by Brian Major
Last updated: 12:44 PM ET, Tue October 17, 2017

Cruise ports in Caribbean destinations impacted by Hurricanes Irma and Maria are eyeing a quick return to full operations. Most of the ports are planning to have itineraries original itineraries re-established by mid-November as islands restore normalcy and rebuild tourism infrastructure.

"Of the 50 Caribbean ports our brands call on, only four were significantly affected: St. Maarten, St. Thomas, St. Croix and San Juan," said Adam Goldstein, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s COO and chairman of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), in a conference call this week with media.

"All of those will be welcoming guests before the end of November. We really have a very optimistic view even in the short term."

Goldstein noted that Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas embarked on a cruise from San Juan on October 7 and "has already been on another cruise" since then.

"Recovery is happening very quickly in the affected areas thanks to widespread support efforts and the strength and resiliency of the people in the Caribbean, who are very supportive of one another," said Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corp. "We expect virtually every destination to be up and running in the coming weeks."

The cruise lines' fast progress toward full post-storm operations contrasts sharply with the mixed picture painted by Caribbean tourism officials at last week's Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) State of the Industry conference.

At the gathering, CTO officials said the storm's impact would significantly affect land-based visitor arrivals growth in what had previously shaped up as a strong year. Meanwhile, cruise ship arrivals totaled 15.3 million between January and June of this year according to CTO data, a 4.0 percent increase compared with 2016-passenger growth that cruise officials expect to remain intact.

"From an industry perspective, nothing has changed," said Michele Paige, FCCA's president. "We are keeping the ships in the Caribbean [and] working diligently to return the ships to [original] itineraries."

Aid and Assistance

FCCA is planning a multi-million consumer campaign to educate potential travelers that, despite the storms' devastating impact on the region, a wide majority of destinations emerged unscathed.