NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A cruise scheduled to sail to the sunny Bahamas this week took a northward turn for the worse when it was diverted to cold Canada. More than 5,000 passengers boarded Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas in New Jersey on Oct. 18, awaiting a seven-day cruise to Florida and the Bahamas. But forecasts of storms off the East Coast led the cruise line to change the itinerary, sending the ship north to Halifax, Nova Scotia, according to reports. The ship stopped in Halifax for about 24 hours, giving passengers time to explore the coast, shop and take harbor tours. She left Wednesday night and is scheduled to return to New Jersey on Sunday after three days at sea. OUTRAGED CRUISE PASSENGERS Speak Out About ‘IMMENSE DISAPPOINTMENT’ AFTER BRUSH CANCELLATION The line announced the itinerary change the night before the ship was set to sail, reportedly leaving passengers with little time to adjust. Royal Caribbean replaced Oasis of the Seas’ planned stops in Florida and the Bahamas with a stop in Halifax after forecast storms off the East Coast. (iStock) “My husband was like, ‘This is a joke, right?'” New Jersey resident Marie Durning told CTV News. “I have my winter hat and my earmuffs, but I forgot my scarf,” she said, adding that she had to scramble to repack. Daytime temperatures ranged from the 40s to 50s this week in Halifax, with overnight lows in the 30s, according to weather reports. It was an opportunity to make the most of an unknown city. “I’m grateful and I’m going to make the best of it,” Jim Matthews, who lives near Paterson, New Jersey, told the outlet. “And I discovered that Halifax is a beautiful city.” Passengers (not pictured) had only hours’ notice before their Bahamas-bound cruise was rerouted to Nova Scotia. (iStock)But not everyone was on board.CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER “I’m already from Canada and I wanted to go to the Bahamas,” Nicholas Meli, who drove seven hours with his family from Toronto to New Jersey to board, told CTV News. Online, commenters on Reddit’s r/canada thread expressed sympathy for the passengers, but also shared their fondness for Halifax. LIFESTYLE NEWS One commenter called it their favorite Canadian city to visit, but said they would be “bummed” if they ended up there while waiting for a beach vacation in the Bahamas. Halifax was the cruise’s only port stop, giving passengers about 24 hours on land before three days at sea. (iStock) Another summed up the change more directly, writing: “Halifax is beautiful, but it’s not the Bahamas.” TRY OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ. LA GENTE reported that passengers received a 50% travel voucher and refunds for shore excursions. Weather and other circumstances may cause Royal Caribbean to modify or substitute ports, according to its website, and it is not necessarily obligated to refund fees or provide compensation. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APPFox News Digital has reached out to Royal Caribbean for comment. Deirdre Bardolf is a lifestyle writer at Fox News Digital.
