Carnival Cruise Line has canceled the Carnival Victory
cruise scheduled to depart Sept. 11, and has shortened several other scheduled
cruises because of anticipated delays in opening PortMiami.
Carnival said there are two sunken sailboats in the channel
that must be recovered prior to reopening the port. "We are in close
contact with port officials in Miami and have been informed that port
assessment activities are partially complete," a Carnival travel alert
said.
Based on an anticipated opening late on Sept. 12 or the
morning of Sept. 13, it provided guidance for several of its ships sailing from
Miami. Carnival Vista's seven-day Sept. 9 cruise will be converted to a four-day
cruise to Cozumel departing Sept. 13. The Sept. 9 Carnival Glory cruise has
been shortened to a three-day cruise to Nassau and Freeport departing Sept. 13.
The Sept. 11 Carnival Sensation cruise has been shortened to a three-day cruise
to Nassau departing Sept. 13.
The Glory, Vista and Victory are returning to Miami and will
be in position to dock, contingent on the port reopening.
The Carnival Victory is returning with 499 guests onboard
from a previous cruise, a Carnival spokesman said.
At Port Everglades, the Carnival Conquest and Carnival
Splendor are in position to dock on Sept. 12. The port is in the process of
restoring power to the cruise terminal and port officials are optimistic it
will reopen Tuesday, Carnival said.
Carnival Splendor guests from the Sept. 3 sailing will have
the option of staying onboard the ship until Thursday to accommodate anyone who
may have been displaced due to canceled flights.
Carnival Conquest's scheduled Sept. 9 cruise has been
converted to a four-day cruise to Cozumel now departing Sept. 12, pending the
opening of the port.
The Carnival Magic, based at Port Canaveral, debarked 1,600
guests in New Orleans on Sept. 11 after being diverted there because of
Hurricane Irma. Another 2,597 guests are still aboard. They are scheduled to
arrive at Port Canaveral on Sept. 13. The Sept. 9 cruise has been converted to
a three-day cruise to Freeport and Nassau, departing on Sept. 13.
The Carnival Paradise departed Cozumel on Sept. 11 and is
headed for either Tampa or Port Canaveral, depending on the availability of the
port in Tampa.
Carnival said all ships are housing guests other than the Carnival
Ecstasy, which terminated its last voyage in Charleston on Sept. 8, and the
Carnival Liberty, which terminated its last voyage in Port Canaveral on the
7th. It said those ships were not in a position for relief missions to
Caribbean islands stricken by Irma because of where they were sent to evade the
storm.
The Carnival Fascination, homeported in San Juan, is
scheduled to deliver supplies to St. Kitts later this week. A delivery of supplies is scheduled to arrive
in Grand Turk, as well.
Carnival said it is communicating with officials in many of
the Caribbean islands and working on a plan to begin delivering supplies on an
immediate and sustained, longer-term basis. Those deliveries would be worked
into ships' cruise itineraries as part of Carnival's operations.