The truth about Carnival Cruise Line’s ‘chaos’ cruise

Some people book a cruise because of the ship. They may disembark at one port, or even several, but for them, the ship is the destination.

There are other cruisers, who see the ship as their way to visit more exotic locations in just a few days. They like the ship and enjoy its amenities, but generally see it as a way to get from one place to another.

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The vast majority of cruises sailing on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises, and other family-friendly cruise lines sailing in the Caribbean probably fall somewhere in between. They love the ship and love spending time in ports.

Many first and mid-port cruisers are looking for a cruise itinerary that stops at places they really like or places they’ve never been. Some ports are rarer than others, and it’s always disappointing when you book a cruise because you want to visit a specific location and weather (or other circumstances force a change).

Bad weather is by far the most common reason a cruise ship’s itinerary will be changed. Sometimes it’s because the seas are too rough to dock, and in other cases the captain chooses to sail away from potentially dangerous weather because safety is always the first concern.

In very rare cases, ships change their itineraries due to problems on board. They can work with limited engine power and that could force changes depending on the distance to be covered.

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Bad weather is the most common reason for the rerouting of a cruise ship.

Image source: Getty Images

This is Carnival’s port change policy

Cruise companies make every effort to communicate changes to itineraries as soon as they are known. In many cases, however, the change occurs after the ship has already departed.

If this occurs, the cruise line will refund all port charges and missed stopover fees, as well as any cruise line-sponsored excursions. That is all that is required, which Carnival Cruise Line makes very clear on its website.

“Carnival may change cruise duration and/or itinerary at any time,” the cruise line posted.

It is also permitted “to deviate in any direction or for any purpose from the direct or usual course and omit or change any or all port calls, times of arrival or departure, with or without notice, for any reason, including, but not limited to health and safety, security, inclement weather, hurricanes, tornadoes, strikes, tides, hostilities, civil disturbances, port closures, emergency disembarkations of guests or crew, late air, sea departures or arrivals, cars or coaches, mechanical breakdowns, declared pandemics, public health emergencies or communicable disease outbreaks, quarantines, national or regional emergencies, US or foreign government warnings or travel warnings”

When this happens, the cruise line owes its guests nothing.

“Carnival shall have no liability for any compensation or other damages in such circumstances for any changes to the itinerary, ports of call, ports of embarkation and disembarkation and/or duration of the cruise (including a longer than planned cruise duration due to port closures),” the cruise line added.

However, when a cruise is cut short, its policy calls for a prorated refund of the cruise fare and per-day packages such as internet and beverage packages.

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Carnival Vista has an engine problem

Carnival recently notified passengers on the Carnival Vista that their entire itinerary would change due to mechanical issues with the ship. That notification was sent after some passengers had already boarded the ship.

“Guests on the Vista only learned on the day of departure that instead of heading to Aruba, Curacao and Turks and Caicos, the ship will stop at the ports of Nassau, Princess Cays, Freeport and Half Moon Cay,” Inside Edition. reported.

Many were angered by the late notification and videos went viral on social media showing angry guests and what several news outlets called “chaos>”.

“The video Carnival Vista made on August 10, when guests first learned of a revised itinerary, not surprisingly, guests were given the choice to disembark with a full refund or stay for the cruise and receive an onboard credit plus a future. the vast majority chose to remain on board and continue with the cruise,” according to a statement from Carnival in response to a Come Cruise With Me email.

The change notification came late because Carnival engineers thought they could fix the problem, but were unable to do so in the time they had.

Carnival offered people who opted to stay on board a $400 credit that could be spent during the revised sailing. They were also given future cruise credit (in amounts that varied by stateroom type) for a future cruise.

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The cruise line was under no obligation to offer refunds, on-board credit or future cruise credit. Its choice to do so was not due to a small number of upset passengers, but rather the way the cruise industry generally responds when a disappointing itinerary change is made.

Both Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises recently offered passengers onboard credit to compensate for missed stops due to weather. No cruise line was required to do this.

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