Carnival Cruise Line has made another round of itinerary changes impacting a total of eight vessels due to the removal of calls at Grand Cayman, Puerto Rico and Key West. The changes are limited to just one sailing for each ship.
8 Carnival Cruise Ships with Itinerary Changes
It’s certainly an evolving time at the moment as some cruise destinations either remain closed to the cruise industry or have implemented new complex requirements for cruise ships. Then there is also Key West, where there are calls to ban large cruise ships once again.
With all that, comes another round of itinerary adjustments for eight Carnival cruise ships. However, the impact is limited to just one sailing each. We take a look at each itinerary change and cover the new schedule for each, starting with the earliest sailing.
Carnival Horizon’s January 30, 2022 voyage out of PortMiami in Florida has been completely changed due to the removal of the call at Grand Cayman. Ocho Rios in Jamaica and Cozumel in Mexico have also been removed. The ship will now be calling at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos islands and Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic.
Carnival Sunshine’s January 31 sailing out of Charleston in South Carolina has been adjusted with the cruise line dropping Nassau in the Bahamas. Instead, the ship will be visiting Bimini in the Bahamas and still calling at Princess Cays.
The Carnival Pride, February 5 eight-day sailing out of Tampa, Florida, has dropped the call at Grand Cayman and added Costa Maya in Mexico instead. The original calls to Costa Rica and the partial transit of the Panama Canal will remain.
There is an itinerary change for the Carnival Vista too. The ship’s February 5 seven-day cruise from Galveston, Texas, will no longer call Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman. The Carnival cruise ship will now be visiting Mahogany bay in Honduras and Belize. The original call in Cozumel will also remain.
The seven-day February 6 sailing for the Carnival Glory out of New Orleans has also dropped calls with the cancellation of Montego Bay in Jamaica and Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands. The new itinerary will be Mahogany Bay, Belize and Cozumel.
Carnival Sunrise’s five-day February 7 departure from Miami, Florida, has dropped the scheduled call at Grand Cayman. The ship will still be sailing to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, along with a call at Nassau in the Bahamas.
Carnival Liberty’s February 7 four-day voyage out of Port Canaveral in Florida has removed the call in Nassau. The Carnival ship will now be visiting Princess Cays and Bimini.
And finally, Carnival Ecstasy’s four-day March 31 sailing from Jacksonville, Florida, has completely changed. The ship has dropped the calls to Freeport and Nassau, both in the Bahamas. The Fantasy-class vessel will now be heading to Bimini and the private resort of Princess Cays.
Why All the Itinerary Changes?
Carnival Cruise Line has been making continuous adjustments to itineraries for several months now and just less than a week ago, there were itinerary changes for three Carnival cruise ships. Some ports have implemented new testing requirements for guests, resulting in the cruise line canceling vitis, including at San Juan Puerto Rico.
Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John heald said, “Now if you don’t see your cruise there it means either there are no changes. However, for cruises past the next two weeks we have not finalised anything because work continues at the highest levels to see if we can return to places like Grand Cayman etc.”
It’s also widely known that Grand Cayman has remained closed to cruise ships since the industry-wide pause first started in March 2020. The island planned to welcome its first cruise ship at the end of December 2021, but that call was eventually canceled. Once the Omicron situation is under control, the hope is that cruise ships will be allowed to resume visits to the island.
When it comes to Key West, the cruise destination has been dealing with calls to ban large cruise ships. Carnival Cruise Line has been in talks with local authorities, and it seems that Carnival vessels are staying away until it’s resolved.
Other port changes could be due to scheduling, port agreements, and timing. The cruise line has also warned guests recently to expect changes in the coming weeks and months, and the situation remains fluid.
