Carnival Cruise Ship Delayed, Embarkation Revised

Carnival Cruise Line has informed guests that are cruising out of the Port of Galveston on Saturday of a revised embarkation schedule. It comes as the Carnival cruise ship is delayed and arriving at its homeport much later than originally scheduled.

Carnival Vista Deviation

The Vista-class Carnival vessel is arriving at the Port of Galveston, Texas, on Saturday morning, later than originally scheduled. Those guests booked on the June 10 sailing have been informed of a revised embarkation.

Carnival Vista’s late arrival back home to the fourth busiest cruise port in the US is due to a deviation. During the ship’s June 3 Western Caribbean sailing, a passenger onboard needed urgent medical attention on land, resulting in the ship turning around and heading back to the island of Cozumel in Mexico.

Carnival Cruise Line said in a June 9 letter sent to guests on the following June 10 sailing, “Last night, Carnival Vista deviated course to disembark a guest who needed urgent medical attention care ashore. As a result, the ship will be returning to Galveston later than scheduled tomorrow, and embarkation for your cruise has been revised.“

The 3,900-passenger cruise ship’s June 3 sailing is a Western Caribbean itinerary, which included a call to Roatan in Honduras on June 6, Belize City in Belize on June 7, and the final call was in Cozumel on June 8 before the ship needed to make a return.

Embarkation Delays in Galveston

The cruise line didn’t just send a letter to guests on the following sailing, but also kept them updated via text messages with revised embarkation times. Carnival is asking guests to delay their arrival appointment by two and a half hours.

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Rather than the earliest embarkation time starting at 10:00 – 10:30 AM, that time would now be 12:30 – 1:00 PM. This means the latest arrival time to check in for the cruise is now 4:30 PM – 5:00 PM. Carnival says all guests must be onboard the ship no later than 5: 00 PM.

Carnival said in the letter, “If you purchased Carnival’s transfer services, please note that our transfer times will be adjusted based on this revised embarkation plan.“

Cruise ships usually depart the terminal at least 30 mins after the final boarding time. In this case, there is no doubt that the crew and port staff will work as fast as possible to complete the embarkation process as soon as possible.

When the 133,500 gross ton Carnival Vista eventually begins its seven-day Western Caribbean June 10 sailing, guests will get to enjoy port visits at Montego Bay in Jamaica, George Town in the Cayman Islands, and Cozumel in Mexico before returning to Galveston on June 17.

The delayed arrival back to the Port of Galveston will greatly impact some guests disembarking the Carnival Vista on Saturday. Those who booked early flight departures after the cruise, may find themself with a missed flight and will need to rearrange their travel plans to get back home.

This is not the first time the Carnival cruise ship has been delayed in arriving back in Galveston due to a media situation. In February 2023, it was a similar situation, with the ship arriving back late and delaying the embarkation for the following departure.