NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas cruise ship carried around 2,200 passengers as it sailed into the Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center in Norfolk Thursday morning, and it had another 2,200 passengers when it departed just after 5 p.m.
The ship arrived just before 5 a.m.
The estimated time of arrival was between 4 and 5 a.m. The cruise provided buses from the Norfolk cruise terminal to Baltimore, Maryland. Passengers boarded buses between 7 and 11 a.m.
This was in response to the cruise being diverted to Norfolk, following the Baltimore Bridge collapse. The Port of Baltimore is closed to large boats.
The city of Norfolk warned that downtown would be congested in the morning.
Cheryl Murray, who lives in Suffolk, told 10 On Your Side her daughter and son-in-law were on the cruise that arrived Thursday morning. She said she had been planning to meet them at the terminal for a short period until they board the bus back to Baltimore. She said she hasn’t seen her daughter since January.
Murray got to the terminal around 5:30 a.m. Thursday to see her family.
“It’s freezing cold out here, but it’s well worth it to see my babies again,” Murray said.
She was hoping to get at least a couple hours with her daughter and son-in-law since the ship might take a while to get luggage off the cruise and onto the bus, Murray said. Although the family is excited to reunite, they are upset it came as a result of a bridge collapse.
“She was worried about the people getting hurt,” Murray said. “… It’s really terrible thing.”
Murray shared photos with WAVY of her daughter’s cruise experience. She said it was a 12-day cruise that went to Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Kitts and Nevis Island.
The city of Norfolk issued a traffic advisory about the Royal Caribbean’s arrival. There was no on-street parking along southbound Boush Street, from Tazewell Street to Main Street Thursday during the morning and afternoon rush hour. The same ship had passengers arrive Thursday to embark in the afternoon. These passengers parked at MacArthur Center as they used shuttles to take them to the terminal Thursday afternoon.
Nauticus told 10 On Your Side that 2,200 passengers boarded Vision of the Seas. The ship left just after 5 p.m. The Vision-class cruise ship will dock in Orlando Saturday and then travel to three different Caribbean locations. Vision of the Seas is set to dock back in Norfolk at 7 a.m. April 12.
Sean Slater said he’s excited to relax in the sun. He traveled from Scotland and made a whole trip out of the cruise.
“We had a whole holiday booked — New York, Washington, changed to Baltimore, pack up the ship, go on a cruise,” he said.
He later learned that the cruise ship wouldn’t dock in Baltimore anymore.
“We had to panic at the last minute,” Slater said. “We saw the news of Iceland. Even in the UK, we heard from Royal Caribbean and we got the notification through.”
Slater worked with a travel agent to get a car to drive them to Norfolk and back.
“It is what it is,” he said. “I mean, it’s nobody’s fault. It’s not an easy thing to happen. I think Royal Caribbean have done what you could, and, hey, we’re going on holiday, and that’s all we care about.”
For Karen Reuter, the chaos put a damper on the vacation.
Was she excited?
“Not now,” Reuter said. “I’m really angry.”
Reuter and her husband traveled an additional 250 miles from the Keystone State to get aboard the ship. They had to add parking fees to the list of expenses.
“We were going to leave our car in Baltimore where our sons were and park on the street for no charge,” Reuter said.
Her husband said the check-in process was difficult and they had to lug their bags onto the ship themselves.
“It was confusing,” he said.
Carnival Cruise Line is also temporarily moving its Baltimore operations to Norfolk as cleanup continues at the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The Carnival Legend docked in Norfolk Sunday, March 31 with 2,600 passengers.
