Port Canaveral plans to reopen Saturday, with seven cruise ships expected

Dave Berman, Florida Today
·2 min read
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Port Canaveral is scheduled to reopen to cruise traffic on Saturday, with seven large cruise ships arriving there, starting at 1 a.m.

It will mark one of the busiest cruise days in the port's history.

The U.S. Coast Guard closed Port Canaveral on Wednesday evening because of the impending arrival of Hurricane Ian. The closing resulted in the cancellation of four scheduled cruises out of the port.

Carnival Cruise Line's Mardi Gras will be one of seven cruise ships scheduled to enter Port Canaveral on Saturday.
Carnival Cruise Line's Mardi Gras will be one of seven cruise ships scheduled to enter Port Canaveral on Saturday.

These are the seven ships arriving at Port Canaveral on Saturday and their scheduled arrival times:

  • Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas, 1 a.m.

  • Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas, 1:15 a.m.

  • Disney Fantasy, 5:45 a.m.

  • Carnival Mardi Gras, 6 a.m.

  • MSC Divina, 6:45 a.m.

  • Carnival Freedom, 7 a.m.

  • Carnival Liberty, 1 p.m.

Because the port has only six large cruise terminals to accommodate the cruise ships, the Divina will be leaving the port before the Liberty arrives.

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All seven ships arriving Saturday will be dropping off passengers.

All but the Divina and the Liberty also will be boarding passengers for the ships' next cruises. The Divina's next cruise begins Sunday, and the Liberty's next cruise begins Monday.

On Sunday, the Divina and two other ships will be boarding passengers for cruise — the Disney Wish and the Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas.

These are the four sailings out of Port Canaveral that were canceled:

  • MSC Divina, Thursday to Sunday

  • Norwegian Getaway, Thursday to Oct. 8

  • Carnival Liberty, Friday to Monday

  • Disney Wish, Friday to Monday

Additionally, Victory Casino Cruise will resume sailings on its Victory 1 gambling ship on Saturday, with sailings at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. The ship has twice-daily sailings every day but Mondays and Tuesdays.

The port reopened at 4 p.m. Friday for all ships 500 gross tons and less.

The port said its Rodney Ketcham Park boat ramps and Jetty Park are closed until further notice because of storm damage.”

Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @bydaveberman.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Seven cruise ships expected for Port Canaveral reopening on Saturday