could safely arrive in Galveston. However, the port still remains closed, several days later.
“They said they were keeping us just south of the storm,” said passenger Chantelle Stevenson. “We waited there for almost 12 hours.”
“The Liberty of the Seas is one of the largest ships, and it simply doesn’t fit in New Orleans. It doesn’t fit in Tampa, and the closest port that we could bring the ship to refuel and reprovision is Miami,” said Michael Bayley, president and CEO Royal Caribbean International.
The next sailing of Liberty of the Seas, originally scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 27 was canceled, and all guests will have their fares fully refunded and have been provided with a future cruise credit.
After docking in Miami, half the passengers parted ways with the ship, while the other half will reboard and return to Galveston, Friday.
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