According to the industry site CruiseHive, the storm has forced several ships to alter their itineraries and cancel port calls in the affected islands, including MSC's flagship, the World America; and Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas, current record-holder for world's largest cruise ship ( and the white whale for Galveston's port officials ).

As Hurricane Melissa nears Jamaica, cruise trips that left from South Florida are changing their itineraries. Category 5 Melissa is expected to make landfall Tuesday morning on the southern coast of Jamaica, according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasts have it hitting the Bahamas and Cuba later this week.

With Hurricane Melissa moving at speeds of 175 miles per hour and preparing to make landfall on the island nation of Jamaica by the afternoon of Oct. 28, governments are warning their citizens to put off travel, while airlines and cruise lines are calling off trips.

A Norwegian Cruise Line ship is set to come up the St. Johns River on Oct. 31. Here's how to see it and what it adds for cruising from Jacksonville.

Carnival Cruise Line confirmed that five of its vessels had to change their itineraries due to Hurricane Melissa. According to the company’s website weather updates, the Carnival Celebration, the Carnival Dream,

After Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica and the Caribbean, the travel industry quickly responded to support recovery efforts.

Hurricane Melissa is now among the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record. The monster storm strengthened Tuesday before hitting Jamaica, bringing with it maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 kph).

Hurricane Melissa is impacting cruise ships that were scheduled to sail to destinations in the Eastern and Central Caribbean this week. After intensifying and making landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm,