Hurricane Erin's outer bands were beginning to lash the southeast Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands early Monday after regaining Category 4 strength overnight.

Carnival Sunshine’s current cruise will sail to the Bahamas instead of Bermuda due to the impact of Hurricane Erin. “Our Fleet Operations Center continues to actively monitor Hurricane Erin,” the company said in a statement sent to guests onboard.

Residents in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos braced for the dangerous Category 4 storm after it strengthened over the weekend while sweeping past Caribbean islands.

CBS News confirmed that both were Carnival Cruise ship passengers on Caribbean trips with their families. They were sailing on the Mardi Gras and Carnival Elation ships. CBS described Celebration Key as "a private resort on Grand Bahama Island that only Carnival cruise passengers can use."

Two American cruise passengers in their 70s drowned in separate incidents on Carnival Cruise Lines' private destination in the eastern Bahamas on Friday. Alize Smith, 28, of Huntley was sentenced to the maximum Aug. 28, after a jury had found him guilty in a Belvidere triple murder.

Police said "a 63-year-old male resident of the USA was spearfishing when he was attacked by a shark, sustaining severe injuries."