Carnival Cruise Line Adjusts Cancellation Policy Dates

Christine Duffy’s message painted the picture quite clearly already, but Carnival Cruise line has now also made amendments to its payment and cancellation policy.

In an e-mail sent to guests and travel agents, the cruise line said it had made no change in its plans to cruise in June 2021. The cruise line intends to sail only from US ports and, as the president said before, will not be moving ships to any other homeports to circumvent the CDC and its safe sailing framework.

However, Carnival Cruise Line has changed its cancellation and payment policies to give guests more freedom to change or keep their reservations.

Adjusted Dates

So while the competition has been shuffling ships around to accommodate new homeports in the Caribbean and Europe, Carnival is steadfast in its belief that the US’s progress to battle the pandemic is paying off.

Of course, this does not mean that guests are not eager to sail and are eager to find out whether Carnival will be canceling its cruises this June.

As of right now, to provide further confidence, the cruise line is offering guests the opportunity for several ways to handle the situation. First of all, the cruise line offers guests an extended payment deadline for all June 2021 sailings. This means that final payments now need to be completed before April 30, 2021.

Also Read: Carnival Cruise Ships: Where Are They And Where They Will Go

Although this sounds like a long time before the cruise line will make any decisions, the e-mail states that they will be deciding before that time. It merely serves to give those that have not made their final payments the chance to see what will be happening in the upcoming weeks.

Should guests want to keep their reservations active, they do not have to take any action until April 30. Guests that would like to cancel their booking in light of the uncertainty have several options.

The Previous Offers Still Stand

Carnival has said the previous cancellation offers still stand, and guests can still cancel June 2021 itineraries without penalty. However, if a guest keeps the itinerary and the ship does sail, guests will be eligible for a $100 onboard credit per cabin. The cruise line calls this an appreciation of loyalty from the guests.

Should a guest wish to cancel their cruise, and this is done before April 30, they will receive a full refund of monies paid, including a refund on any additional purchases like taxes, gratuities, beverage and WIFI packages, and more.

Suppose a guest chooses this option and the voyage did not have a future cruise credit (FCC) or OBC applied to it, and the voyage is eventually canceled. In that case, they will not be eligible for any rebooking offers made to guests who have remained on the voyage.

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If guests booked the voyage with an FCC, they will receive a refund for any amount paid above the FCC. The FCC will remain in place, as will any OBC, as long as any next voyage is booked before September 30, 2021, for any voyage departing by April 30, 2023. 

Carnival Cruise Line asks that guests who have any further questions regarding their sailings and bookings contact their travel agent or Carnival Personal Vacation Planner.

Carnival Will Not Budge

The message from the cruise line comes after President Christine Duffy said this week in her video message to guests and travel agents that the line does not intend to change their sailing locations or to move ships to any Caribbean or other ports for now:

“Here at Carnival Cruise Line, we currently do not have any plans to move our ships away from their US homeports. I’ve always said, Carnival Cruise Line is America’s Cruise Line. We sail from 14 US homeports, 50% of our itineraries are less than 7-day sailings and a significant number of our guests drive to their Carnival cruise vacation.”

While Royal Caribbean has decided to change their ways and sail from new homeports, and Norwegian Cruise Line has now canceled voyages for multiple ships for a possible redeployment, it seems Carnival guests can still count on the line to remain true to their US homeports. Something Governor DeSantis of Florida will surely appreciate.