Category: News

Here is where you can find the latest updates on news in the cruise & travel world.

CARNIVAL CREW MAKES IT HOME…

The Carnival Breeze disembarked the first group of about 70 crew members from the red list yesterday after arriving in Southampton as part of a Transatlantic repatriation voyage of Carnival Cruise Line’s European crew due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After disembarking they boarded flights back to there home countries. These crew members from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Zambia, Romania, and Australia officially signed off.

Today another group of about 165 crewmembers from the green list are scheduled to sign off, disembark the ship, and return home to Hungary, Macedonia, Spain, Portugal, and Serbia.

Carnival Breeze will then continue sailing to Cadiz, Civitavecchia, and Dubrovnik to return the remaining crew home.

DISNEY CRUISE LINE EXTENDS SUSPENSION…

Disney Cruise Line extends cancellations through July 28, 2020.

In light of this cancellation, Disney Cruise Line is offering their guests who have paid in full the choice of a 125% future cruise credit to be used for a future sailing within 15 months of their original sail date, or a full refund. The credit has been automatically added to their account. 
For guests who have not paid in full, Disney Cruise Line will be automatically refunding any payment made toward their booking. This refund will be processed back to the original form of payment but may be delayed due to the high volume.

Impacted departures include:

Disney Dream

  • 6/21 – 5-Night Bahamas
  • 6/26 – 5-Night Bahamas
  • 7/1 – 4-Night Bahamas
  • 7/5 – 5-Night Bahamas
  • 7/10 – 3-Night Bahamas
  • 7/13 – 4-Night Bahamas
  • 7/17 – 3-Night Bahamas
  • 7/20 – 4-Night Bahamas
  • 7/24 – 3-Night Bahamas
  • 7/27 – 4-Night Bahamas

Disney Fantasy 

  • 6/20 – 7-Night Western Caribbean
  • 6/27 – 9-Night Southern Caribbean
  • 7/6 – 5-Night Western Caribbean
  • 7/11 – 7-Night Eastern Caribbean
  • 7/18 – 7-Night Western Caribbean
  • 7/25 – 7-Night Eastern Caribbean 

Disney Magic

  • 7/13 – 5-Night Mediterranean 
  • 7/18 – 7-Night Western Europe 
  • 7/25 – 11-Night Northern Europe  

Disney Wonder

  • 7/6 – 7-Night Alaska
  • 7/13 – 7-Night Alaska
  • 7/20 – 7-Night Alaska
  • 7/27 – 7-Night Alaska

Adventures by Disney Cruise Packages

  • 7/13 – 5-Night Mediterranean Adventures by Disney Cruise Package
  • 7/25 – 11-Night Northern Europe Adventures by Disney Cruise Package
  • 7/6 – 7-Night Alaskan Wonders Adventures by Disney Cruise Package
  • 7/13 – 7-Night Alaskan Wonders Adventures by Disney Cruise Package
  • 7/27 – 7-Night Alaskan Wonders Adventures by Disney Cruise Package

VIRGIN VOYAGES – THE BAND IS HERE!!!

For those planning to sail with Virgin Voyages, the band will be the sailors room key, wallet, bar tab all in one with just a tap.  It can be used in the casino for easy gaming, entry to reservations, and more.  Sailors can enjoy their voyage hands free.  The primary sailor on the account will receive the bands for all sailors in their reservation about one month prior to sailing to their address on file.  The band is necessary for a successful embarkation.

FOG DELAYS CARNIVAL DREAM FROM RETURNING TO GALVESTON

Just popping in today with a quick update on the Carnival dream as she has been stuck out at sea since early this morning unable to return to Galveston due to extreme fog.

According to a guest onboard the ship, the dream started cruising into heavy fog around midnight last night at around the speed of 14 knots. Then the guests received a message at 7am this morning saying the port of Galveston was closed due to heavy fog.  As the ship remained at the opening of the channel, the captain announced around noon that a pilot boat was coming to guide them back in at 2:30pm. It was expected take about two hours to get docked. Then at 2:00pm, the captain made an updated announcement that the fog had settle back down and that the pilot could not take the ship in. The ship left the opening of the channel and went back out to sea to retrieve new water. The ship headed back out in the dense fog somewhere headed NW and retrieved new water and then slowly heading back towards the channel entrance.

Guests onboard are stating that there have been constant horns blowing for safety. Supposedly the Galveston port has been reported with having major fog the last few days. Throughout the day, the guests were unsure whether or not they would be spending another night on the ship.

The passengers checked their bags last night ready for debarkation and so they have been left without their checked belongings throughout the day. 

Currently the Carnival Dream has finally arrived into Port of Galveston after slowly making her way through the channel of fog.  Guests were given the option to stay onboard for the night and get off the ship in the morning or disembark the ship this evening.  Many guests are disembarking this ship and making their way to the airport or other travel arrangements they may have.

Not only has Galveston’s extreme fog affected the guests on the carnival Dream, it has also affected the next sailing for the Dream which was scheduled to leave today.  Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the seas was affected as well.  They were supposed to leave Galveston yesterday and finally made it out to sea today about 4pm.

Galveston is known for experiencing major fog during the winter months especially January and February.   If you are planning a cruise during these months from Galveston a good rule of thumb is to not book early flights home after debarkation.  In fact, it’s not a bad idea to plan a post cruise hotel for one night after and schedule flights the following day. 

This is a great example of why travel insurance is so important.  This is not a Cruise line problem, it is an unpredictable weather condition and technically the cruise line is not responsible for this.  In a situation like this many people have been left with missed flights and having to pay to rebook them at last minute increased rates.  So the Sharon at Sea Travel tip of the day is travel with ease and “purchase travel insurance”.