Carnival Venezia’s next repositioning cruise will still be going ahead as planned – but with a slight delay.
The Italian-inspired cruise ship will still depart on its next sailing on December 6, 2024, but the embarkation process will begin in the Manhattan Cruise Terminal an hour later than expected.
“Embarkation for your Journeys cruise has been revised. Please delay your Terminal Arrival appointment by one hour (for example, 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM appointment will become 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM),” Carnival wrote in an email to impacted guests.
“Since we must allow debarking guests to leave the terminal before accommodating your arrival, guests who arrive prior to the newly assigned time will be asked to return later,” continued the cruise line.
The cruise line did not provide a reason for the change, but the wording suggests that the current voyage – or at least the disembarkation process for the current sailing – will also be delayed.
The letter also notes that all guests must be onboard no later than 5:00 p.m. local time – and Carnival’s policy is that passengers must be onboard an hour before departure.
This implies that the current departure time of 4:00 p.m. is also pushed back to 6:00 p.m.
The 4,090-guest vessel is currently in the process of returning to New York from a 12-night Southern Caribbean cruise – which called on Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Castries, St. Lucia; Roseau, Dominica; St. Johns, Antigua; and St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
The December 6 sailing is a one-way, 12-night repositioning Journeys voyage to Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida – which will be the 133,500-gross ton vessel’s next homeport.
As of the time of publication, Carnival has not indicated that the itinerary will be impacted by the slight embarkation delay.
The ship is scheduled to call on St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; St. Croix, US Virgin Islands; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos.
What Could Have Caused the Carnival Venezia Delay?
While Carnival did not give a specific reason for the delayed embarkation, the cruise line also did not give guests any reason to worry.
While the Vista-class ships are somewhat notorious for propulsion issues, Carnival has not indicated that anything technical is behind the delay.
Although the worry isn’t surprising – as Carnival Venezia’s sister ship, Carnival Vista, was removed from service due to propulsion issues as recently as September 2024.
The delay also likely isn’t weather related – as the skies are supposed to be clear in Manhattan with low wind speeds when Carnival Venezia arrives. Plus, the Atlantic Hurricane Season – which wreaked havoc on much of the Caribbean and the US East Coast – is officially over.
Most likely, the reason for the delay is something simple. For example, as this is a repositioning cruise to a new homeport, it may take extra time for crew members and port staff to load on all the necessary supplies.
It’s also possible that the delay could be related to traffic within the cruise port. Although Carnival Venezia is the only cruise ship in Manhattan on December 6, local waterways may remain busy with chartered boats, private vessels, and ferries.
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Some online also theorized that a routine inspection from the US Coast Guard might be slowing things down.
“Ours was delayed due to coast guard doing inspections last week,” one recent cruiser shared on Reddit.
Another Redditor also pointed out that there are slow zones surrounding the New York Harbor to protect migrating North Atlantic right whales – although the endangered species typically heads to the warmer, shallow waters of the southeastern United States for the winter.
But it wouldn’t be the first time a cruise ship was delayed for this reason – as an itinerary operated by Norwegian Joy in September 2024 had to be altered to account for the slower speeds in whale zones.
