While Carnival Liberty is already significantly delayed in her return to her Big Easy homeport, guests waiting to board the ship for the Sunday, December 1 departure received a further update in the afternoon that the ship would be arriving even later than anticipated.

This further delay – approximately another hour or slightly more, depending on guests’ terminal arrival appointment times – is not due to any problem with the cruise ship, but rather due to Mississippi River traffic.

“While the ship has the required speed to get into New Orleans at the time we had communicated Saturday evening, our journey up the river is being delayed due to unexpected traffic,” the new update explained. “As a result, we are now set to dock early evening, and we will need a little more time to debark incoming guests and get you on board.”

Before any delays, the first cruise terminal check-in appointments were scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning. Now, guests who had selected that earliest possible check-in are asked not to arrive to the cruise terminal until 8:45 p.m.

The latest appointments will now be checking in from 11:45 p.m. on Sunday night, and all guests must be checked in no later than 12:15 a.m. on Monday morning.

“As a reminder, we must allow debarking guests to leave the cruise terminal and parking facility before we can accommodate your arrival. We kindly ask for your cooperation with this revised schedule,” the notification continued.

The 110,428-gross-ton, Conquest class Carnival Liberty can welcome 3,756 travelers aboard for each cruise. This means that in the late evening hours, there may be 7,000 guests or more trying to move through the New Orleans cruise terminal.

It is vital that incoming passengers adhere to their appointment arrival times to minimize crowding and traffic snarls that would only exacerbate the difficulties.

To be clear, there are no further difficulties with Carnival Liberty. This second delay is due to marine traffic on the Mississippi River as the cruise ship has made her way through the delta to the cruise terminal. The first delay was due to an emergency debarkation in Key West as well as technical issues that have now been resolved.

From the coast, cruise ships must navigate up the river for approximately 120 miles to reach the Port of New Orleans. Along the way, cargo vessels, recreational boats, and other ships must all be carefully scheduled so all vessels have appropriate clearance. With Carnival Liberty‘s delay, some of that scheduling has been disrupted throughout the day.

The good news, however, is that there should be no delay to the ship’s 14-night Panama Canal Carnival Journeys cruise, a bucket-list sailing for many travelers.

Because the first two days of the cruise are days at sea, there should be ample opportunity for Carnival Liberty to make up the lost hours on her way to Grand Cayman, the first port of call.

Also on this cruise are top Southern Caribbean and Central American ports of call, including Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; Cartagena, Colombia; Colon, Panama; Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; and Cozumel, Mexico.

Carnival Liberty Compensation Provided

These multiple delays now mean that guests have missed their first day onboard, including entertainment and activities.

The main dining rooms and Lido Marketplace buffet will be open as guests board for open seating meals (assigned dining times will not apply), but for hundreds of guests boarding at 10 p.m. or later may mean they have dinner elsewhere in New Orleans before boarding the ship.

Carnival Cruise Line has provided $25 (USD) per person as onboard credit to compensate for the delayed embarkation, and all travelers will also receive a pro-rated one-day refund of their cruise fare.

Similarly, any pre-paid options, such as gratuities, drink packages, or onboard Wi-Fi packages will also be refunded at a pro-rated rate.

Read Also: What Is the Carnival Cheers! Drink Package?

Refunds will be processed back to the original form of payment but may take up to three weeks to process after the end of the cruise. Individual financial institutions may also have different processing times.

Cruise Hive hopes all aboard are able to enjoy their Carnival Journeys cruise, even with a messy first day and a much-delayed embarkation. Bon voyage!

Following an emergency evacuation and the development of technical issues impacting the ship’s top cruising speed, Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Liberty will now have a very late return back to her Louisiana homeport.

The ship is not expected to arrive back in New Orleans until late afternoon on Sunday, December 1, 2024. While this is the same day scheduled for the end of the ship’s 7-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary, cruise ships typically return to their homeports in the wee morning hours, with debarkation beginning between 7-8 a.m.

As of 9 a.m. Sunday morning, satellite tracking data shows the vessel approaching the Mississippi River Delta, but Carnival Liberty must still navigate significantly up the river to reach the cruise port. At the moment, the estimated time of arrival is not until 2:45 p.m., but that will be updated as the ship’s progress continues.

Guests booked on the next sailing have been notified of the very late, revised embarkation and updates to their terminal arrival appointments.

“Our engineers have been making progress with the repair work and we are now expecting to dock in New Orleans late afternoon Sunday, December 1,” the notification confirmed. “We must allow debarking guests to leave the cruise terminal and parking facility before we can accommodate your arrival.”

All cruise terminal arrival appointments are now rescheduled with a significant delay, ranging from 9-9.5 hours depending on the original time. All guests must be checked in at the cruise terminal no later than 11 p.m.

“To ensure a smooth embarkation experience, please adhere to this schedule,” the email said. “Guests who arrive earlier will be asked to return at their newly assigned time.”

Carnival Cruise Line is providing a $25 (USD) per person onboard credit to guests’ Sail & Sign accounts as compensation for the delay and to provide to lunch, as they are no longer able to board the ship for lunch as planned.

Once guests are able to embark, the evening dinner service will be open seating in the main dining rooms and the Lido buffet. This means that the assigned dining times will not apply, and guests will be seated first come, first served in order to accommodate as many guests as efficiently as possible.

It is not known when staterooms will be available for guests to access, though undoubtedly, the housekeeping team and all cabin attendants will be working hard to turn over cabins as quickly as possible.

During such significant delays, guests onboard the ship are generally asked to leave their staterooms as the ship draws closer to the cruise terminal, with different lounges and areas opened for waiting. This permits the housekeeping team to get started on their work as much as possible.

Before the ship arrives, the entertainment team and Fun Squad will undoubtedly be providing extra activities as well, doing everything possible to make the extra time onboard fun even though it is unexpected.

As a matter of interest, the December 1 departure is also planned as Carnival Liberty‘s first Christmas cruise of the season. It is possible the decorating schedule might be changed due to this unexpected delay if the decorating company is unable to work on the ship with her late return.

Will There Be More Impacts on the Next Sailing?

At this time, it is unknown whether or not Carnival Liberty‘s next sailing will need itinerary changes following her late start to the cruise.

Read Also: What You Should Know About Cruise Port Cancellations

The December 1 departure is a highly-anticipated 14-night Carnival Journeys cruise to the Panama Canal. Ports of call on the bucket-list voyage include Grand Cayman, Aruba, Curacao, Cartagena, Colon, Costa Rica, and Cozumel.

While no itinerary changes have yet been announced, it is possible that one or more ports of call may be adjusted or even cancelled to accommodate the ship’s delay.

This is especially possible if the propulsion issue has not yet been fully resolved, though the cruise line has made no announcement to that effect and the ship appears to have been sailing near her top speed en route back to New Orleans.

Guests will be notified as soon as possible if any itinerary modifications are necessary.

Two cruising families can be thankful for the hard work and dedication of United States Coast Guard (USCG) rescue teams after unexpected airlifts from two different Carnival-owned cruise ships in just 24 hours.

Both vessels – Holland America Line’s Koningsdam and Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Panorama – are sailing on the West Coast with Mexican itineraries. The medical incidents are unrelated, but the amazing response of the USCG teams is the same in both situations.

On Koningsdam, the call for an urgent airlift was received by USCG watchstanders (individuals trained to monitor radio calls for assistance) at 7:12 a.m. on Friday morning, November 29, 2024.

At the time, Koningsdam was sailing approximately 280 miles south of the US and Mexico border on her last sea day of a 7-night Baja Peninsula cruise that had departed San Diego on November 23.

A 66-year-old female passenger was reported with symptoms of a stroke, and onboard medical personnel recommended the evacuation so more specialized care could be administered from a hospital on land.

Coast Guard Air Station San Diego dispatched an MH-60 Dolphin helicopter crew for the evacuation, while Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento launched a C-27 to offer assistance with coordinating communications.

Worth Reading: Coast Guard Conducts Two Urgent Guest Airlifts from Carnival Ships

The passenger was hoisted aboard the helicopter and transported to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla in San Diego. While no further details about her identity have been released in order to protect her privacy and that of her traveling companions and family, her condition is reported as stable.

“Rescues like this are exactly what our crews train for,” said Lieutenant Brady Stepan, pilot, Air Station San Diego. “Through coordination from the command center and outstanding support from our C-27 cover aircraft crew, we were able to get the patient to higher-level care.”

You can watch a video below of the Koningsdam airlift by the US Coast Guard:

There was no delay to Koningsdam‘s schedule and the vessel arrived back in San Diego as planned. The vessel’s next itinerary, a 10-night Mexican Riviera and Sea of Cortez voyage, should depart as planned.

This is not the first time this year that Koningsdam has required medical evacuation assistance. In April, a 65-year-old male guest was evacuated offshore of Tillamook, Oregon under challenging weather conditions.

Second Rescue – Carnival Panorama

At the same time Koningsdam was calling for medical assistance, a second rescue situation was developing aboard Carnival Panorama just as the ship was concluding a 7-night Mexican Riviera itinerary.

Carnival Panorama departed Long Beach, California on Saturday, November 23, 2024 and it was on the last day of the cruise that a medical evacuation was requested.

While few details of this specific situation have been released, guests onboard the newly-revitalized ship have noted that a call for blood donors had been made late the evening before. It is unknown whether the two medical incidents on Carnival Panorama are related.

Furthermore, no details about the age of the evacuated guest or the type of medical situation have been released.

Undoubtedly, the families of both evacuated passengers are grateful for the assistance of the dedicated USCG rescue crews who serve tirelessly to offer help to all those who need it. These crews operate in all weather conditions and under sometimes challenging hazards to ensure everyone is able to get emergency care.

As with Koningsdam, the impacted passenger from the Carnival cruise ship was airlifted aboard a USCG helicopter for evacuation so more specialized care could be provided.

Carnival Panorama continued sailing as planned and was able to return to Long Beach on Saturday, November 30 on schedule. The ship’s next itinerary, a 6-night sailing, is not impacted and will depart the southern California homeport on time.

Carnival Panorama has been involved in a multiple-rescue situation previously. In April 2023, an airlift from the ship was the first of three airlifts performed in 24 hours off the coast of southern California. The other two rescues were from Majestic Princess and Carnival Spirit.

When it comes to delays, Carnival Liberty has just been hit with a double whammy as she nears the end of her current 7-night Eastern Caribbean voyage. 

The Conquest-class vessel will be delayed in its return to New Orleans, Louisiana, after diverting to disembark an ailing guest and then developing propulsion issues soon after. 

While the ship was initially supposed to dock at 8 a.m. local time on the morning of December 1, 2024, she is now expected to arrive sometime in the afternoon. 

The 2,974-guest ship originally called on Key West, Florida, as the first stop of the sailing on November 26. But due to a medical emergency onboard, the vessel circled back on November 29 to allow an ailing passenger to receive urgent treatment from a local hospital. 

“As you know, last night, Friday, November 29, we had to deviate course to Key West to disembark a guest who needed urgent medical care ashore,” reads a letter from Carnival Liberty Captain Arik Mazzi. 

The distance between Key West and New Orleans is only a few hundred nautical miles – which a cruise ship can easily sail in a day, especially as November 30 was already a planned sea day. 

However, the 110,00-gross ton ship also developed propulsion issues after the diversion – which has caused a significant slow down. 

“In addition, the ship has developed an issue that is impacting our sailing speed. Combined, these matters are affecting our timely return to New Orleans tomorrow, Sunday, December 1,” continued Captain Mazzi’s letter.

While the Captain was unable to provide an accurate arrival time just yet, he assured current guests that Carnival’s engineers were already hard at work to address the issue and that he would follow up with updates on progress and timing on the evening of November 30. 

It’s unclear if Carnival will be offering any compensation for the delay, but the major cruise lines will often automatically reschedule airfare booked through the cruise line or reimburse change fees for travel that is directly impacted by the delay. 

The other two calls on the itinerary – which were on Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas – took place on November 27 and November 28, before the medical evacuation and propulsion issues occurred. 

Will the Next Sailing be Impacted?

As is the usual practice among the major cruise lines, Carnival Liberty was supposed to disembark her current passengers in the morning and be ready to embark on a new sailing the same evening. 

In this case, the next sailing is a 14-night, round-trip cruise through the Panama Canal – calling on destinations like Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; Cartagena, Colombia;  Colon, Panama;  Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; and Cozumel, Mexico. 

The 2005-launched ship was supposed to set sail at 5:00 p.m. local time, but her departure will almost certainly be pushed back by several hours at least due to the delay.

Depending on the length of the delay once in port, it’s also possible that some port calls could be skipped or rearranged.

It’s important to note that this is assuming that the engineering team will be able to resolve the unspecified propulsion issues in time for the next sailing to go ahead – although the onboard engineering team is already collaborating with engineers on land to make the fix. 

But depending on the nature of the issue, there’s always a chance that Carnival Liberty will need to remain in port for longer than expected – or even cancel bookings in order to make repairs. 

For example, Carnival Vista had to cancel a sailing for emergency repairs in September – and then suffered more propulsion-related delays in October. 

More recently, Princess Cruises – which is owned by Carnival – had to cancel three sailings in a row for Regal Princess due to ongoing power problems.

That said, Carnival Liberty isn’t known for engine or propulsion problems and has remained up to date on routine maintenance through scheduled dry dock visits.

She was most recently in dry dock in 2021 – during which time she received a new livery – and is scheduled to return for standard maintenance and inspections in Summer 2025.