Carnival Cruise Line announced a significant upgrade of its website designed to enhance its online services. Scheduled for this coming weekend, the update will have extensive implications for both front-end and back-end systems, particularly those that handle bookings and payments.

As more people turn to Carnival’s website to book their cruises and given the significant amount of sensitive data processed daily, regular maintenance is essential for a smooth booking experience for guests. Guests and travel agents should expect the booking pages to be down for most of September 16 and 17.

Carnival Cruise Line Website Downtime Details

Maintenance on the Carnival Cruise Line website, as well as GoCCL Navigator, and My Cruise Manager, is slated to begin on Saturday, September 16, at 12:00 AM ET and will conclude on the evening of Sunday, September 17. Certain key functionalities will be unavailable for guests and travel agents during this period. 

This includes new bookings, service management, payments, and access to GoCCL Navigator—Carnival’s portal for travel advisors.

An official email sent out to travel agents by Carnival Cruise Line provides further specifics, mentioning that other pre-cruise functionalities in My Cruise Manager, such as online check-in and booking shore excursions or spa and dining reservations, will also be affected. 

Therefore, the work being done on the various websites could bring some inconveniences for guests planning to set sail on Carnival cruises next week.

Adding to the challenge is the fact that Carnival’s Contact Center teams will not have access either to the systems, and won’t be able to provide assistance during this period.

Those who plan to access the site for these functions should complete their business before the start time of the downtime or risk being shut out for the weekend. 

It’s common for industries that rely heavily on online systems, such as cruise lines, to schedule maintenance downtime. While website maintenance will usually be limited to a few hours, the fact that Carnival expects the website to be down for nearly two days, with significant impacts to guests, it is likely a considerable upgrade that will bring several improvements. 

Why Maintenance is Necessary

Carnival Cruise Line’s website draws in millions of visitors each month. In fact, in July of 2023, the website saw visitor numbers increase by nearly 9% over the same month the previous year, with traffic at 13 million visits. 

With this much traffic and the vast amount of personal data that the cruise line handles each day, safety is paramount. Downtime, such as announced for this weekend, often includes implementing new security measures or updating existing ones. In some cases, new laws or industry regulations may force changes in how customer data is stored or processed. 

Another reason could be to implement system upgrades. These could include improvements to user interfaces or introducing new features to make the booking process smoother and more efficient.

Like any complex system, Carnival’s booking and payment portals may experience slow load times, glitches, or even outages as they age.

Over the last couple of years, Carnival Cruise Line has seen some glitches, with the most recent beverage package glitch being the most recent. This glitch, which slashed prices for drinks packages in August, 2023, forced Carnival Cruise Line to give guests a discount on beverage packages.

While relatively minor, and Carnival did offer some form of refund to guests, many were still left disappointed that Carnival did not honor discounts of nearly 90% on a seven-day package. Something that Royal Caribbean International did honor in a similar incident in 2019.

Although the downtime is less than ideal, guests and travel agents can minimize disruptions by conducting their transactions before or after the scheduled weekend maintenance. This should help avoid any complications on September 16 and 17.

Guests aboard Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras were treated to a special Junkanoo experience to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence in the Bahamas. The special luncheon, performances, and other activities occurred on September 11, 2023, while the ship was docked in Nassau, the capital of the vibrant island nation.

Celebrating Bahamian Independence Aboard Mardi Gras

Carnival Cruise Line commemorated the independence of the Bahamas along with 150 government officials, community leaders, and business professionals with a special event aboard Mardi Gras. The celebration showcased an overview of Junkanoo history with live performances from a local Bahamian troupe and the Royal Bahamas Police Force Band.

“Carnival has partnered with The Bahamas since we first started sailing more than half of a century ago, and we are honored to celebrate the country’s 50 years of independence, resilience, strength and progress,” said Christine Duffy, Carnival Cruise Line president.

Stunning costumes, lively music, and smiles were the order of the day to celebrate 50 years of Bahamian independence, with great optimism for what the future holds for the island nation.

In late June, Carnival Cruise Line also hosted a Golden Jubilee breakfast aboard Carnival Legend during a visit to Freeport, also including cruise line executives, community members, and leaders of the Bahamas in celebration of the nation’s independence. During the breakfast, awards were presented to Grand Bahama parliamentarians to recognize their service.

Mardi Gras is currently sailing a 6-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary that departed Port Canaveral on Sunday, September 10. Nassau was the ship’s first port of call on the voyage, and the ship will also be visiting Amber Cove and Grand Turk before returning to Port Canaveral on Saturday, September 16.

Carnival Committed to the Bahamas

Carnival Cruise Line has been a long-time guest favorite to visit the island nation with different vessels to different ports of call in the Bahamas for the past 50 years, including Nassau, Freeport, Bimini, and two exclusive private destinations – Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays.

The cruise line is also pledged for future growth and investment in the Bahamas with Celebration Key, a new $200 million (USD) private cruise port being developed exclusively for Carnival Cruise Line on Grand Bahama island.

With a mile of white sand beach and features that showcase Bahamian history, art, culture, and nature, the new destination will offer all guests unique and colorful insights into the Bahamas.

“As we commemorate the anniversary, we look forward to our future together, bringing millions more visitors to experience all the beauty and culture the country offers,” said Duffy.

Ground was broken on Celebration Key in May 2022, and the destination is forecast to welcome its first guests in July 2025.

“We are a paradise nation that is known for our pristine natural resources, culture, diversity and world-class hospitality,” said Parliamentary Secretary John H. W. Pinder II. “Partners like Carnival have helped showcase all we have to offer the world and contributed to our country’s flourishing economy over the last five decades. I thank them for their longstanding commitment now and in the future.”

Carnival Cruise Line plans to announce further details about Celebration Key later in September, including opening sales for the first itineraries that will visit the new destination. At least 10 ships from multiple US homeports will offer voyages that include Celebration Key.

Carnival Cruise Line has reached out to guests booked on three different vessels and a total of nine sailings with itinerary changes. All of the impacted sailings are more than a year away and most of the changes are minimal, but the notification will give guests time to alter their travel plans if desired.

Itinerary Changes for Three Carnival Cruise Ships

Carnival Cruise Line is notifying guests booked aboard select sailings of Carnival Sunrise, Carnival Magic, and the yet-to-join-the-fleet Carnival Firenze that their cruise itineraries have been adjusted for departure dates in late 2024 and early 2025.

Carnival Sunrise Itinerary Changes

The Sunshine-class Carnival Sunrise has itinerary changes for five sailings while the ship is homeported from Miami. The affected sailings have slightly different changes, depending on the departure date.

• October 24, November 16, November 21 (2024 departures): The ship will be visiting Half Moon Cay rather than Princess Cays, though the date and time of the scheduled visits remain the same.
• December 5, 2024: Princess Cays will replace Half Moon Cay with a slightly adjusted port time. The ship’s time in Nassau will also be slightly modified on this 4-night sailing.
• January 11, 2025: This 5-night Eastern Caribbean sailing will still visit the same ports, but in reverse order. The calls on Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay also have slightly modified times, but the time planned in Nassau is unchanged.

The 101,509-gross ton Carnival Sunrise (formerly Carnival Triumph) can welcome 2,984 guests per sailing, and features a crew of 1,100 international team members to provide always sunny service and onboard fun.

Carnival Magic Itinerary Changes

Three different sailings of the Dream-class Carnival Magic are having slight itinerary changes, each with different adjustments.

• October 27, 2024: The ship will be visiting Half Moon Cay rather than Nassau during this 6-night Eastern Caribbean sailing, with a slightly adjusted port time. The visits to Amber Cove and Grand Turk are unchanged.
• November 24, 2024: Instead of Princess Cays, Carnival Magic will visit Nassau. The days of port visits have changed and port times for both Amber Cove and Grand Turk have been modified somewhat.
• December 8, 2024: The order of ports of call has been changed and the times for both Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk have been slightly modified for this 6-night Eastern Caribbean cruise.

The 128,048-gross ton Carnival Miracle has 14 decks of fun for passengers to enjoy, and as many as 3,690 guests can be welcomed per sailing at double occupancy, or up to 4,724 travelers when the ship is fully booked with all berths filled.

Carnival Firenze Itinerary Change

Just one cruise for the not-yet-a-Carnival ship Carnival Firenze is being adjusted at this time. April 7, 2025: This 5-night Mexican Riviera cruise has just minimal changes, with the ship reversing the order of port visits and slightly adjusting the time spent in Cabo San Lucas.

Carnival Firenze will be converted from Costa Firenze before joining the Fun Ship fleet in early 2024. The ship will retain much of its signature Italian style, similar to the conversion of Carnival Venezia, and will offer a range of itineraries from Long Beach, California.

No Explanation for Itinerary Changes

No details have been offered for why these nine itineraries have been adjusted, but similar to other minor itinerary changes recently announced, the changes are minor and the overall cruise experiences are not impacted.

Any pre-purchased Carnival shore tours that are affected by the changes will be automatically adjusted, or will be refunded back to the original form of payment if the port of call is cancelled. If guests have made independent port arrangements, they will need to reach out to their tour operators for options or refunds as needed.

Cruise lines regularly make these types of minor adjustments as port schedules and fleet deployments are refined, balancing schedules to ensure the best possible experiences for guests.

Fortunately, because the earliest changes are more than a year away, guests still have plenty of time to change their travel plans if necessary.

Carnival Cruise Line has announced that more guests will have the opportunity to battle it out with the popular Family Feud Live game show, already a hit on the line’s Excel-class ships, Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration.

Now, the cruise line will offer the exciting competition on 12 additional ships, with debuts coming over the next year.

Family Feud Expanding to 12 More Carnival Ships

The immensely popular Family Feud Live game show, currently featured aboard Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration with great success, will be brought to a dozen more Carnival cruise ships over the next year.

Debut dates for the show will vary, with Carnival Vista and Carnival Legend debuting the interactive entertainment this month, on their September 16 and September 30 sailings, respectively.

Later in 2023, three additional ships will showcase the game show: Carnival Pride on the ship’s November 19 departure, a 7-night Western Caribbean cruise from Tampa to Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel, along with Carnival Miracle on her December 14 departure, a 5-night Mexican Riviera sailing from Long Beach to Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada, Mexico.

The new Carnival Jubilee will be the last ship to debut the game show in 2023, when it is featured on the ship’s inaugural cruise. That sailing departs Galveston, Texas on December 23, with visits to Roatan, Honduras and both Costa Maya and Cozumel in Mexico.

“Family Feud Live is such a fun and unique entertainment option because guests get into the action and participate in the same way they’ve watched the game played on TV,” said Chris Nelson, vice president of entertainment for Carnival Cruise Line. “Building on its popularity by bringing it to more ships will ensure that more of our guests get to experience the fun and friendly competition of Family Feud Live.”

2024 Game Show Debut Dates

During 2024, an additional seven Carnival cruise ships will set sail with the show with various debut dates. First will be Carnival Panorama and Carnival Horizon in March 2024, on the ships’ March 2 and March 30 sailings, respectively.

Carnival Liberty will debut Family Feud Live on its May 26, 2024 sailing, a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise from New Orleans, visiting Key West, Freeport, and Nassau.

Carnival Luminosa will be the next ship to feature the game show on her June 20, 2024 cruise, the first time Family Feud Live will be played aboard a ship in Alaska, as the ship sails a 7-night Last Frontier cruise from Seattle.

Carnival Spirit will also bring the game show to her Alaska season, first appearing aboard the July 23, 2024 departure. That cruise is a 7-night Alaska cruise from Seattle, calling on Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria, British Columbia.

Guests aboard Carnival Magic will be able to join the excitement on the ship’s August 18, 2024 departure, a 6-night Eastern Caribbean sailing from Miami and calling on Amber Cove, Grand Turk, and Half Moon Cay.

Carnival Dream is the last ship planned to debut Family Feud Live in the coming months. The show will first appear on the ship’s October 5, 2024 sailing, an 8-night Eastern Caribbean cruise from Galveston, calling on Key West, Freeport, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau.

At this time, it is unknown whether the live game show will eventually be expanded to the entire Carnival fleet. Licensing arrangements and the technical capabilities of each vessel to accommodate the show will undoubtedly be factors in any such plans.

Playing Family Feud Live Onboard

Carnival Cruise Line has an exclusive partnership with the Fremantle entertainment company, and first debuted the game show aboard Mardi Gras when the ship set sail in 2021.

The live game show’s format mimics the television program with two 5-person teams trying to guess popular answers to survey questions. Unlike the iconic show, however, the onboard contestants don’t always have to be family members or close friends, but are all “cruise family” aboard their Carnival sailing.

Three rounds of questions are played, as well as the Fast Money round. The winning team receives fun prizes to commemorate their participation and reward their success at guessing the most popular responses.

The game show is played in each ship’s main show lounge to full capacity crowds, and is the evening’s featured entertainment when it is showcased.