The Carnival Vista is returning to service ahead of schedule, a Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson has confirmed to Travel Agent. The ship will sail from Galveston July 23, instead of July 27 as originally planned, operating a special four-day cruise to Cozumel. Carnival said it had opened bookings for the new sailing the night of Wednesday, July 17, and that it has been selling quickly.
The ship had been undergoing repairs to its azipod propulsion system, which had been suffering an issue that affected the ship’s maximum cruising speed. Carnival said that the repairs, which are taking place at the Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport, have been using a unique, first-of-its-kind “floating dry dock” process on the BOKA Vanguard. That process has gone “extremely smoothly,” Carnival said, allowing the work to be completed almost five days ahead of schedule and allowing this special cruise to be scheduled for last-minute travelers.
The propulsion issue had forced Carnival to cancel three of the ship’s July sailings out of its homeport of Galveston. The sailings had been scheduled for July 6, July 13 and July 20; guests on those sailings received a full refund of their cruise fare and a 100 percent future cruise credit. Guests with airfare change fees and related expenses associated with new itineraries or cancelled trips were also offered reimbursement.
Following the special four-day cruise departing July 23, the Carnival Vista will resume its year-round schedule of seven-day cruises to the Caribbean from Galveston, beginning on July 27.
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