Carnival Cruise Line informs guests booked on Carnival Legend’s January 9 sailing from Baltimore that it has been shortened. The vessel will no longer be operating a Panama itinerary with a change of ports as the voyage is now ten days.
Carnival Legend Itinerary Adjusted
The Spirit-class cruise ship’s January 9 sailing out of Baltimore in Maryland has been modified. Carnival Cruise Line has informed booked guests on January 8 that the vessel’s voyage has been shortened and will no longer be sailing to some of the originally scheduled ports.
Carnival Legend was set to depart on a 14-day itinerary, but the ship will now operate an adjusted 10-day voyage. The calls at Panama, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Grand Turk have been removed. The ship will return to Baltimore on January 19, 2022, instead of the original date of January 23.
In a letter sent to guests, the cruise line says, “Given the rapidly evolving COVID-related circumstances around the world, and in an abundance of caution, it will be necessary to modify the itinerary of your cruise. The voyage will now operate as a 10-day cruise returning to Baltimore 4 days earlier, on Wednesday, January 19, 2022.”
The ship will now only be sailing to three ports during the cruising, including Carnival’s private island of Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, St. Maarten, and Antigua. There will be a total of six days at sea.
The cruise line continues to say in the letter, “Unfortunately, this also means we will not be able to operate the Panama Canal itinerary you were expecting. We are truly sorry for this unexpected change of plans and trust you understand we are making this decision given our commitment to the safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit.”
Carnival Cruise Line has not detailed the specific reason for the modified itinerary but does mention Omicron and that ports could deny ships despite small numbers of COVID cases onboard.
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The cruise line says, “We are working closely with local health authorities in all ports on your cruise itinerary. Unfortunately, the rapid spread of the Omicron variant may shape how they view even a small number of cases, even when they are being managed with our rigorous protocols. We want you to know that local authorities at a destination could limit or deny the ship from entering the port.”
One possible reason is the limited resources at ports of call and the destinations needing to focus on dealing with their COVID situation. Carnival continues with, “Some destinations have limited medical resources and are focused on managing their own local response to the variant. Should it be necessary to cancel any or multiple ports, we will do our best to find alternative destinations. However, if we are unsuccessful in doing so, there will be no compensation for missed ports, beyond a refund of any pre-purchased Carnival shore excursions.”
Impacted Guests
It’s a last-minute itinerary change with guests only being notified the day before departure. Likely, many guests have already arrived in Baltimore in preparation for their cruise vacation, including arranging any pre-cruise testing.
To make up for the change, Carnival is offering guests a $300 onboard credit per stateroom, which is in addition to any existing promotional credit that may already be on the account. The cruise line is also providing a 25% future cruise credit to all guests who are confirmed to be on the booking.
Carnival has provided a detailed breakdown of what guests will receive due to all the port changes and the onboard credit as follows:
- You will receive a 4-day pro-rated reduction in your cruise fare which will be refunded to your original form of payment.
- You will receive an onboard credit of $245.80, per person, representing an adjustment of the taxes, fees and port expenses.
- Pre-paid gratuities and pre-purchased beverage and Wi-Fi packages will also be adjusted to reflect the shortened duration and refunded to the original form of payment.
- Pre-purchased Carnival shore excursions for the cancelled ports will be refunded to your Sail & Sign account.
If guests no longer want to go ahead with the Carnival Legend sailing, they can request a full refund in addition to the 25% future cruise credit that’s already being offered. With the call center experiencing long waiting times, the cruise line tells guests to request a refund using an online form.
This news comes during a fluid time in the cruise industry. Multiple ships have already been denied at ports and Carnival Cruise Line is actively adapting its protocols and itineraries to make sure fun-filled cruises can continue.
Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line have already suspended operations on select ships, so far, Carnival Cruise Line has not gone down that route and continues its restart plans.
