The up to 2,980 passengers that embarked on Carnival Freedom on January 23, 2025, were expecting to be sailing toward the Bahamas by 3:30 p.m. EST.
However, the planned departure time came and went, and the Conquest-class ship remains docked in Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida several hours later – presumably due to an environmental issue.
The 110,000-gross ton ship was supposed to be operating a 4-night sailing to Nassau, Bahamas, and Princess Cays, Bahamas (the private island destination belonging to the Carnival-Owned Princess Cruises) – but the extensive delay has called the itinerary into question.
Cruise Hive reached out to Carnival for comment and received the following statement: โCarnival Freedomโs team managed an environmental matter Thursday, delaying the ship’s departure from Port Canaveral. Guests are being kept informed.โ
The Carnival spokesperson did not specify what exactly went wrong, but current passengers have reported that the ship was leaking oil – which of course has to be quickly resolved and cleaned to minimize contamination and potential harm to marine life and their ecosystems.
โCaptain said โenvironmental issueโ…ship is supposedly leaking oil and they are having to clean up,โ one current guest shared.
โI saw what looked like a lot of fuel in the water at 1pm when we boarded,โ another passenger added.
Others shared videos of what looked like a dark shiny sheen on the oceanโs surface – which can be indicative of an oil spill – and have reported sightings of divers and spill control teams.
โThey are loading the divers back up and spill control has just arrived 8pm,โ another guest updated at around 8pm EST.
Itโs unclear what caused the alleged leak – as anything from maintenance issues to damage can result in a spill – but guests that disembarked this morning (January 23) from the previous 5-night Eastern Caribbean sailing reported very rough seas on the journey back to Port Canaveral.
How Will the Carnival Freedom Itinerary Be Affected?
At this stage, itโs a bit too early to tell how Carnival Freedomโs itinerary may change – or if the sailing could be cancelled altogether due to the environmental situation.
Carnival has not specified how long it will take to make necessary repairs or complete the clean up process – nor has the Miami-based cruise line actually confirmed the issue at hand.
That said, current guests are reporting that the 2007-launched ship wonโt be going anywhere until tomorrow, January 24, at the earliest.
This means that tomorrowโs planned call on Nassau – where the ship was supposed to be docked from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. local time – will likely be cancelled, or at the very least, shortened.
โThey just told us the issue isnโt fixed and we wonโt get another update until tomorrow morning. Which SUCKS because we booked Atlantis tickets for tomorrow,โ an impacted passenger wrote on Reddit, referencing one of Nassauโs most popular offerings.
โI am currently on the Carnival Freedom which is stuck in port at Port Canaveral with propulsion issues. Will be leaving at least one day late at this point. They are not telling us much,โ another guest wrote in an email to Cruise Hive.
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Current guests are understandably frustrated – not only because they are not getting the experience they paid for, but also because Carnival is not allowed to open the casino or its shops while in port.
Given the delay and expected itinerary change, it wouldnโt be surprising if Carnival offers compensation – but itโs unclear what form that will take at this time.
Others demanded that Carnival Freedom be sent back to dry dock for further maintenance – she was last there for refurbishments in 2023 – or insisted that she be removed from service entirely, calling back to when she caught fire in 2024 as another example of when things went wrong.
This also isnโt the first time a Carnival ship has been held up by an unexpected environmental situation. Carnival Magic was delayed in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos, by discharged soot back in 2023, but that delay only lasted a few hours and did not impact the itinerary.