Ruby Princess Drops Kauai as Island Recovers From Hurricane Lowell

Image: Princess Cruises

Passengers setting sail for Hawaii aboard Ruby Princess will miss one of the cruise's scheduled island stops as Kauai continues recovering from extensive damage caused by Hurricane Lowell.

Ruby Princess departs San Francisco on 17 September for a 16-night round-trip Hawaiian Islands cruise, but Princess Cruises has removed the ship's scheduled call at Nawiliwili, Kauai, on 22 September.

Instead, passengers will receive additional time in Honolulu, with Ruby Princess arriving earlier and remaining overnight.

The change comes more than a week after Hurricane Lowell brought damaging winds, heavy rain and high surf to Kauai, causing widespread power outages, damaged homes and infrastructure and significant disruption across the island. 

Kauai was originally scheduled to be Ruby Princess's first Hawaiian port of call following four days at sea from San Francisco.

The ship was due to arrive in Nawiliwili at 8am on Tuesday, 22 September and remain until 5pm.

Princess has now advised passengers that the call has been cancelled because of the ongoing effects of Hurricane Lowell.

Rather than replacing Kauai with another island, Ruby Princess will continue directly to Honolulu.

The ship was originally scheduled to visit Honolulu from 7am until 9pm on 23 September, but Princess says that stay will now be extended into an overnight visit.

The remainder of the Hawaiian itinerary, including calls at Kona and Kahului, is currently expected to proceed as planned. 

Although Hurricane Lowell has long since moved away from Hawaii, the impact on Kauai has been substantial.

The storm passed west of Kauai early on 8 September, bringing damaging winds, heavy rain, high surf and coastal surge.

At the height of the storm, around 90% of Kauai Island Utility Cooperative's more than 36,000 customers were without electricity.

By 15 September, power had been restored to approximately 83% of the island, but 6,488 customers remained without electricity, with particularly significant damage affecting parts of the North Shore.

County authorities said there was still no timeline for completing some of those repairs.

The damage extends well beyond electricity infrastructure.

By 12 September, authorities had assessed more than 300 properties, identifying at least 57 homes with major damage and seven that had been destroyed.

Some parks and facilities have begun reopening as recovery progresses, but several beach parks remain closed, water conservation measures continue in parts of the island and crews are still repairing infrastructure.

One particularly important detail for Ruby Princess passengers is that Nawiliwili Harbor is operating, but not for cruise ships.

In its 14 September recovery update, the County of Kauai confirmed that Nawiliwili Harbor had reopened to cargo vessels but specifically noted that cruise ships were not coming into the port.

That distinction matters.

Ruby Princess's cancellation isn't simply a case of Princess deciding the island might not offer the normal shore-excursion experience. Kauai remains in an active recovery period, with local authorities prioritising essential services, infrastructure repairs and residents affected by the hurricane.

Tourism authorities have also been encouraging visitors to postpone non-essential travel to Kauai while recovery work continues.

For Ruby Princess passengers, the consolation is considerably more time in Honolulu.

Rather than a conventional daytime port call, the revised itinerary gives passengers an overnight stay in Hawaii's capital.

That opens up considerably more flexibility for exploring Oahu without the usual pressure of watching the clock for the ship's departure.

It doesn't quite replace a day exploring Kauai, particularly for passengers who specifically booked the itinerary to visit the island, but it's certainly more useful than simply adding another sea day.

And there will already be plenty of those.

The 16-night cruise includes four consecutive sea days travelling from San Francisco to Hawaii and another lengthy Pacific crossing on the return journey, with a final call at Ensenada, Mexico, before Ruby Princess returns to San Francisco on 3 October.

Ruby Princess's altered itinerary is also a useful example of how a major weather event can continue affecting cruise schedules well after the storm itself has disappeared from the forecast.

The decision about whether a ship can visit a destination isn't only about whether the weather is safe on the day.

Ports need to be operational, roads need to be accessible, shore excursions need to be able to operate safely and destinations need the capacity to accommodate thousands of cruise passengers without interfering with recovery efforts.

In Kauai's case, residents are still dealing with damaged homes, power outages and disrupted infrastructure more than a week after Hurricane Lowell passed the island.

For now, Ruby Princess passengers will have to save Kauai for another visit.

But given what communities across the island are still dealing with, giving Kauai some time to recover is probably considerably more important than ticking another port off the itinerary.