Carnival Swapping Cruise Ships Due to Technical Problem

Carnival Cruise Line announced that they will be swapping Carnival Liberty and Carnival Valor due to a technical issue affecting the maximum cruising speed on Carnival Liberty.

Carnival Liberty will reposition to Port Canaveral beginning on December 15, right after a previously scheduled dry dock.  Itineraries for the remainder of November have been revised (see below). Carnival Valor will move to Galveston and sail the four and five night sailings to the Western Caribbean.

Passengers who were booked on Carnival Liberty will now sail on Carnival Valor, and guests who were booked on Carnival Valor will now sail on Carnival Liberty. This change is being made since Carnival Valor is better suited to operate at the higher speeds required for the four and five-day Mexico itineraries from Galveston while Carnival Liberty is well equipped to handle shorter duration cruises from Central Florida.

The cruise ships are sister ships (Conquest class) and built only one year apart.  They feature similar accommodations, public venues, and Fun Ship 2.0 features including Guy’s Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, the RedFrog Rum Bar and BlueIguana Tequila Bar.

For guests on Carnival Liberty being transferred to Carnival Valor and vice versa, the cruise line will automatically transfer the reservations. Affected sailings are now temporarily closed in the system as the reservations team prepares to make the necessary changes. This work is expected to be completed by the end of November at which point new confirmations will be sent to all guests and they will again be able to access their reservations.  Fly2Fun flights, transfers and other vacation components such as dining choices, pre-paid gratuities, shore excursions, Fun Shop items and Spa reservations will be maintained as originally booked.

Revised Carnival Liberty itineraries for the remainder of November:

• Carnival Liberty November 14 Cruise: The November 14 five-day departure will include an overnight call in Cozumel (the call at Progreso has been cancelled).  The ship’s arrival back into Galveston on November 19 will be delayed until later in the day. Guests sailing on this voyage will receive a $50 per person credit to their shipboard accounts and a 25 percent discount on a future Carnival cruise. Guests also have the option of cancelling and receiving a full refund.
• Carnival Liberty November 19 Cruise:  The November 19 seven-day cruise will include stops in Cozumel and Costa Maya (the calls in Falmouth, Jamaica and Grand Cayman have been cancelled).  The ship’s departure time will be 10:00pm for this cruise.  Guests sailing on this voyage will receive a $50 per person credit to their shipboard accounts and a 25 percent discount on a future Carnival cruise. Guests also have the option of cancelling and receiving a full refund.
• Carnival LIberty November 26 Cruise:  The November 26 five-day departure will include an overnight call in Cozumel (the call at Progreso has been cancelled).   The ship’s arrival back into Galveston on December 1 will be delayed until later in the day. Guests sailing on this voyage will receive a $50 per person credit to their shipboard accounts and a 25 percent discount on a future Carnival cruise. Guests also have the option of cancelling and receiving a full refund.

There has also been one change to an itinerary on Carnival Valor.  The December 11 voyage will be shortened to allow enough time for the ship to reposition to Galveston. The cruise will be shortened to three days and guests sailing on this voyage will receive a one day pro-rated refund of cruise fare and a $25 per person credit to their shipboard account.  Guests also have the option of cancelling and receiving a full refund.

All other systems on Carnival Liberty are operating as normal, it is only the ship’s maximum speed that is being affected.