TO CLOSE

Florence regained the strength of its hurricane Sunday and the massive storm could threaten the East Coast later this week.
USA TODAY & # 39; HUI

A growth Hurricane Florence forces cruise ships based on the east coast to change their routes.

More than 4,000 holidaymakers on Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Escape meet today on the way to the Bahamas, instead of Bermuda, as the ship avoids the storm. The ship left New York on Sunday for a three-day visit to King's Wharf Bermuda. Instead, he will call on Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas, as well as in Port Canaveral, Florida.

Two Baltimore-based ships also flew to the Bahamas this week: Royal Caribbean's 2,446-passenger Grandeur of the Seas and Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Pride of 2,124 passengers. The ships left Baltimore on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

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Another Carnival ship, the Carnival Horizon, based in New York, canceled a call Sunday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and changed the date of his call to the Dominican Republic. . He must return to New York on Thursday.

The storm also affected Boston Norwegian Norwegian Cruise Line routes and two ships operated by Oceania Cruises.

In a preventive move, the Norwegian Dawn, with its 2,340 passengers, flew to Canada and New England on Friday instead of Bermuda. St. John, New Brunswick; and Bar Harbor, Maine.

Sirena, a 684 passenger company from Oceania, bypasses Bermuda at the end of a repositioning cruise between Europe and Miami, while the sister ship Insignia changes port.

In total, the changes affect the cruises of more than 15,000 vacationers.

The changes come as the coast of the Carolinas appears more and more threatened by Florence. The National Hurricane Center said on Monday that the Category 4 hurricane was rapidly strengthening and could approach the Carolinas by Thursday.

At 1:00 pm ET Monday, Florence was about 575 miles south-southeast of Bermuda and was moving west at 13 miles per hour. The hurricane has sustained maximum winds of 130 miles per hour, up significantly from Sunday.

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