As Hurricane Ian crossed the South Carolina coast into the U.S. interior late last week, the Port of Charleston, SC, was closed for ship operations.
So, the 3,002-passenger Carnival Sunshine, which was scheduled to disembark guests there on Saturday, October 1 instead remained at sea. Carnival Cruise Line delayed the ship's arrival into that port by one day.
Subsequently, the Port of Charleston reopened. So, Carnival Sunshine's guests disembarked at Charleston on Sunday, October 2. But that also meant that the next voyage – a five-day voyage slated to depart October 1 – turned into a shorter, four-day voyage. It departed on October 2..
That voyage is currently in progress and making only one port call at Nassau in the Bahamas.“We apologize for any disruption to our guests’ vacation and thank them for their understanding,” Carnival said in an official statement. “Our thoughts are with the residents impacted by the storm.”
For guests on that shortened Carnival Sunshine cruise, the line is offering guests a pro-rated, one-day refund of their cruise fare. Plus, the line is providing an onboard credit of $50 per person or a maximum of $100 per stateroom. Guests are also able to request a full refund.
All Florida Ports are Now Open
Now that the storm has weakened sizably -- moving into the U.S. interior, Carnival said Ian is “no longer impacting our operations.and our vessels will operate as follows:
- Port of Jacksonville, FL – Carnival Elation’s Monday, October 3 voyage will operate as scheduled.
- Port of Tampa, FL: The October 3 voyage of Carnival Paradise will sail as scheduled.
- Port Canaveral, FL: Carnival Liberty’s October 3 voyage also will operate as planned.
In addition, an October 2 update from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ office said that “all ports are open."
Elsewhere in the cruise industry, Royal Caribbean International said in an update that Harmony of the Seas would operate as scheduled from Port Canaveral on Sunday, October 2.
Travel Advisor’s First-Hand Experience
Travel advisor Pris Phillips, associate, Dream Vacations, was sailing on her honeymoon aboard Carnival Sunshine at sea as Hurricane Ian impacted cruise schedules.
A Columbia, SC, resident, Phillips relayed her experience to Travel Agent and explained how the cruise line had communicated with guests as the storm progressed across Florida and north to South Carolina..
“From the moment we boarded on Monday, September 26 for our honeymoon cruise, we were constantly kept informed about Hurricane Ian and how it might affect our itinerary,” Phillips told us in email communications from the ship at sea. “There were frequent announcements, letters left under our door and even a dedicated TV channel with frequent updates - often faster than my contacts on land could provide them."
She sent us a photo of one of those guest letters from Captain Lorenzo Calogero. In that letter, he explained that Carnival's fleet operations team was tracking the storm, informed guests when the next update would come and explained how guests could get updates at any time on that TV channel.
Captain Calogero also told guests that they could “rest assured that the ship will remain a safe distance from the storm at all times.” Phillips said that she "was amazed that the captain and his team even managed to find sunshine for us to bask in” on that extra day at sea.”
Overall, Phillips and her husband, James (“Jim”) Kretschmar, who were married in September, felt that Carnival handled the situation very well, with Phillips calling it “a job well done.”