Guests aboard Carnival Pride on her special early summer Carnival Journeys cruise to Greenland will not be able to visit Greenland after all.
The decision to scrap both ports of call in the sought-after destination has been made due to poor weather and local ice, including substantial bergs that make navigation more hazardous.
Instead of visiting Nanortalik and Qaqortoq on June 1 and June 2, respectively, the ship will now spend both days at sea. June 1 is intended now as a day of scenic cruising through fjords near Ivittuut, an abandoned mining town 123 miles northwest of Nanortalik and 80 miles west-northwest of Qaqortoq.
While the scenic cruising will showcase Greenland’s natural beauty for those aboard Carnival Pride, there will be no opportunity to land or explore the destination.
It is hoped, however, that there will still be a chance to see the northern lights, which have been particularly brilliant in recent weeks thanks to increased solar activity. Of course, the weather will still need to cooperate for that viewing.
As compensation and acknowledgement of the disappointment guests are sure to feel, Carnival Cruise Line is providing $400 (USD) of onboard credit per stateroom. This is in addition to the refund of the fees and taxes for the now-cancelled ports of call.
Any pre-paid shore tours for the Greenland ports will also be automatically cancelled and refunded.
Guests’ disappointment is understandable, as only a few Greenland sailings are scheduled each year. This makes these sailings very highly sought after, and they often sell out quickly. Safety is always the top priority, however, and the extra ice, fog, and wind in the region – which of course can’t be predicted when itineraries are first planned – makes it unwise to continue the original schedule.
Read Also: What You Should Know About Cruise Port Cancellations
Of course, crew members will schedule additional activities and entertainment for the extra days at sea, ensuring that everyone has a memorable cruise vacation even though they aren’t able to visit the ports of call they’d hoped to see.
Other Ports Also Adjusted
It isn’t only the port visits to Greenland that have been cancelled for Carnival Pride‘s current sailing. Slight adjustments have also been made to the Canadian ports of call the ship will visit.
Carnival Pride was supposed to visit St. Anthony on June 4, but that date has been moved up to June 3. The time in port has also been slightly tweaked from the original 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the ship will now visit from 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.
The visit to Cornerbrook remains on June 5 as originally planned, but will now be from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. instead of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Likewise, the call to Sydney remains on June 6, and the time has also remained from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (3:30 all aboard time) as initially scheduled.
The last two days will remain days at sea as planned while Carnival Pride makes her way back to Baltimore, Maryland for debarkation on Sunday, June 9.
The 88,500-gross-ton, Spirit-class Carnival Pride can welcome 2,124 passengers aboard, and is also home to 930 international crew members. The ship will make two more cruises to Greenland – hopefully with better success – during the fall foliage season later this year. The first departs on August 18, the second on September 8. Both are 14-night sailings, with the same itinerary as the current sailing.
It should be noted that in September 2023, Carnival Legend was also forced to cancel all ports of call in Greenland during her sailing due to poor weather from hurricane remnants.
Any experienced cruise guest knows that ports of call are never guaranteed. It is always best to remain flexible with one’s travel expectations, especially when visiting more remote destinations.
