Carnival Cruises announced today its newest cruise ship, Carnival Mardi Gras, has suffered construction delays and as a result, will debut later than expected. In addition, eight sailings have been cancelled.
The ship is under construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, and will not be delivered until the end of October. The first revenue sailing will also now be departing Port Canaveral, Florida on November 14, 2020.
Consequently, the first eight sailings that were scheduled starting Aug. 31 have been cancelled, including European, transatlantic and New York-based itineraries and four Port Canaveral itineraries.
As a gesture of goodwill, Carnival is offering these guests a 25 percent future cruise credit (FCC), in addition to the full refund of their cruise fare (and applicable fees and taxes and other pre-purchased cruise components), as well as assistance with non-refundable airline and hotel reservations already booked. In addition, if guests rebook their cruise vacation using their 25 percent FCC by Feb. 18, 2020, they will be credited with an additional $100 per person onboard credit for that cruise. Carnival has also communicated guidelines to travel advisors regarding commission protection.
“We have been working closely with Meyer Turku executives to keep the Mardi Gras delivery on schedule, and while we deeply regret disappointing our guests, this change in the delivery date is required to make sure all of the ship’s systems, features and technology will be fully operational, so that we can give our guests the vacation they expect. Our commitment is to deliver a great and innovative ship, and Mardi Gras will definitely be that when it arrives in North America,” said Ben Clement, Carnival Cruise Line’s senior vice president of newbuild.
Matt Hochberg
Matt loves to cruise, and started Cruise.Blog as a place to share different cruise experiences, advice, and what to know before going on a cruise.
He lives in Florida with his wife and two daughters, where he can be found on any given day trying to convince his wife they "need" to book another cruise.
