Carnival Cruise Line has issued a guest advisory to announce several changes to itineraries across three of its ships: Carnival Panorama, Carnival Jubilee, and Carnival Dream. These adjustments vary from minor changes in port timings to more substantial shifts in destinations.

While the itinerary changes likely stem from operational efficiencies for Carnival Dream and Carnival Jubilee, it seems that the engine issues plaguing Carnival Panorama have not been resolved. 

Significant Alterations for Carnival Dream

Carnival Dream is undergoing the most considerable itinerary changes. The cruise departing on December 22, 2024, will now skip the original visit to Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Honduras. 

Instead, guests will spend time in Belize from 08:00 AM to 5:00 PM—an hour longer than the initially planned call to Roatan. Sailing from Galveston, Texas, the cruise also includes stops in Costa Maya and Cozumel.

Another Carnival Dream cruise impacted is the 14-night Eastern Caribbean Carnival Journey set to sail on January 11, 2025. 

The ship’s call to Grand Turk has been replaced by a visit to Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, now scheduled from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

Additionally, the port time for San Juan, Puerto Rico, has changed; the ship will now dock from 12:00 PM to 08:00 PM, an hour earlier than the initial 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM window.

Besides the calls to San Juan and Amber Cove, the 128,250 gross tons Carnival Dream will also visit St. Thomas, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, St. Croix, and Falmouth, Jamaica. 

Minor Adjustments for Carnival Jubilee

Carnival Cruise Line’s newest cruise ship, the 183,521-gross-ton Carnival Jubilee, is seeing a relatively minor change for its November 30, 2024, cruise from Galveston.

During the call to Cozumel, Mexico, the ship will now be alongside from 09:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Other stops during this journey include Costa Maya, Mexico, and Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Honduras. Carnival Jubilee will debut on December 23, 2023, setting sail from Galveston, Texas, on a 7-night Western Caribbean sailing.

Carnival Panorama Changes

Carnival Panorama has changes to five different cruises, primarily focused on arrival and departure timings. For the cruises departing on September 9 and September 16, 2023, the time in port for Cabo San Lucas has been extended by 30 minutes. The ship will also return to Long Beach at 09:00 AM, half an hour earlier than the previously scheduled 09:30 AM.

The ship will bypass La Paz, Mexico, for the October 7 cruise to the Mexican Riviera. Instead, guests will have two days in Cabo San Lucas.

Water shuttles will be available from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM on day one and from 07:00 AM to 4:00 PM on the second day. The same schedule now applies to the October 15, 2023, departure.

Finally, for the cruise departing on October 21, 2023, Carnival Panorama will stay in Cabo San Lucas from 06:30 AM to 2:30 PM, slightly longer than initially planned. As a result, the vessel will return to Long Beach by 09:00 AM.

While changes to the Carnival Dream and Carnival Jubilee stem from operational adjustments, the alterations in Carnival Panorama’s schedule are more critical. The vessel has been dealing with engine issues since at least August 2021, impacting its maximum cruising speed.

A special sailing of Carnival Legend to ports in Greenland is not going to Greenland after all, as poor weather has made it impossible for the ship to visit any destinations on the world’s largest island. Instead, the ship will be visiting multiple Canadian ports of call as an alternative.

Major Itinerary Change for Carnival Legend

Carnival Cruise Line’s Spirit-class Carnival Legend is currently sailing what was to have been a special sailing to Greenland, with visits to Nanortalik and Qaqortoq, as well as several stops in Canada.

The ship set sail from Baltimore, Maryland on Saturday, September 2, 2023, and it quickly became clear that the calls to Greenland would not be possible due to the lingering influence of Hurricane Idalia.

At first, the remnants of the storm caused a slight delay in Carnival Legend‘s return to Baltimore, delaying embarkation by one hour. A medical evacuation was also necessary Monday night, causing a slight diversion as the ship met a US Coast Guard helicopter. Such evacuations do happen, and did not cause a significant change to the ship’s itinerary at that point.

As of Tuesday afternoon, September 5, the ship was still hoping to visit Greenland as scheduled on Friday and Saturday, September 8 and 9.

Rough weather was expected as the ship continued further north, however, making it unsafe to continue toward Greenland. Because both ports of call in Greenland are tender ports requiring the use of smaller boats to take guests ashore, the prospective choppy weather made such operations impossible.

The decision to cancel both port visits to Greenland was made Tuesday evening, just four days in to the 14-night itinerary.

It wasn’t until Thursday that the rest of the ship’s itinerary was confirmed, with ports of call shifted around and one additional Canadian port visit added in to the schedule. Guests were notified of the itinerary with letters delivered to their staterooms.

“Thank you for your patience while we finalized our itinerary,” the letter began.

Now, Carnival Legend is sailing to a total of four Canadian ports of call – Corner Brook, Sydney, St. Anthony, and Halifax. The ship has already had five days at sea while these arrangements were made, and there will be four more days at sea on the remainder of the itinerary.

“Once again, we apologize for this change and thank you for your understanding,” the letter concludes.

Disappointment Onboard

Many guests onboard are understandably disappointed at not being able to visit Greenland as planned, particularly since this Carnival Journeys longer sailing was specially designed to highlight that unique destination as the first time Carnival Cruise Line was visiting Greenland in decades.

In fact, when this exact sailing of Carnival Legend was first announced in 2021, the cruise sold out in just hours, prompting Carnival Cruise Line to add a second sailing to depart even earlier, on August 13, 2023. That sailing was able to visit Greenland as planned.

What is most upsetting to many guests is that it seems there is little effort being made to preserve the Greenland ports of call, but instead, the focus of the cruise has shifted to a Canadian sailing – which is much less unique and not nearly as “bucket list” for many travelers.

It is possible, however, that the weather forecasts for the next week preclude the possibility of safe tendering in Greenland, making any attempt to preserve either Nanortalik or Qaqortoq on a different day futile at best, potentially leading to even more disappointment if the visit would need to be cancelled again.

Instead, the sailing has become an exclusively Canada itinerary. As always, the safety and comfort of guests onboard remains the top priority.

Because of the changes in port days, however, many shore excursions in Corner Brook and Sydney are now unavailable, leaving very few options available for guests to make the best of a bad situation and immerse themselves in Canadian maritime culture and history.

Shore tours that are no longer available are being automatically refunded to guests’ onboard accounts. Carnival Cruise Line is also giving every stateroom onboard $400 (USD) of non-refundable onboard credit to use during the cruise, which can be applied to shore tours for the remaining ports, souvenirs, photos, spa treatments, drinks, or other onboard expenses.

How would you feel if you were on this no-longer-a-Greenland cruise? Share your thoughts on the Cruise Hive boards!

Carnival Cruise Line has notified guests the day before embarkation that Carnival Venezia will not be able to sail the planned Eastern Caribbean itinerary due to the influence of Hurricane Lee.

Instead, the ship will stay safely away from the projected path of the storm by visiting the Bahamas, with three ports of call and longer port times for guests to enjoy.

Carnival Venezia Itinerary Change

Carnival Venezia is scheduled to depart New York at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 8, 2023 for what was to have been an Eastern Caribbean sailing with visits to Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and Grand Turk. Instead, the ship has been forced to adapt to a new itinerary because of Hurricane Lee.

“In partnership with our Fleet Operations Center, we are monitoring Hurricane Lee, which is moving in a northerly direction from the Leeward Islands,” the email explained. “Due to the projected path of the storm, we have no choice other than to change our itinerary.”

Now, the ship will be enjoying two days at sea before spending three days in the Bahamas. First, Carnival Venezia will visit Half Moon Cay, the cruise line’s private island destination, followed by both Nassau and Freeport. Two further days at sea will return to the ship to New York as planned on Saturday, September 16.

“We know this change impacts your plans and we share your disappointment,” the email continued. “We trust you understand this decision was made with everyone’s safety in mind.”

Travelers should note that the visits in the Bahamas are scheduled for longer times docked than on the original itinerary. This will give guests more time to enjoy each port of call and the opportunity to take advantage of additional shore tours or to enjoy local attractions.

In total, Carnival Venezia will now spend 28.5 hours in ports of call, compared to 22.5 hours planned on the original itinerary.

Carnival Venezia is the only Venice-class vessel in the Carnival fleet, transferred from Costa Cruises as part of the “Carnival Fun, Italian Style” program in March 2023. The unique ship can welcome 3,934 guests at double occupancy, or as many as 4,977 travelers when fully booked.

Other Ships to Be Impacted

Carnival Venezia is not the first ship to make an itinerary change due to Hurricane Lee – Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Fantasy, sailing from Port Canaveral, changed to a Western Caribbean cruise rather than a Bermuda itinerary for the September 9 departure.

Other cruise ships from multiple lines will undoubtedly make similar changes in the coming days. Eastern Caribbean and Bermuda itineraries are the most likely to be impacted, and the storm may also interfere with Canada and New England sailings in the next 7-10 days.

Read Also: How a Hurricane Could Affect Your Cruise

This could mean that Carnival Venezia‘s next sailing – a 7-night Canada & New England sailing departing New York on Saturday, September 16 – might also be altered because of the storm. That potential impact is too far in the future to accurately predict at this time, however, and no official itinerary adjustments have yet been announced.

Hurricane Lee Continuing to Strengthen

Hurricane Lee is already one of the top 20 strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded, with maximum sustained winds of 165 miles per hour (265 kilometers per hour). The storm is expected to continue to strengthen over the next day or two as it remains over warm water.

The center of the storm is currently located approximately 830 miles (1,336 kilometers) due east of San Juan, Puerto Rico, moving west-northwest at 14 mph (23 kph).

While the current path does put the storm on a direct line to impact the Bahamas, forecast modeling is confident that Hurricane Lee will make a strong turn to the north early next week, followed by a more gradual turn east as it curves back into the Atlantic Ocean.

This does put the hurricane on track for what could be a close pass by Bermuda, depending on how sharp the eastern curve becomes. If the storm stays more to the north, destinations in eastern Canada may be impacted, including Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Travelers booked on sailings in those regions should stay in close communication with their cruise line for itinerary adjustments and updates.

Carnival Cruise Line has announced an exciting new deployment for San Francisco in 2025, with Carnival Legend now planned for the California homeport.

The ship will offer a variety of cruises ranging from 4-15 nights, including special Carnival Journeys sailings to highly desirable bucket-list destinations.

Carnival Legend to Sail from California

Beginning in April 2025, the Spirit-class Carnival Legend will offer amazing sailings from San Francisco, including cruises to Alaska, Mexico, and Hawaii. Carnival Legend will replace her sister ship, Carnival Miracle, from the California homeport, but will still bring Carnival fun to eager cruisers.

“Carnival Miracle has been sailing from San Francisco since 2022, so we wanted to offer our guests a new option for the 2025 season – Carnival Legend is a sister ship to Carnival Miracle,” said Fred Stein, vice president of revenue planning and deployment. “She’s similar in size and layout, but offers some variety in terms of features and amenities.”

Carnival Legend measures 88,500 gross tons with 12 decks of amenities to offer guests, including Guy’s Burger Joint, the BlueIguana Cantina, Bonsai Shushi, the Serenity adults-only retreat, a 9-hole miniature golf course, a 14,500-square foot Spa Carnival facility, the Punchliner Comedy Club, and much more.

The ship can welcome 2,124 guests at double occupancy, or as many as 2,610 passengers when fully booked with all berths filled.

New Itineraries Announced and Now on Sale

With the new itineraries for Carnival Legend from California now available for sale, it’s likely these exciting destinations will ensure the ship is fully booked for many 2025 sailings.

First, Carnival Legend will reposition from Tampa, Florida to San Francisco, California with a special Carnival Journeys sailing that will depart Florida on April 24, 2025. The ship will visit Cartagena, Colombia before completing a full transit of the Panama Canal – a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many travelers.

The ship will then continue to Puntarenas, Costa Rica and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, before arriving in San Francisco on May 8, 2025, an arrival sure to be a celebratory occasion as the ship settles into her new homeport.

From San Francisco, Carnival Legend will offer 4-night Baja Mexico weekend getaways, visiting Ensenada, Mexico. These sailings will alternate with 10-night Alaska sailings to top ports of call in the Last Frontier, including Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. Alaska cruises will also enjoy scenic cruising in the Tracy Arm Fjord, as well as a stop at Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

“Carnival Legend will be a perfect addition to the port as we continue to expand our West Coast service offerings and strengthen our position as the cruise line embarking more guests than any other operator from California,” said Stein.

In addition to Carnival Legend, two other Spirit-class ships will also be sailing Alaska in 2025: Carnival Spirit and Carnival Luminosa, both offering roundtrip cruises from Seattle, Washington.

After Alaska

Following the close of the 2025 Alaska sailing season, Carnival Legend will then offer a roundtrip Carnival Journeys Hawaii cruise, a 15-night voyage that will visit four ports of call in the tropical paradise – Kahului, Maui; Honolulu, Oahu; Nawiliwili, Kauai; and Hilo, Hawaii.

Carnival Journeys Hawaii sailings offer the unique opportunity for travelers to enjoy the Aloha State without the need for a lengthy flight to reach Hawaii. These cruises include Hawaiian-themed entertainment and activities, and extra special touches to make the unique destination even more memorable.

It is unknown where Carnival Legend may sail after the 2025 Alaska sailing and her special Hawaiian cruise, but Carnival Cruise Line is releasing further 2025 and 2026 itineraries in the coming weeks, with something for every cruiser to enjoy, no matter where they want to set sail.