Guests boarding Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Vista on Sunday, August 18, 2024 are relieved to learn that their 6-night Eastern Caribbean sailing will go ahead as planned following repairs to the ship’s propulsion system.
Booked guests were notified on Thursday, August 15 of the plan for their cruise, which does include a slight modification on embarkation day with a later-than-typical departure planned.
“This week, our shipboard and shoreside technical teams have been working to resolve an issue that is limiting Carnival Vista’s cruising speed. Otherwise, there is no impact to ship operations,” the notification email explained.
“To accommodate our repair plan, the ship will be arriving very early Sunday morning, August 18, to Port Canaveral (approximately 3:30 AM) to allow for a full day of work with our engineers and technical experts. We are also planning a later departure that evening to maximize the workday, but given the sea day on Monday, this will not affect our arrival time for Half Moon Cay on Tuesday, August 20.”
The exact departure time was not listed in the email, and will likely depend on how quickly repairs can be finished on Sunday. Nevertheless, the ship is sure to set sail as soon as possible.
Guests are advised to stick with their original cruise terminal arrival appointments on Sunday, despite the ship’s later departure that evening. Certain venues onboard, however, will not be able to open until the ship reaches international waters, including the casino and retail shops.
The 1,450 international team members onboard, however, are sure to be planning additional activities and entertainment for that first evening. All the rest of the ship’s amenities, including the Punchliner comedy club, Serenity Deck, SportSquare ropes course, waterslides, and more will be operating as normal.
Carnival Vista developed a technical problem affecting its top speed at the very end of her August 4 sailing, which resulted in a slight delay as the ship returned to Port Canaveral.
The next cruise, however, was dramatically impacted. The planned 8-night Southern Caribbean cruise to Aruba, Curacao, and Grand Turk had to become a Bahamas itinerary instead to permit repairs.
This understandably made guests on the next sailing – the August 18 departure – nervous about whether or not their cruise might be altered or outright cancelled if more extensive repairs were needed. Fortunately, that will not be the case.
The upcoming itinerary includes not only the private island of Half Moon Cay, but also a visit to Grand Turk on Wednesday, August 21 followed by Amber Cove on Thursday, August 22. At this time, there are no changes planned to the overall itinerary.
Another full day at sea will follow the port visits as the ship makes her way back to Port Canaveral for debarkation on Saturday, August 24.
Embarking guests are naturally happy with the news, as are guests booked on upcoming sailings in the next few weeks.
The 133,596-gross-ton Carnival Vista is homeported year-round from Port Canaveral. She offers a selection of 6- and 8-night Caribbean sailings, including Eastern and Southern itineraries, both of which are popular options for both new and experienced cruisers.
Depending on the cruise length and departure date, Carnival Vista visits such top destinations as San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Grand Turk, Aruba, Curacao, and more.
Beginning in August 2025, the ship will also be one of the first to visit the upcoming Celebration Key, Carnival Cruise Line’s new private destination under construction on Grand Bahama Island.
A History of Difficulties
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Carnival Vista has experienced propulsion difficulties. The ship had an unexpected emergency dry dock in 2019 due to similar difficulties, and had also had propulsion problems in 2016 as well as more recently in 2022.
Read Also: What Is Wrong With Carnival’s Vista Class Ships?
This repeated history of problems – always with the propulsion system – has made guests familiar with the ship nervous about any upcoming cruises when such difficulties arise again. While the exact details of each breakdown have not been released, it can be troubling that the same critical system is always impacted.
Hopefully, the issues this time have been minor, and the extended embarkation day will ensure a thorough repair so Carnival Vista can sail at her typical speed of 18 knots without difficulty.
