Four of the five people killed during Friday’s shooting in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport’s Terminal 2 were cruise passengers. Port Everglades, only two miles from the airport, closed briefly to incoming vehicles on Friday, but reopened just after 17.00 local time. On Friday two ships — Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam and the Caribbean Princess of Princess Cruises – delayed their departures for several hours to accommodate late-arriving passengers, some of whom had been at the airport but were detained, waiting for authorities to give them permission to leave.
Many cruise lines chose to delay additional ship departures for a few hours on Saturday because flights into Fort Lauderdale airport were either cancelled or late.
They included Carnival Conquest, Coral Princess Holland America’s Eurodam and Royal Caribbean’s Harmony Of The Seas and Freedom Of The Seas.
Costa Cruises arranged flights to Nassau, the Bahamas, on Saturday, for two of its passengers unable to reach Costa Deliziosa prior to its Friday night departure. Similarly, Carnival Cruise Line arranged for 20 guests delayed at the airport Friday to fly to their Carnival ship in Nassau.