Storm Claudia Forces Cruise Ships To Skip Madeira Calls

Storm Claudia has moved from railways and runways into cruise itineraries around Madeira this week. Rough Atlantic swells and strong harbor winds have already forced captains to skip or divert multiple calls at the Port of Funchal, turning planned port days into bonus sea time or substitute stops elsewhere in the eastern Atlantic.

Jornal da Madeira, citing port authority APRAM, reports that adverse weather in the North Atlantic has led to at least five cruise calls being cancelled or diverted in the week of November 10 to 16, including three ships that were scheduled to berth in Funchal on Saturday, November 15, 2025.Those changes come on top of ferry cancellations between Madeira and Porto Santo under yellow warnings for rain, wind, and waves of up to about 4.5 meters, underscoring that the same system that flooded tracks near Lisbon and soaked Britain and Ireland is now reshaping cruise plans in the region.

For travelers, the message is blunt. In storm season, Madeira is a high reward but weather sensitive call, so calls are never guaranteed and bucket list plans that hinge on a single Funchal day always carry real risk.

Which Ships And Sailings Have Been Hit

According to APRAM, at least five major cruise ships have altered course to avoid Storm Claudia's sea conditions around Madeira.

Oceania Cruises' Marina, carrying about 1,185 passengers on a 56 day voyage between Rome and Miami, abandoned its planned Madeira call and diverted to Arrecife in the Canary Islands instead.P&O Cruises' Iona, with roughly 5,344 passengers on board, skipped Funchal and headed for Cadiz, trading a Madeira day for time along the Spanish Atlantic coast.

Windstar's sailing ship Wind Star, which had been set to visit Funchal with around 120 guests, reworked its itinerary and is now sailing toward Gibraltar after earlier adjustments that added Malaga and Gibraltar in place of Madeira and other islands.

Midweek, Marella Explorer 2 and Regent's Seven Seas Grandeur also lost scheduled Funchal calls, on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, with local reports putting passenger counts at about 1,800 on Marella Explorer 2 and 700 on Seven Seas Grandeur.In each case, captains and port officials judged that the combination of swell, wind, and harbor conditions made berthing or tender operations unsafe, even if conditions might have looked marginally acceptable from a traveler's point of view.

At the same time, other ships have been able to use short weather windows. Vasco da Gama, for example, arrived safely in Funchal on Friday evening, spent the night alongside, then departed on Saturday for La Palma with about 1,385 people aboard, proof that port calls are being decided on a case by case basis as Claudia's bands move through.

Why Funchal Is So Exposed To Atlantic Swell

Madeira sits in the open North Atlantic, and although the Port of Funchal is partially sheltered by topography, it is still vulnerable when strong systems wrap around the island from the south or southwest and drive swell directly into the harbor.Local authorities had already warned of strong sea agitation in the days before Storm Claudia's peak, with the Funchal captaincy and municipal waterfront agency urging people to avoid seafront walks and forecasting waves up to around 4.5 meters on some coasts.

Those marine warnings coincided with the broader naming of Storm Claudia by Iberian meteorological agencies, which issued orange level alerts for heavy rain and wind across parts of Portugal and surrounding waters as the system moved through in mid November.Ferry operator Porto Santo Line also cancelled sailings between Funchal and Porto Santo on safety grounds, citing forecast conditions that could endanger both ship and passengers.

Cruise analysts have long noted that Funchal is among the ports most likely to see calls cancelled or changed, largely because harbor configuration and exposure make it sensitive to swell, especially during late autumn and winter crossings between Europe and the Caribbean.Claudia's week of diversions fits that pattern, and it is a reminder that even a well protected island port cannot always offer a safe approach when the North Atlantic is unsettled.

What Passengers Can Expect For Refunds And Onboard Credits

For most major cruise lines, the legal fine print is simple. Itineraries are aspirational rather than guaranteed, and the line reserves the right to change ports, rearrange calls, or substitute extra sea days when the captain and company judge that conditions make the original plan unsafe or impractical.

When a port like Funchal is dropped because of weather, you can generally count on several things. First, port taxes and fees associated with Madeira are usually removed from the final bill or refunded automatically to your onboard account. Second, any ship operated shore excursions tied to that port are typically cancelled and refunded without you having to do anything, since the cruise line controls both the booking and the cancellation.

Independent bookings are more complicated. Tour operators and private guides may or may not offer refunds when a ship misses port, and some will treat the no show as a full charge unless they have explicitly built in a missed port policy.If you booked directly, your only recourse may be travel insurance that includes specific cover for missed port calls due to weather.

Goodwill gestures like onboard credit, specialty dining vouchers, or future cruise discounts are at the line's discretion, not a legal requirement. In a week where multiple ports and ships are affected by a named storm, lines are more likely to argue that safety and force majeure trump any expectation of compensation beyond the basic tax and excursion refunds.

Planning Around A Weather Sensitive Bucket List Port

The biggest risk with a Madeira heavy itinerary is putting all your hopes on a single narrow window. If Funchal is the centerpiece of a once in a lifetime trip, it pays to plan as if that specific call might not happen.

One strategy is to pick itineraries that offer more than one way to experience Madeira and nearby islands. Routes that pair Madeira with several Canary Islands, Cape Verde, or mainland Portuguese ports give you alternative experiences if the Funchal day is lost to Atlantic swell, rather than leaving you with only an extra day at sea.

If your schedule and budget allow, consider adding a pre or post cruise stay in Madeira itself, flying into Cristiano Ronaldo Madeira International Airport (FNC) a day or two early or lingering after the cruise so that the harbor call is a bonus rather than your only exposure to the island. That way, even if the ship cannot safely berth, you still have time on the ground for Funchal's old town, Câmara de Lobos, or levada walks.

For shore excursions, favor flexible or refundable options. When you book ship run tours, verify that they are automatically refunded if the port is dropped, which is standard practice for the major lines.When booking independently, look for operators who explicitly address missed port scenarios and are willing to refund or rebook if weather intervenes, and avoid sending large non refundable deposits for a single day that could disappear with a captain's safety call.

Travel insurance is the other pillar. Some cruise focused policies now offer specific missed port coverage that pays a fixed benefit if your ship cannot dock at a scheduled port for reasons like bad weather, which can soften the financial hit of lost tours and special reservations.If Madeira or another exposed Atlantic port is the main reason you booked the cruise, it is worth checking whether that add on is available in your home market.

How This Fits Into Storm Claudia's Wider Travel Impact

For travelers following Storm Claudia across multiple modes, the Madeira cruise diversions are part of a broader pattern. Claudia has already triggered rail washouts and signalling failures north and south of Lisbon, which Adept Traveler covered in detail in Storm Claudia Disrupts Rail Links To Lisbon, and it is soaking much of the United Kingdom and Ireland with amber and yellow warnings that are trimming rail schedules and slowing airport transfers in Storm Claudia To Disrupt UK And Ireland Travel.

Seen together, these rail, road, ferry, and cruise disruptions underline how a mid range North Atlantic storm can create a web of moderate but consequential impacts rather than one headline grabbing event. If you are moving through Portugal, Madeira, or the UK and Ireland while Claudia lingers, the safest play is to treat every tight same day connection as fragile, move critical transfers earlier, and have at least one backup plan ready in case the next band of rain or swell forces operators to change course.

Sources

• Mau tempo desviou esta semana cinco navios de cruzeiro
• Boat trips cancelled due to weather
• Warning of Strong sea swells
• Bad weather cancels the visit of two cruise ships to the port of Funchal
• 2025-26 European windstorm season
• Do You Get Compensation For Missed Cruise Ports?
• 10 Cruise Ship Ports Most Likely to Be Cancelled (And Why)