It’s Carnival Sunshine and Carnival Liberty to the rescue this week as both ships are back to service on December 19, 2021, much earlier than expected. While both ships are covering for Carnival Horizon, Carnival Liberty will be operating from Miami, and Carnival Sunshine will be sailing from Fort Lauderdale & Miami.
Carnival Horizon suffered mechanical issues during December and has since made her way to dry dock in Palermo, Italy, for repairs.
Carnival Sunshine Sailing From Fort Lauderdale & Miami
It’s not Charleston, South Carolina, from where Carnival Sunshine will sail her first cruise as expected, but instead Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. The Carnival cruise ship will be replacing Carnival Horizon on one voyage, while the second and third voyages will operate from Miami, Florida.
This Sunday, December 19, Carnival Sunshine sails on a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise with ports of call in Princess Cays in the Bahamas, San Juan in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic. Guests will be able to celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on board before returning to Fort Lauderdale on December 26.
That same day the ship will reposition to Miami for the second cruise departing from Miami. This 5-day cruise will visit Grand Turk, which finally opened for cruise ship visitors last week, and Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic.
The last of three cruises from Florida will sail on December 31, with calls in Aruba, Curaçao, and Bimini in the Bahamas. From January 13, Sunshine will be making her way to her original home Port of Charleston, South Carolina, for a series of cruises to the Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean.
Also Read: Carnival Cruise Ship Completes Dry Dock, Heads Back to the US for Unexpected Sailings
Carnival Sunshine is a Sunshine-Class cruise ship and was originally launched in 1996 as Carnival Destiny. The 102,853-gross ton, 3,002-passenger cruise ship was refitted in 2013 and renamed Carnival Sunshine. She completed her major transformation in Cadiz, Spain, where she also received the new Carnival blue, white, and red livery more recently.
Carnival Liberty Operating from Miami
Originally scheduled to start operations from Port Canaveral on February 1, 2022, the 110,000-gross ton, 2,974-passenger Carnival Liberty will instead be sailing from Miami, Florida. She will sail a total of five cruises from south Florida. The first, a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise, will sail this Sunday, December 19, with port calls in Amber Cove, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk.
Other Carnival Liberty cruises include a 5-day Eastern Caribbean cruise, a 6-day Western Caribbean cruise, and two 8-day cruises to the Southern Caribbean, which includes calls to the Dutch Caribbean Islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao on the January 8 cruise, and calls to Aruba, Curacao, and La Romana and Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic.
The vessel will return to her original itinerary sailing the Bahamas from Port Canaveral on January 24, 2022.
When Will Carnival Horizon Be Back?
After Carnival Horizon had all voyages canceled at the beginning of December, she made her way to dry dock in Palermo, Italy. Here, the issues she experienced with not achieving maximum speed will be solved. Earlier this month the cruise line sent out a statement, saying:
“We want to make you aware that Carnival Horizon is experiencing an issue affecting its maximum cruising speed. Our technical team has completed a full assessment of the issue and has determined the ship will need to be taken to dry dock to complete the necessary work.”
The vessel is scheduled to stay in dry-dock until mid-January. According to Carnival Cruise Line, her first cruise back in operations will be on January 22 for an 8-day voyage to the Southern Caribbean.
