Key Aspects:

• Carnival Pride arrived in Bermuda more than 15 hours early due to a medical emergency with a guest onboard.
• The ship’s shops and casino operations were closed early to comply with local laws as the vessel arrived in Bermuda.
• Guests were cleared to go ashore after the medical debark was complete and the ship will remain in Bermuda until her originally scheduled departure.

Guests aboard Carnival Pride have arrived in Bermuda earlier than expected for their 7-night sailing. While the ship departed on time from Baltimore, Maryland on Sunday, September 21, 2025, a medical emergency onboard required faster sailing speeds for the ship to ensure the guest could receive appropriate care.

Originally scheduled to arrive at King’s Wharf at 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning, September 24, the ship instead arrived on the evening of Tuesday, September 23.

“One of our fellow guests is experiencing a medical emergency, and we are now heading towards Bermuda for an early arrival,” the notification letter delivered to guests explained.

The nature of the emergency, including the guest’s name, has not been released in order to safeguard their privacy and the privacy of their traveling party.

Carnival Pride arrived at the British territory at roughly 6:30 p.m., more than 15 hours before her original itinerary.

Signed by Captain Isidoro Renda, the letter also explained other necessary timing procedures due to the medical emergency and the early arrival in Bermuda.

“After the medical debark is complete, guests will be cleared to go ashore,” the captain announced.

This meant that guests could enjoy an extra evening ashore in Bermuda if they wished. Due to the docking, however, the onboard shops and casino were required to shut down at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday evening.

All cruise lines must follow the gambling and retail operation restrictions of their port countries. It is standard procedure in most ports of call that onboard shops and casinos be closed while the ship is docked.

Hopefully, no one was so distraught at the loss of a few hours’ of shopping and gambling as to complain and demand compensation. Exactly that happened aboard Carnival Horizon earlier this month.

Due to a medical emergency, that ship returned to PortMiami after departing earlier in the evening, which required the shops and casino to close for several hours. The rest of the ship’s itinerary was not affected.

Fortunately, the early arrival to Bermuda is not going to impact Carnival Pride‘s itinerary any further. The captain confirmed that the ship will remain in port until her originally scheduled departure at noon on Friday, September 26. The all-aboard time remains at 11:30 a.m. on Friday.

While no additional shore excursions were able to be offered through Carnival Cruise Line for Tuesday evening, all pre-planned tours would still go ahead on Wednesday and Thursday as scheduled.

Medical Emergencies Always Take Priority

It is not unusual for a cruise ship to divert in order to facilitate a medical evacuation. While the onboard medical centers are well-equipped, they cannot always provide the best specialized care that may be needed in a life-threatening emergency.

Read Also: Do Cruise Ships Have Morgues?

When necessary, guests will be medically debarked at the nearest suitable port of call. If a ship has just departed, as with Carnival Horizon, returning to the homeport may be a good option.

At other times, a ship at sea will head closer to shore to get closer for a US Coast Guard airlift, as happened on Carnival Venezia on Monday, September 22, 2025.

Sometimes guests may need to be medically debarked at foreign ports of call, depending on the cruise itinerary, or long-distance airlifts might be possible depending on what resources are available.

While the cruise line always wants to be sure guests enjoy their cruise vacations, the safety of everyone aboard is the first and foremost concern. When this means extra measures are necessary to provide emergency care, those measures will always be taken.

Key Aspects:

• A guest is wondering if Carnival Cruise Line offers refunds or compensation for bad weather and rainy days.
• The answer is a resounding no, and nor does any other line offer compensation for poor weather during a cruise vacation.
• Even compensation related to hurricanes is not actually due to weather, but only applies if a cruise is cancelled or shortened.

Every cruise guest hopes their sailing is filled with the perfect temperature, brilliant blue skies, just the right amount of sunshine, and smooth seas. Naturally, cruise lines also want to deliver on that idyllic vacation experience.

But what if that doesn’t happen, and instead a sailing is filled with gray clouds, rain, rough water, and general dreariness? Has the cruise line failed in its vacation obligations and are guests due compensation for their unfulfilled expectations?

John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line’s brand ambassador, responded to a guest’s inquiry about that type of expectation, agreeing with and even praising rival cruise line Royal Caribbean.

“In today’s travel section of my area newspaper, there is a question being asked about refunds for a 5-night cruise that encountered rain every day,” the guest explained. “The writer … took a 12-year-old son on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Unfortunately, it rained every day of her cruise and a port was even cancelled due to the weather.”

The exact ship, sailing date, and itinerary of the impacted sailing is not disclosed, but poor weather can happen on any cruise at any time, anywhere in the world.

“Thinking that the cruise lines were supposed to avoid bad weather by going somewhere else instead of just sailing in a rainstorm for four days the writer is asking what refund or credit she is due,” the commenter continued.

“Royal Caribbean is not going to compensate. Does Carnival Cruise Line compensate for rainy days and if so how much?”

Heald normally redacts the names of other cruise lines from comments and complaints, steadfastly refusing to promote any false assumptions, rumors, or criticisms.

For this very entitled expectation, however, he offered praise and stands with the same policy.

“In this case, we are all in this together,” he said. “I’m glad that Royal Caribbean in this case didn’t give any money to Mrs. Glitterknickers.”

“We would not give anything either. We’re not going to give you cruise compensation because it rained for four days.”

Heald does note that if a shore excursion had to be cancelled because of bad weather, of course a refund would be provided for the tour a guest didn’t get to take.

Nevertheless, simple bad weather is not going to be a cause for any guest to receive a refund of any kind.

“If any cruise line did compensate for rainy days, it would set a precedent of people who are extremely disappointed and expect money back,” he noted.

For example, what about the guest who feels the day might be too hot and uncomfortably humid? Or the guest who gets a sunburn and feels the cruise line is responsible? What if there are too many clouds or too few clouds?

But Guests Get Compensated for Hurricane Changes!

Some cruisers might automatically believe that if their sailing is changed for a hurricane, they receive compensation. So what would be the difference for a simple rainy day?

In fact, no cruise line offers refunds or onboard credit for port and itinerary changes related to hurricanes or tropical storms. These decisions are made for the safety of the ship and everyone aboard, and no compensation is offered.

Only in extreme situations might some compensation be available. For example, if a cruise line has to completely cancel a sailing due to an impending storm, of course, guests will receive refunds.

Similarly, if a cruise is shortened because the homeport is closed and the previous voyage cannot return on time, guests are compensated for the time lost out of their vacation. This has nothing to do with the quality of the weather, however.

Key Aspects:

• Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras called at Santa Cruz de Tenerife for the first time as she sailed a transatlantic cruise from Port Canaveral to Barcelona.
• The ship, which launched in 2021, will enter dry dock for a scheduled three-week maintenance upgrade at a Spanish shipyard.
• Mardi Gras is slated to emerge from dry dock and depart from Barcelona on October 16, 2025, returning to Florida on October 30, 2025.

Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras, the first in the line’s celebrated Excel class, received a warm welcome at the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, where she called for the first time on September 22, 2025.

The 180,800-gross-ton ship, which can accommodate 5,282 guests in double occupancy, spent the day docked at the Tenerife Cruise Terminal, a space operated by parent company Carnival Corporation.

In true maritime tradition, port officials and the ship’s captain, Alessandro Lemmi, exchanged ceremonial plaques in a gesture of friendship.

Mardi Gras and her captain welcomed Luz Marina Espiau, head of the Commercial and Business Development Division of the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and other local representatives aboard the ship for the exchange.

At the time of her visit, Mardi Gras had 4,848 guests and 1,791 crew members onboard. The ship’s visit was the second of four port calls she will make during her 14-night transatlantic crossing from Port Canaveral to Barcelona.

The ship left the Central Florida port on September 13, 2025, bound for a European shipyard where the 4-year-old vessel will undergo her first scheduled dry dock upgrade. Cruise ships typically go into dry dock for a refresh and basic maintenance every three to five years.

Since embarking guests in Port Canaveral, Mardi Gras first called at Celebration Key, Carnival’s new private destination on Grand Bahama Island. Following her call to Tenerife, the ship continued to Cadiz and Malaga, and will end in Barcelona on September 27, 2025.

Mardi Gras became the first ship to call at Santa Cruz de Tenerife during the 2025-26 season, and in the coming year, 21 cruise ships will make their inaugural visits to the six port facilities in the Canary Islands operated by the regional port authority.

The Canary Islands ports are often visited by ships making transatlantic crossings on fall and spring repositioning cruises, world cruises, and deployments like Mardi Gras’ — on the way to European shipyards.

Among cruise ships that will call at Tenerife in fall 2025 are Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Apex, TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 4, MSC Cruises’ MSC Virtuosa, and Costa Cruises’ Costa Fortuna, for example.

Ship Will Sail Reverse Itinerary Following Dry Dock

Following her dry dock refit, Mardi Gras is scheduled to return to Port Canaveral, where she is based year-round.

Read Also: What is a Transatlantic Cruise and Should You Take One?

Set to depart from Barcelona on October 16, 2025, the ship will sail a reverse 14-night crossing back to Florida, calling at Malaga and Cadiz, Spain, Tenerife, and Celebration Key, and ending in Port Canaveral on October 30, 2025.

In a slight itinerary change announced in September 2024, Carnival Cruise Line advised guests booked on the return crossing, and several other Mardi Gras itineraries, that the return to Port Canaveral would be at 8 a.m. on debarkation day rather than the usual 7 a.m.

Once back in Port Canaveral, Mardi Gras will resume her 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruise schedule.

Eastern Caribbean voyages call at Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos; Amber Cove, Dominican Republic; and Nassau and Celebration Key, Bahamas. Western Caribbean itineraries feature Roatan, Honduras; Cozumel, Mexico; and Celebration Key.

Mardi Gras introduced several new and exciting features when she debuted four years ago, including the popular BOLT: Ultimate Sea Coaster, the motorcycle-style thrill ride that takes guests 187 feet above the ocean.

Key Aspects:

• Prank ducks hidden aboard Carnival ships promising a free drink are false and will not be honored by bartenders or wait staff.
• While Carnival Cruise Line does not ban cruising ducks, it is possible that such bad faith “jokes” could lead to a ban if they get out of control.
• The bedazzled Effy ducks that were used for prize giveaways were from the jewelry retailer and not from the cruise line.

Cruising ducks can be a bit of harmless fun onboard, both hiding and searching for the coveted little quackers. But some ducks now being found on Carnival cruisers are causing trouble for guests and crew members.

The issue has come to the attention of John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line’s brand ambassador. In some cases, it has raised so much concern that he has called out the practice and is urging guests to stop.

But what is wrong with simple duck hide-and-seek? It isn’t the ducks themselves, but a message hidden with them that is the problem.

The problematic ducks come with what appears to be an “official” tag, including the Carnival Cruise Line whale tail logo, and offer guests a prize that doesn’t exist.

“Congratulations! You have found one of our ducks! 1 free drink redeemable at the casino bar! Thank you for sailing with Carnival!” the tag reads.

Unfortunately, this is not an official promotion from Carnival Cruise Line, nor are ducks sporting these labels able to offer free drinks in this way.

“Please, whoever is doing this STOP. It is not fair on the guest and it is not fair on the bartenders and bar servers who have to be the ones to say ‘sorry, there is no free drink,'” Heald explained.

It’s understandable that a guest who finds such a duck might be excited at the prospect of a free drink. But this is fake and puts both the guest and the bartender who has to deny the prize into very awkward and unpleasant situations.

“If you find one of these, well, unfortunately, you have been pranked,” Heald confirmed. “We apologize because it isn’t very funny. These ducks were brought on board by other guests and any promotion or offer you may see on them is not valid. For Duck’s sake, please stop doing this.”

Carnival Cruise Line has been cheerfully fun and supportive of the cruising ducks phenomenon, adamantly noting that they have no intention of banning the guest-led activity.

It is possible, however, that if such pranks continue, that may change. This could become a case of one-bad-apple-spoils-the-bunch and if inappropriate ducks start flocking to Carnival ships, the entire activity could be discontinued.

Some commenters even think this may be the deliberate intent of the prank ducks.

“Looks like a group or a person who doesn’t like the ducks and wants it canceled through the cruise line. That’s outrageous to do that,” one guest noted.

Another guest thinks it would be a great comeback if Carnival were able to track the person hiding these prank ducks, then charge them for the “free” drinks they’ve offered.

It is possible that official policies could be implemented if ducks start causing problems. On Royal Caribbean’s Oasis and Icon-class ships, for example, ducks are now banned in the Central Park area due to damage from over-eager duck seekers.

Are Prize Ducks a Thing?

While Carnival Cruise Line has never offered prize-oriented ducks, it’s an interesting idea and one that has, in fact, been seen onboard Carnival ships, but not from the cruise line itself.

Effy Jewelry has previously hidden blinged-out ducks onboard ships as a prize giveaway. Guests who found the glittery gadwalls (a type of duck!) could return them to the onboard Effy store for a prize.

The jewelry retailer is not, however, owned or operated by Carnival Cruise Line. Their bedazzled ducks were a limited time promotion and independent from cruise operations.

It might be neat if a cruise line were to embrace the duck trend fully and award prizes for special, well-hidden ducks. Free drinks, onboard credit, a free photo, or even a ship-on-a-stick could all be good prizes.

For the time being, however, Carnival guests will have to be mindful that no such official promotions exist. Instead, they may want to watch out for Ducky and have a souvenir selfie with the feathered crew member instead.

Key Aspects:

• A guest required a medical airlift evacuation from Carnival Venezia on Monday night, September 22, 2025.
• The ship was approximately 30 miles offshore when the emergency call was made and the USCG successfully evacuated the guest.
• Carnival Venezia has had several notable medical evacuations over the past two years, including incidents on embarkation day as well as long-distance rescue operations.

A guest aboard Carnival Venezia had a much shorter cruise than expected, but thankfully, was able to receive critical help with a Coast Guard evacuation shortly after the ship departed New York on Monday, September 22, 2025.

According to NJ.com, the incident happened at approximately 10 p.m. while the ship was roughly 30 miles off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

While the nature of the medical emergency has not been disclosed, Carnival Cruise Line did confirm the evacuation.

“Carnival Venezia’s team assisted in the medical evacuation of a guest in need of care on land overnight, following the ship’s Monday afternoon departure from New York,” a statement read.

“The transfer, via helicopter, was completed successfully near Atlantic City, N.J., and the ship resumed sailing with no impact to its nine-day Caribbean cruise itinerary.”

Satellite tracking data also shows how the ship’s route was altered as Carnival Venezia turned back toward the coast to meet up with the rescue team more quickly.

This is a standard operational maneuver when airlifts are underway and can help ensure that those in distress receive medical attention as soon as possible.

The US Coast Guard (USCG) medical evacuation team arrived at the ship at approximately 11:35 p.m. The operation was handled with professionalism and care, and the guest was transferred to a hospital in Atlantic City.

The guest’s name and medical condition has not been disclosed in accordance with privacy protections. Undoubtedly, Carnival Cruise Line’s onboard Care Team is offering whatever assistance is possible to family members and traveling companions still aboard Carnival Venezia.

The 9-night sailing is an Eastern Caribbean itinerary with visits to St. Thomas (Friday, September 26), San Juan (Saturday, September 27), and Grand Turk (Sunday, September 28). Carnival Venezia will return to the Big Apple on Wednesday, October 1.

Medical Evacuations for Many Reasons

While cruise ships are equipped with updated Medical Centers, the limited space and possible need for specialist care means that more severe medical episodes cannot always be handled onboard.

Read Also: Do Cruise Ships Have Morgues?

This might include incidents such as a severely broken leg or other accidental injury as well as emergency situations such as heart attacks, strokes, or seizures.

In some cases, a patient’s other health concerns might make it inadvisable to continue care onboard in case of further complications, and a transfer to a full medical facility is essential.

This is not the first time a medical evacuation has happened from Carnival Venezia just hours after the ship set sail. In August 2024, an elderly guest experienced a medical emergency at roughly 8 p.m. on embarkation day, necessitating a USCG airlift evacuation.

In October 2024, there was another medical evacuation from the ship. This event was two days into the Eastern Caribbean sailing from New York when the ship was almost 100 miles offshore of North Carolina.

One of the most harrowing rescues from the “Carnival Fun, Italian Style” ship was in May 2024, when a long-distance evacuation airlift was necessary.

In that incident, the ship was more than 400 miles from shore, requiring special response aircraft that could accommodate that distance for the rescue operation.

That particular emergency rescue involved 12-year-old Aiden Parker, who ultimately spent a month in the hospital recovering. Several months later, he was able to reunite via video call with the ship’s physician who saved his life.

All cruise guests should be grateful for the unflinching and unwavering service of emergency rescue personnel who step up so bravely whenever assistance is necessary.