Carnival Cruise Line Moves Up Departure Times on 93 More Sailings

More notification letters have begun going out to guests booked on Carnival Liberty and Carnival Splendor, adjusting their cruise departure times to 30 minutes earlier than originally planned.

Cruise Hive has obtained letters for both ships and confirmed that, in total, 93 sailings have been moved to earlier departures, with sailing dates as soon as December 2026 and extending into November 2027.

These changes follow the recent adjustment of 153 sailings aboard Carnival Elation and Carnival Glory, bringing the total number of ship departures with earlier sailaway times to 246 different cruises.

Carnival Liberty Departure Adjustments

Every Carnival Liberty sailing from the ship’s January 3, 2027 departure through and including her November 20, 2027 departure has now been moved 30 minutes earlier and will depart New Orleans, Louisiana at 3 p.m. instead of 3:30 p.m. This gives 47 sailings a new sailaway time.

The 2,974-guest ship is offering mostly 7-night cruises during that time. Depending on the exact departure date, Carnival Liberty is scheduled to visit destinations such as Key West, Celebration Key, Nassau, Isla Tropicale, Belize, Cozumel, Montego Bay, and Grand Cayman.

Only two sailings impacted by the departure change are not weeklong cruises. The ship’s November 14, 2027 departure is a 6-night itinerary to Belize and Cozumel, while the November 20, 2027 departure is an 8-night cruise to Nassau; RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay; and Celebration Key.

Both of those sailings will also depart New Orleans at the earlier time, letting guests get into the cruising fun 30 minutes sooner than originally planned.

There is no change to any of the port visit times or when Carnival Liberty is expected back in New Orleans for any of the impacted sailings.

Carnival Splendor Departure Adjustments

Sailing from Sydney, 46 Carnival Splendor departures are now changed to a 3 p.m. departure instead of setting sail at 3:30 p.m. as originally planned. Adjusted to the new, earlier sailaway are the ship’s five departures in December 2026: December 8, 13, 17, 26, and 30.

Also setting sail earlier are the following 41 departures in 2027:

• January 13, 27, 31
• February 4, 13, 25, 28
• March 9, 18, 22, 26
• April 8, 11, 15, 22, 25, 29
• May 13, 26
• June 4, 7, 16, 20, 24, 27
• July 1, 14, 18, 27
• September 17, 20, 24, 27
• October 1, 4, 8, 22, 31
• November 16, 20, 23

The 3,012-guest Carnival Splendor is sailing a diverse offering of itineraries through these dates. Cruise lengths ranging from 4-15 nights, though the longer sailings are not impacted by this change and guests should double check their cruise departure date for the earlier sailaway time.

There are no departures for Carnival Splendor adjusted in August 2027 because the ship will be out of service and in dry dock at that time. Her last departure will leave Sydney on July 31 (still sailing at 3:30 p.m. for that cruise!) and is a 15-day one-way voyage to Singapore, visiting Moreton Island, Airlie Beach, Cairns, Lembar, and Benoa along the way.

Carnival Splendor returns to Sydney to begin departures again from September 17, and that first post dry-dock departure does have the earlier sailaway time.

As with Carnival Liberty, there are no other itinerary adjustments to ports of call, port visit times, or return to homeport times for Carnival Splendor at this time.

Carnival Cruise Line has not offered more details about why so many sailings are having their homeport departures adjusted by 30 minutes, but such changes are not uncommon. Port operations, berth schedules, pilot availability, and other factors all impact exactly when cruise ships are able to set sail.

All guests on now-adjusted departures will want to be sure they arrive at the cruise terminal with adequate time for check-in before the final boarding time printed on their boarding passes. Guests who arrive late may be denied boarding and be unable to set sail.