By Bob Ivry
The Record (Bergen County, N.J)

HACKENSACK, N.J. — The cruise ship damaged by a freak wave Saturday had changed its itinerary to return early to New York for a taping of "The Apprentice," a source close to Donald Trump's TV show told The Record on Tuesday.

The Norwegian Dawn's original schedule called for the ship to stop in Nassau, a popular port in the Bahamas, before returning to New York at 10 a.m. EDT Sunday. But shortly before the vessel set sail, passengers were told Nassau had been dropped from the itinerary and the ship would return to New York five hours early — 5 a.m. EDT Sunday.

The arrival time was changed "because of a special event happening onboard the ship that day," according to a letter distributed to passengers at the start of the cruise. Norwegian Cruise Lines didn't tell passengers what that event was — an 8 a.m. shoot with The Donald.

Did TV show taping lure cruise ship into a wave-battering storm?, continued