tidecat

Covid testing and vaccine requirements are likely dragging down demand for shorter cruises. Why risk 5-14 days of quarantine for a 3 night cruise?

Water temperature will also be pretty much whatever the ocean is in that area. If you are sailing during the winter, you may notice more variation the further south you sail. If the water temp is in the high 70s or low 80s at your homeport, it may change very little during your itinerary.

Carnival Sunshine was at least scheduled to go there before the ban was reinstated. She and Costa Magica should be the same size for docking purposes: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2018/05/10/cuba-cruises-charleston-carnival-industry-first/597759002/

Ecstasy is due for drydock this October, Sensation would have been due in January 2023. Yes, Carnival might have been able to operate cruises out of Mobile for a couple more months had they kept Sensation instead of Ecstasy, but it might have required more crew members for the extra 3 months - especially since Celebration should be entering service about the time Ecstasy leaves. Ecstasy's crew will likely sign off with the ship. Carnival bringing Spirit over to the US also made one ship unnecessary. It may have also come down to the scrapyard saying we need a ship by X to keep their workers from being idled, and/or wanting to take advantage of higher scrap prices. Reportedly Sensation sold for $11 Million, so you don't keep a ship that burns nearly $1 Million/month sitting idle any longer than you have to.

With it being new inventory for Carnival Cruise Line, it wouldn't require shuffling other reservations around. Adding a larger ship to other itineraries can create excess supply. Older sister Carnival Sunshine has called at Havana before. That said, I don't think Cuba can be counted on in the near future.

But not always. The 7-Day Mexican Riviera itinerary does a time change between Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta, although in that case it was still 1 hour behind local time. If this is the 10/22 sailing, there would likely be no change to ship's tme. Aruba and Curacao keep Atlantic Standard Time year-round, which will only put them one hour ahead of Galveston, which will still be on DST until 2 AM on November 6.

Pools do not close when in port. I could never find a Fun Times for previous Mardi Gras sailings that listed the pool opening and closing times, but for other ships in the fleet the pools typically open at 8 AM and close at Midnight, subject to weather conditions. I think John Heald has even shown people using the pool before 8 AM on some of the live videos he's done on Mardi Gras during his morning walks.