Carnival Cruise Line has canceled a month of sailings for Carnival Vista, as the ship will be entering dry dock at the time. Impacted guests are being contacted with details for rebooking or refunding their now-canceled cruises.
Month of Carnival Vista Sailings Canceled
Carnival Cruise Line has canceled all sailings for Carnival Vista from the ship’s January 7, 2024 departure through the February 10, 2024 cruise. In total, five sailings have been impacted, and guests and travel partners are currently being contacted via email about their options.
“In our continuous efforts to enhance our product, Carnival Vista has now been scheduled for dry dock,” the email read. “As a result, we’re sorry to inform you that your reservation has been cancelled.”
Guests will be able to rebook their cruise to a comparable sailing, in a similar stateroom, with price protection. This new sailing can be aboard Carnival Vista at a later date, or on a different vessel, though some limitations apply to ensure a relatively equal rebooking.
Guests who rebook will also receive a $50 (USD) onboard credit for use on their new sailing, up to $100 per stateroom.
Anyone who does not want to rebook to an alternative cruise can receive a full refund of their cruise fare, as well as any pre-purchased items such as shore tours, drink packages, spa treatments, and specialty dining reservations. Refunds will be processed back to the original form of payment, but may take up to three weeks to process at individual banks.
Drydock Planned
During the time frame of the canceled cruises, Carnival Vista will instead be undergoing a dry dock. The details of the dry dock have not been revealed, but the process is likely to include a variety of upgrades and maintenance that is not practical to do while guests are onboard.
Typical repairs and maintenance during dry docks include flooring upgrades, refreshing public spaces, lighting upgrades, and other internal changes, such as updating onboard systems for more efficient operation. Carnival Vista first entered service in 2016, and last underwent dry dock in July 2019.
At that time, the dry dock operation was completed by Boskalis Vanguard using a floating dry dock near Freeport in The Bahamas, the first time such a procedure was used on a cruise ship.
That repair cycle, which lasted approximately three weeks, included repairs to the ship’s Azipod engines, which had been troublesome for the first-in-class vessel.
Return to Service
Carnival Vista is scheduled to return to service following her 2024 dry dock with a 6-night Eastern Caribbean sailing from Port Canaveral, Florida, departing on Feburary 18, 2024. On that cruise, the ship will visit Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and Half Moon Cay, Carnival Cruise Line’s private island destination in The Bahamas.
The 133,500-gross-ton ship will remain sailing from her central Florida homeport at least through 2024, though deployment changes and itinerary adjustments are always possible.
Carnival Vista can welcome 3,934 guests when booked at double occupancy, and up to 4,977 passengers when all berths are filled. The ship is currently sailing Eastern Caribbean and Southern Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral, and is planned to continue that schedule after this new dry dock.
