After days of uncertainty with storm closures, port diversions, and a cruise cancellation, guests eager to board Carnival Paradise will be relieved to learn that the ship’s September 30, 2024 departure is moving forward as planned.
Carnival Cruise Line sent out a notification to guests booked on the Monday departure to confirm embarkation plans and timing.
“Embarkation for your cruise will take place as planned,” the notification read. “Please get to the cruise terminal for check-in within your pre-selected Terminal Arrival Appointment. In preparation for departure, all guests must be on board by the final boarding time indicated on the boarding pass.”
Passenger choose their terminal arrival appointments when they check-in for their sailing. Online check-in is available 14 days prior to sailing and no later than midnight of the day before the cruise departs.
Guests who have reached the Platinum and Diamond levels of the cruise line’s VIFP loyalty program are able to check in 16 days prior to sailing. This is a coveted benefit of being able to select the most desirable terminal arrival appointments.
Passengers ready to board Carnival Paradise may have become concerned even over the past day as the ship finally returned after Port Tampa Bay reopened following Hurricane Helene.
While the ship did proceed to the cruise terminal for debarkation as soon as possible, the vessel then moved off and away from the terminal – without new guests. This could give rise to anxiety that the ship may not, in fact, be ready to receive her next travelers.
Satellite tracking data now shows Carnival Paradise docked at a different part of Port Tampa Bay, however, an area that typically services cargo ships.
This temporary relocation may simply be to move the Fantasy class ship out of the way of other passenger cruise ships that required the terminal space to process passengers.
Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas, and Enchantment of the Seas were all debarking and embarking guests in Tampa on Sunday.
Because Carnival Paradise cancelled what was to be her current sailing following the extensive port closure delays, it makes sense that the empty ship would be moved to a different part of the port to wait until Monday, September 30, when her next guests arrive. This will not prevent the ship from being resupplied, cleaned, and refueled for her next sailing.
Read More: Tampa Cruise Port – Terminals, Transportation, What’s Nearby
That next cruise is a 6-night Western Caribbean voyage leaving Monday with plans to visit Belize City (Wednesday), Roatan (Thursday), and Cozumel (Friday), weather permitting.
At the moment, a low-pressure system is developing in the Western Caribbean and may move toward the Yucatan peninsula in the coming days. This could impact ports of call, but it is too early at this point to predict any such changes.
The Crazy Schedule of Carnival Paradise
The 71,925-gross-ton Carnival Paradise is homeported year-round from Port Tampa Bay, typically offering 4-, 5-, and 6-night sailings to the Western Caribbean and the Bahamas, depending on the sailing date.
Hurricane Helene drastically interfered with the ship’s schedule, however, when the storm system moved through the Western Caribbean and north up through the Gulf of Mexico off the west coast of Florida.
This not only caused itinerary changes for the vessel, but closed her homeport, delayed her eventual return, and cancelled her next sailing.
When the first changes happened, Carnival Paradise was on her September 21 cruise, a 5-night sailing. That cruise was altered as the ship was unable to visit Cozumel as planned, but instead diverted to Costa Maya as an alternative.
Then, Port Tampa Bay closed on the evening of September 25, meaning Carnival Paradise could not return home as planned on September 26. Instead, the ship remained out to sea to ride out the storm well out of danger.
As the port remained closed due to localized flooding and necessary inspections, the 5-night cruise became a 6-night, then a 7-night, then nearly an 8-night sailing. Port Tampa Bay finally reopened in the late afternoon of Saturday, September 28, and Carnival Paradise was the first cruise ship to return.
Because of the lengthy delay, the September 26 cruise was cancelled, but the ship will be fresh, clean, and ready to bring the FUN to up to 2,040 guests on Monday, September 30, as she sets sail again.
