Hurricane Sandy: Reports of Caribbean Aftermath

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As Hurricane Sandy bears down on the U.S. East Coast, we're monitoring reports of the effect the storm had as it whipped through the Caribbean. A reported 10,000 flight cancellations have happened across North America since Saturday, according to Flightstats.com, which offers a real-time map of canceled flights. The Huffington Post has a Sandy update from the AP about the damage and deaths across Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and other areas. In Jamaica, Sandals Ocho Rios is reporting a delay in welcoming new guests in an article from Travel Weekly.

And in a one-in-a-million chance, apparently the eye of Hurricane Sandy passed over Disney's Castaway Cay, the private island that the Disney Cruise Line visits on its Caribbean cruise itineraries, as reported on SILive.com. Our CT+L cruise expert Cynthia Psarakis was on the Disney Fantasy through this past weekend, and her 7-day itinerary was affected by the storm. The cruise ship did not make its scheduled stop on Castaway Cay as it instead stayed as close to land as possible. "We actually had some sun on Friday," Cynthia says. "They kept us out of the worst weather. There were waves and wind, but the Fantasy crew did a great job of keeping the passengers entertained. Even if the characters came out for the farewell party. On the plus side, they gave us a big discount on a future Disney vacation, not just a cruise, for our inconvenience -- which they don't have to do."

Flights and cruises leaving from the East Coast continue to be canceled or rerouted, making travel to the Caribbean difficult. Google has an excellent interactive map of Hurricane Sandy's path. We'll continue to monitor the news for further Caribbean updates.