Friday, October 4, 2013

Tropical Storm Karen Impacts Carnival Cruise Lines' New Orleans Homeport

Statement from Carnival Cruise Lines:

We continue to closely monitor the track of Tropical Storm Karen in the Gulf of Mexico. At this point, local authorities have informed us they have closed the Mississippi River to all ship traffic as of 6:00 AM on Friday. This means we will need to make changes to the Carnival Elation and Carnival Conquest's itineraries for sailings this weekend. Given the projected path of the storm, the Carnival Elation and Carnival Conquest are now expected to arrive on Monday, October 7, 2013 from the previous cruise. However, we will not have a definite time of arrival until the river re-opens.

As always, the safety of our guests and crew is our number one concern and our ships will maintain a safe distance from the storm.

Following are scheduled itinerary/embarkation alterations.

CARNIVAL ELATION - 10/05/13
Given our estimated arrival on Monday, we have no other option but to shorten the cruise to a 3 day Fun Cruise @ Sea. Given the shortened duration, guests will receive the following:
• 50% cruise fare refund
• 50% future cruise discount on a 3 to 5-day Carnival cruise
• Refund of the government fees and taxes
• Gratuity adjustment to reflect a 3-day voyage
• Automatic refund of all pre-purchased shore excursions
Check-in is now scheduled on October 7, 2013 at the Julia Street Terminal (1350 Port of New Orleans Place). Since we know that storms and hurricanes can be very unpredictable, we ask guests not proceed to the terminal until our next update on Sunday. To stay in touch and up to date on any changes we encourage guests to sign up for text alerts by texting CCL1 to CRUISE (278473).

CARNIVAL CONQUEST - 10/06/13
Given our estimated arrival on Monday, we have no other option but to shorten the cruise to a 6-day cruise and cancel our visit to Freeport. Below is our tentative revised itinerary:

Day Port Arrive Depart
Mon New Orleans, LA TBA TBA
Tues Fun Day @ Sea
Wed Key West, FL 8:00 AM 4:00 PM
Thu Nassau, The Bahamas 12:00 PM (noon) 6:00 PM
Fri Fun Day @ Sea
Sat Fun Day @ Sea
Sun New Orleans, LA 8:00 AM

Given the shortened duration, guests will receive the following:
• One day pro-rated refund of their cruise fare
• Refund of the government fees and taxes for Freeport
• Gratuity adjustment to reflect a 6-day voyage
• Automatic refund of pre-purchased shore excursions for Freeport
Check-in is now scheduled on October 7, 2013 at the Erato Street Terminal. Since we know that storms and hurricanes can be very unpredictable, we ask guests not proceed to the terminal until our next update on Sunday. To stay in touch and up to date on any changes we encourage guests to sign up for text alerts by texting CCL2 to CRUISE (278473).

We realize these are unexpected changes in the travel plans and should you wish to cancel or reschedule your Carnival Elation or Carnival Conquest cruise, please contact 1800 CARNIVAL to request a refund or future cruise credit.

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