Even in the middle of a Carnival voluntary suspension, I encourage my clients to book their next cruise. I believe “now o’clock” is a great time to book to take advantage of tremendous offers in price and extras (like onboard credit). Plus, the cancellation and deposit policies are flexible. If you want unbiased advice, information, and assistance, use the contact form or call me at 844-483-6669.

Carnival Voluntary Suspension Update: 10/12/20

Only two weeks ago Carnival announced the suspension of all cruises except for some sailing from the Port of Miami and Port Canaveral. Today that changed to all sailings (including from Port of Miami and Canaveral) through November. The announcement also includes the cancelation of five cruises aboard Carnival Splendor departing from Sydney between January 16 and February 8, 2021.

In follow up to our communication two weeks ago about operations out of Port Miami and Port Canaveral, we have made the decision to cancel cruises from both ports for November. Today we announced that we are canceling five additional Carnival Splendor cruises departing from Sydney between January 16 and February 8, 2021.

Carnival Cruise Line

In light of this announcement and the ongoing uncertainty of cruises, if you’ve booked a Carnival cruise departing in December 2020, you have the option to cancel and receive either a refund or future cruise credit. Note that December sailings have not been canceled at this point but in my opinion, they will be. Remember, if Carnival cancels on you, there is bonus onboard credit offered but if you cancel on them, it’s a refund or fcc with no bonus.

Related: Using your future cruise credit

Carnival Voluntary Suspension: Updated 9/16/20

In addition to the Covid related cancellations mentioned below, Carnival announced a revised “dry dock” (maintenance time out) for some ships, as well. Read more about it and the affected sailings here.

As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, we regret to inform our guests that Carnival Cruise Line is having to cancel the following sailings:

• San Francisco sailings through 2020
• Carnival Splendor sailings through and including January 7, 2021
• Carnival Spirit sailings through and including May 16, 2021
• Carnival Legend sailings through and including October 30, 2020
• Mardi Gras sailings November 14, 2020 through and including January 30, 2021
• Carnival Breeze from Ft. Lauderdale sailings November 7, 2020 through and including March 7, 2021
• Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration sailings through and including April 19, 2021
• Carnival Fascination sailings through and including January 9, 2022
• Carnival Sensation sailings March 3, 2022 and March 7, 2022
• Carnival Sunrise:
  • Sailings through and including October 19, 2020
  • Miami 7 and 8 day sailings from October 9, 2021 through and including April 30, 2022, excluding the March 5, 2022 sailing
  • Miami 5 day sailing January 3, 2022
• Carnival Radiance:
  • Sailings through and including November 1, 2020
  • 9, 12 and 14 day sailings from May 2, 2021 through and including April 29, 2022
  • 5 day sailings December 23, 2021 and December 28, 2021
• Carnival Paradise sailings through and including February 22, 2021
• Carnival Magic:
  • Ft. Lauderdale and Miami sailings through and including March 6, 2021
  • Transatlantic & Barcelona sailings April 10, 2021 through and including May 3, 2021
• Carnival Valor sailings through and including April 24, 2021
• All Other Ships sailings through and including October 31, 2020

Carnival Voluntary Suspension (Updated 8/5/20)

Just in from Carnival to match today’s CLIA announcement:

At this time, we are cancelling all cruises from October 1 – 31, 2020.

Carnival Cruise Line

Read the entire release, including all the effected sailings.

Carnival Voluntary Suspension (6/22/20)

With so much uncertainty in the world, it’s difficult to make a guess about when cruising will resume. It is (still) my belief that ships will sail in 2020 but I have serious doubts about them beginning at the end of the current pause which as of June 22, 2020 is mid-September. Today the announcement is regarding the Carnival voluntary suspension.

Carnival Cruise Line’s highest responsibilities include the health and safety of our guests and crew. Coronavirus is a fluid situation and we continue to work closely with public health experts and the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), to monitor, screen and implement best practices to protect the health of our guests and crew as it relates to COVID-19 (coronavirus). Our monitoring, screening and operational protocols are designed to be flexible so that we can effectively adapt to changes as they occur.

Carnival Voluntary Suspension Updates

Update: June 22, 2020

As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, we regret to inform our guests that Carnival Cruise Line is having to cancel the following sailings:

• All San Francisco sailings through 2020
• All Carnival Sunrise sailings through and including October 19, 2020
• All Carnival Legend sailings through and including October 30, 2020
• All Carnival Radiance sailings through and including November 1, 2020
• All Carnival Spirit Alaska, Hawaii, & Trans-Pacific sailings through and including October 6, 2020
• All Other Ships sailings through and including September 30, 2020

Under the Carnival voluntary suspension guidelines, Carnival is doing their best to encourage guests to plan their next cruise by offering 100% future cruise credit and on board credit ($600 for six or more day cruises and $350 for five days or fewer) for each stateroom booked by 5/31/21 and sailing by 4/30/23. Guests also have the option to request a 100% refund.

The offer is pretty straight forward, but there is some fine print and things you should know before making a decision. First, if you choose a future cruise credit, that’s what you’re getting throughout the lifetime of your original choice. For example, lets say you decide to take a future cruise credit for a cruise that was canceled by Carnival and re-book an October 2020 cruise with that credit. If for any reason your October 2020 cruise is canceled by Carnival, you can’t then request a refund. You’ll have your FCC available to book another cruise! One other potential hazard is the length of time that it will take to receive your refund. Legally, the refund can take up to 90 days to process and in many cases, Carnival is using every second of that time.

The refunds ARE being processed and guests WILL receive the money. But patience and diligence are both key. In the request every detail must be handled correctly or it gets “kicked out” of the system and doesn’t start the 90 day countdown.

Even with all this information and the situation changing nearly every day, you can book a cruise with confidence. Carnival will be sailing again and will do so with health and safety as their number one priority. There are some really amazing deals on Carnival cruises and now is the time to book and take advantage of them.