Update: The ship was able to complete repairs and call at Key West Saturday. Get the latest news on Carnival Fantasy here.
Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Fantasy has cancelled a planned call at Cozumel, Mexico, instead sailing a “cruise to nowhere” from Mobile, AL.
“The ship is experiencing a technical issue with its propulsion system which is affecting the vessel’s maximum cruising speed,” Carnival said in a statement provided to Travel Agent. “Technicians continue to work to address the issue, however, given the ship’s speed limitation, it was not be possible to maintain the scheduled itinerary.”
Instead of calling at Cozumel, the ship will remain at sea throughout the cruise and return to port on Monday.
Guests had the option of canceling, receiving a full refund and disembarking, or staying onboard and sailing on the cruise to nowhere, Carnival said. Carnival is also offering guests sailing on the modified itinerary a 50 percent refund of their cruise fare, a $50 onboard credit and a 50 percent credit towards a future cruise.
“We sincerely apologize to our guests for this disappointing modification to the planned itinerary and our team looks forward to going above and beyond to ensure they enjoy an extraordinary vacation,” Carnival said.
The ship sailed from Mobile yesterday and is scheduled to return on Monday. Its next scheduled itinerary is a five-night western Caribbean cruise departing Monday with scheduled stops at Progreso and Cozumel, followed by a five-night western Caribbean cruise departing April 22 calling at Costa Maya and Cozumel. After that, the ship is currently scheduled to sail a four-night western Caribbean cruise departing April 27 and calling at Cozumel.
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