The Queen Mary 2, the world's largest ocean liner, has canceled its visit to Portland scheduled for Wednesday because of Hurricane Kyle.

The cruise ship was forced to change its itinerary to avoid the storm, said Amy Powers, director of CruiseMaine, which markets the state's cruise ship ports. Powers said the Royal Princess canceled a visit to Bar Harbor this week for similar reasons.

Hurricane Kyle blew through the Gulf of Maine over the weekend, drenching the Maine coast with rain and whipping up seas offshore before reaching Nova Scotia.

The Queen Mary 2 carries more than 2,600 passengers. Five other cruise ships are still scheduled to visit Portland this week, carrying a total of more than 8,000 passengers.

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