Fascination Departure Changed to 9 PM

No communication from Carnival, just happened to check my booking. Historically this itinerary always left at 10PM. Now it is nine.

So, this is not a huge deal since we are flying in a day before, but...

• Those flying in same day have one hour less cushion
  
• MDR was stopping seating at 8 so diners would be done in time for muster at 9... Now this will mean MDR seating stops at 7 pm.
  
• One hour less sightseeing in San Juan pre departure
  

Why no notice? I should have got an email, at least!

Our's is 9 now as well. Interesting! Thanks for pointing it out. I never would have noticed.

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I too never would've noticed. I haven't booked my flights yet, as I'm waiting for Southwest to release their calendar, but I will keep this in mind. The one time I did this cruise, I landed around 5PM and it was enough time to get over and board the ship. I didn't like it, but we saved $480 per person. Should I do this again, I worry, because that cruise was in the spring, this is in the winter.

Unless the port is close enough for me to drive to in less than 6 hours I would never risk leaving the day of on a cruise you never know what's going to happen flights could get delayed or missed - when we did Europe customs actually caused an issue and came to a complete standstill for over a hour this accompanied with a line that was probably at least 2 hours long to begin with caused one of our flights to be pretty much empty because everyone was stuck in custom's - Luckily we had got into the line early enough that we just barely made it onto the airplane as we were getting there they were making the final call

This is the third time I have done this itinerary and the previous two times I flew in same day. The late departure gives a lot of leeway for delayed flights. In the wintertime you may have a case where the whole air traffic system is messed up, but it is rare in the summer. It would take a major computer outage or strike, and in that case even coming in a day ahead would possibly not be enough.

That said, it is really nice to come in a day ahead for a relaxing pre-cruise experience. However, if you are in a gateway city (like I am in Charlotte) and catch a flight in the morning, there's not too much risk of getting there in time for the late departure. It's just that now there is one less hour of cushion.

FYI -the first time I did this flight was right after 9/11 and the entire country's air travel system was shut down for days. We did make it, though, but there was a lot of uncertainty. Also on that trip the airline change the return departure time by 3 hours earlier, while we were at sea with no way to know of it. We missed the flight but the airline and Carnival, after pointing fingers at each other, did put us on another airline and got us home same day at no cost to us (other than the headache.)

Thanks for the info! We leave in 3 weeks and didn't get a notification. Maybe we'll get something today?!?

I always stay a night at hotel near the dock. It is nice to not have to worry about a plane delay or cancellation. My last flight to San Juan had 9 people on standby. Wouldn't want to be left without an option, or forced to overpay.

My #1 reason though, is I love to spend time in the local cities, just adds that much more to the vacation. My last 3 cruises were out of Canaveral, Miami, and San Juan. It definitely added to the experience to be able to enjoy the city.

I call this a win. That 9 p.m. Muster drill after a long, hot day was awful.

I call this a win. That 9 p.m. Muster drill after a long, hot day was awful.

You think a muster drill at 8 PM is going to be any better?

Thank you for bringing this to my attention!

Wow just noticed this also, wonder why they did that. It's my first time with carnival my previous 4 times were with Royal and princess

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I'm going on the Fascination next week and just check and the departure from San Juan is still showing 10:00pm on my itinerary. Barbados, however, was shifted back on hour. The original time was 8:00am-5:00pm and it is now showing 9:00am-6:00pm. I booked an excursion that is still showing the meet time as 8:45 though.

Our's is 9 now as well. Interesting! Thanks for pointing it out. I never would have noticed.

 

 

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So glad I found this. Ours is pushed to 9 as well.

I saw this too and wondered if it was aa mistake. They also changed the order of our ports (same islands, different days) without any sort of notification. Thankfully I hadn't already booked tours, but I wonder if anyone else has noticed.

I saw this too and wondered if it was aa mistake. They also changed the order of our ports (same islands, different days) without any sort of notification. Thankfully I hadn't already booked tours, but I wonder if anyone else has noticed.

Received an email notification from Carnival on 5/30

Received an email notification from Carnival on 5/30

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