Carnival Cruise Line recently sent a letter informing guests of changes to the itinerary of several of their cruise ships. In the notice, dated January 19, the cruise line informs those that are booked onboard of changes that mainly affect the embarkation timings.
The changes will affect cruises taking place between now and November 2025 and will affect the following ships: Carnival Dream, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Glory, Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Conquest, and Carnival Liberty. This news follows departure changes for three Spirit-class vessels, which Cruise Hive reported here.
Carnival Dream Sailing from Galveston
Cruises departing on October 21, 2023, October 19, 2024, January 13, 2024, and November 1, 2025, will now leave Galveston at 5 PM instead of the usual departure time of 3:30 PM. Furthermore, for all cruises except the January 13 sailing, the time in port for San Juan, Puerto Rico, has been adjusted to be from 1 PM to 9 PM.
Carnival Freedom Translatlantic Cruise from Barcelona, Spain
The Carnival Freedom cruise sailing on October 23, 2023, will depart Barcelona, Spain, at 7 PM instead of the original 5 PM departure time. This 14-night transatlantic cruise will include ports of call in Valencia and Malaga, Spain; Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, Spain; Kings Wharf, Bermuda, and Port Canaveral, Florida.
Carnival Glory, From New Orleans
The cruise sailing on December 3, 2023, onboard Carnival Glory will now set sail from New Orleans at 5 PM instead of the originally scheduled 6 PM. The 14-day cruise will include stops in Montego Bay, Jamaica; Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; Cartagena, Colombia; and Aruba.
Carnival Sunshine, sailing from Charleston, South Carolina
Carnival Sunshine cruises sailing on December 4, 2023; January 15, 2024; and December 2, 2024, from Charleston, will now have a new departure time of 5 PM.
The two December sailings will visit St. Thomas; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Amber Cove, Dominican Republic; and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos. The January 15, 2024, sailing will visit St. Thomas; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Basseterre, St. Kitts; St. Croix; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Carnival Conquest From PortMiami
The Carnival Conquest cruise sailing on January 28, 2024, will depart from PortMiami at 5 PM. This cruise will also include a stop in Grand Turk instead of the initially scheduled visit to Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic.
Carnival Liberty Panama Canal Cruise from New Orleans
The December 1, 2024, cruise onboard Carnival Liberty from New Orleans will now set sail at 5 PM. This Panama Canal Cruise will visit Georgetown, Grand Cayman; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; Cartagena, Colombia; Colon, Panama (Panama Canal); Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, and Cozumel, Mexico.
It is commendable that Carnival Cruise Line has informed guests of these changes in advance. This allows guests to make any necessary adjustments to their travel plans and be aware of any changes to their itinerary before they depart on their cruise.
Carnival has already updated the changes for all these voyages on January 20, and guests are encouraged to check their itinerary for any updates or revisions.
It’s not clear why the cruise line made these changes. It is possible that they were made to optimize the embarkation experience for guests, but the specific reasons for these changes have not been provided.
