Panama canal cruise itinerary change

Just received notice from carnival that the Jan 2020 Panama canal cruise on the freedom will be replacing Cartegena with Roatan.

Interesting...

That's an interesting change. I wonder why.

Keith

It happens, Roatan has a nice beach near the ship

I hope our Princess cruise doesn't skip Cartagena. I am looking forward to it!

Roatan is beautiful for sure!

I am booked also on the Jan 2019 Panama canal and we still have Cartagena as one of our stops.

I have enjoyed visiting both places but would prefer Cartagena as we can go to Roatan as a "normal" itinerary. Not a deal breaker though.

Oh, by the way, the notice says "due to operational considerations".

I wonder what “operational considerations “ means? We are booked on this Jan. 2019 version of this cruise and would really hate to lose Cartagena.

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Having been to both, I would say Roatan is a very poor substitute for Cartegena. Cartegena was an unexpected highlight of our Panama Canal cruise.

Would this change be worth considering a cancellation and/or change of cruise? I would seriously consider it.

My guess is that Carnival is looking to the potential safety of it's passengers - Google helped me find this a few minutes ago ....

The United States specified its travel advisory for Colombia, recommending increased caution due to “crime and terrorism” for much of the country in 2018.

Unlike previous years, the latest travel advisory specified threats for American visitors and government personnel per region.

The State Department advised against traveling to much of the west coast of Colombia and the provinces bordering neighboring Venezuela.

Having been to both, I would say Roatan is a very poor substitute for Cartegena. Cartegena was an unexpected highlight of our Panama Canal cruise.

 

 

 

Would this change be worth considering a cancellation and/or change of cruise? I would seriously consider it.

I am on this cruise. It has no affect to me going on it. I booked for going to the Panama Canal. Everywhere else doesn’t matter to me.

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I am on this cruise. It has no affect to me going on it. I booked for going to the Panama Canal. Everywhere else doesn’t matter to me.

We agree. The canal itself was the overwhelming fantastic memory of that cruise for us in 2016.

We went with HAL and purposely chose the 10 day itinerary that skipped Cartagena rather than do the 11 day which did stop there. We were warned that to be safe we shouldn't leave the port area unless on a tour or on a certified taxi. That held no magic for us :)

I am on this cruise. It has no affect to me going on it. I booked for going to the Panama Canal. Everywhere else doesn’t matter to me.

 

 

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I was disappointed in the Canal. I wish we could have gone in the new locks and out the old. but we didn't. we only went through the new locks. I wanted to see the tight fit... Guess the Freedom is to big for the old locks.

I was disappointed in the Canal. I wish we could have gone in the new locks and out the old. but we didn't. we only went through the new locks. I wanted to see the tight fit... Guess the Freedom is to big for the old locks.

Most Carnival ships are too big for the old locks. Believe only the fantasy class will fit.

Most Carnival ships are too big for the old locks. Believe only the fantasy class will fit.

And the Spirit class. ;)

I feel bad that some of you were disappointed in the Canal. We loved that day!!

Price and size determine transit in the new HUGE locks. :D The high cost of the new locks is prohibitive for cruise ships -

Old Locks (appx fees):

A large yacht = $2,000

A cruise ship size of HAL's Zuiderdam = $250,000

New Locks constructed for mega-ships :

Between $850,000 and $1,200,000

Man my Panama Canal partial transit is next month and our stops are in Grand Cayman and Limon, Costa Rica. I'd trade GC for Roatan in a heartbeat lol. Not Limon though. And I don't know anything about Cartagena so I suspect I'd hate to lose that stop.

Only Carnival know why and they might not be telling. Just my thought, since other ships are porting in Columbia and the sailing in question is so far in the future, they may have changed the port to decrease the cost. Porting in Columbia is likely more expensive than in Carnivals own port in Honduras. And since it is a closed loop cruise they don't need a distant foreign port.

That's an interesting change. I wonder why.

 

Keith

My guess is Carnival developed the port in Mahogany Bay, remember it's all about the money!

Only Carnival know why and they might not be telling. Just my thought, since other ships are porting in Columbia and the sailing in question is so far in the future, they may have changed the port to decrease the cost. Porting in Columbia is likely more expensive than in Carnivals own port in Honduras. And since it is a closed loop cruise they don't need a distant foreign port.

Read post #8 and click the link for "travel advisory for Columbia

Well if it's due to safety reasons I would have thought they would have changed it first for the 2019 cruise. I have that one booked too but no notice.

It was nice to go through the Panama canal, once is enough for me. I would actually trade that day for any other port of call, we are doing these for the other ports and the rare 2 week cruise out of our home port.

A little disappointing, but life goes on.

Or sometimes it is because of port capacity/schedule (other ships that have long term or frequent stops get priority) or because of fresh water/fuel/grey water discharge/bunkering ability or sometimes just a timing thing... there are many reasons. However, I would be disappointed if it were me.

Or sometimes it is because of port capacity/schedule (other ships that have long term or frequent stops get priority) or because of fresh water/fuel/grey water discharge/bunkering ability or sometimes just a timing thing... there are many reasons. However, I would be disappointed if it were me.

I was thinking the same thing when operational issues were mentioned above. Our cruise last week had it's itinerary juggled a couple of months prior due to "operational considerations" and in looking into it, HMC was over capacity the day we were scheduled there and since HAL owns HMC (and two of the three ships scheduled there were HAL), our Carnival ship had to move. The vague and innocuous "operational considerations" tag can cover a lot of different situations..... including potential security problems in the port.