Panama Canal Cruises Ship Change From FREEDOM to SPIRIT

[Fly and Sail]

I was notified by Carnival today that there has been a ship change from the Carnival Freedom to Carnival Spirit.

 

Is there any reason not to cancel? While the Freedom is no spring chicken either, I have no intention on taking this voyage on a 22 year old vessel. I had a suite on the Freedom and was really looking forward to it but the more things that are going on... and now the ship change. 😞

 

February 14, 2022 Dear Carnival Guest, We want to provide you with an update on our deployment plans. Carnival Freedom will be repositioning to another home port and Carnival Spirit will be operating the Panama Canal cruises referenced above, including your cruise.   Carnival Spirit’s crew is eager to welcome you on board. We know you will enjoy our spacious and comfortable staterooms, the warm and friendly service from our crew, and the great variety of entertainment and activities we have planned for you. In order to transfer your reservation, we must close access to your booking. Once the transfer is completed, you will receive a confirmation with your new ship and stateroom assignment.  You will be assigned a comparable stateroom to what you are currently holding.  Here’s what you need to know about the ship transfer process:  Our team will be working on moving all the reservations until March 1 so there is no need to call us. (We appreciate your understanding as reservations cannot be accessed by anyone outside of our technical team during this period.)  Any onboard credit currently on your reservation will be automatically transferred to your new booking.   All pre-purchased items such as Fly2Fun air, shore excursions, Carnival Vacation Protection, gratuities, beverage and Wi-Fi packages, and Fun Shop items will automatically transfer to Carnival Spirit.  Approved and pending vaccine exemptions will follow the booking to the new ship. If you have a pending exemption request, the transfer of your booking is not a confirmation of your request. ITINERARY NOTE:  For the April 17 Journeys Cruise, we will replace our call to Santa Marta, Colombia with a visit to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Itinerary details will be included in your confirmation. Thank you for your understanding. We look forward to welcoming you aboard and are committed to providing you with a fun and memorable vacation.

Sincerely,

Christine Duffy President, Carnival Cruise Line

[Essiesmom]

Are you going on the cruise for the itinerary?  The ship?  Spirit will transit through the original, historic locks.  Freedom would do the new locks.  The old locks are much more interesting, and Spirit has great deck viewing.  Yes, I have done the Panama Canal, four times.  Eastbound on HAL Oosterdam and Celebrity Infinity, partial transit on Pride, and westbound through the new locks on Splendor.  I would be happy with the change.  EM

[stobe1]

Spirit class ships are my favorite. I would consider that a win!

[TravelBluebird]

13 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

Spirit class ships are my favorite. I would consider that a win!

 

Can I ask why? I’m on this trip and I also worry that the ship will feel small an crowded for a 16 day voyage.

[pogoism9]

55 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

Can I ask why? I’m on this trip and I also worry that the ship will feel small an crowded for a 16 day voyage.

 

They have the best space ratio of the fleet, and at the levels they have been sailing with lately, you will only have probably 1400-1600 passengers. The layout is also super easy.

[csm5986142]

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Are you going on the cruise for the itinerary?  The ship?  Spirit will transit through the original, historic locks.  Freedom would do the new locks.  The old locks are much more interesting, and Spirit has great deck viewing.  Yes, I have done the Panama Canal, four times.  Eastbound on HAL Oosterdam and Celebrity Infinity, partial transit on Pride, and westbound through the new locks on Splendor.  I would be happy with the change.  EM

 

I totally agree - we have done Panama Canal on HAL, and would love to go on the Spirit. 

We were on Spirit for the Hawaii itenerary and loved it.  Even being on the ship that long, it never felt crowded.  We have been on both ships (granted it's been a few years ago) but I don't recall the Freedom being better (but maybe there have been renovations/upgrades I'm not aware of).

[xfisgsm]

Does this change allow us any flexibility such as switching to a different sailing or a refund?

[Moviela]

I certainly support the company's decision to use Spirit and Splendor to make a few dollars rather than wait in Oz for the government to approve cruise travel. I am, however, dissappointed that I will lose the dance floor sized, high deck, rear balcony I booked, and fully paid for on the Freedom. I hope I will be reassigned a comparable rear balcony. Which locks is not really important, nor is the overall size of the ship. I am sure the crew will be as attentive, genuinely nice, and fun! Perhaps Carnival could add something like a complementary excursion, lobster every night, or significant onboard credit to turn frowns into smiles?

[brilliantseas]

3 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

Can I ask why? I’m on this trip and I also worry that the ship will feel small an crowded for a 16 day voyage.

 

The Freedom would feel far more crowded than the Spirit. Freedom is only 24% larger in size (gross tonnage), but carries 41% more passengers than Spirit. 

[TravelBluebird]

53 minutes ago, brilliantseas said:

 

The Freedom would feel far more crowded than the Spirit. Freedom is only 24% larger in size (gross tonnage), but carries 41% more passengers than Spirit. 

 

Thank you! That is good to know

[TravelBluebird]

1 hour ago, xfisgsm said:

Does this change allow us any flexibility such as switching to a different sailing or a refund?

 

I don’t think we will know that until the new cabin assignments are available (which is supposed to be on March 1)

[Fly and Sail]

On 2/17/2022 at 1:59 AM, brilliantseas said:

 

The Freedom would feel far more crowded than the Spirit. Freedom is only 24% larger in size (gross tonnage), but carries 41% more passengers than Spirit. 

 

Well, it has the ability to carry more passengers. If that would actually be the case this year... I doubt it.

 

Has there been a recent reno/refurb of the Spirit? I see something about a 2018 refurbishment and a drydock in DXB in 2019 to add new livery. The videos on YT with the tiny pool deck etc are not very encouraging.

 

Celebrity let me swap the sailing to a cruise of my choice when they changed ships/cabins. Not sure what Carnival's policy is. I might be inclined to go for Alaska instead.

[jimbo5544]

The fact is that if this population were asked to pick a ship between the two, the Spirit would win hands down.  Of course that would not solve anything.  The other fact is they made the change, what Celebrity would do really does not matter either.  Only you can decide which is better for you.  A journey cruise thru the canal compared to an Alaskan cruise is not even close in my opinion.  Hope it works out.

[SuzWillCruise]

 

Here’s a pic from the Legend going through a lock in the canal.

[MelShi]

I had a 6K scenic grand ocean view on Lido on the Freedom. They downgraded me to 6A ocean view on deck 1. After 5 calls to the resolutions desk, they refunded me $1000. Still not thrilled but I'm hoping the voyage is worth it.

[Fly and Sail]

On 3/16/2022 at 6:08 PM, MelShi said:

I had a 6K scenic grand ocean view on Lido on the Freedom. They downgraded me to 6A ocean view on deck 1. After 5 calls to the resolutions desk, they refunded me $1000. Still not thrilled but I'm hoping the voyage is worth it.

 

Do you have a phone number? Not really happy with my newly assigned cabin either.

[MelShi]

I called my PVP and he transferred my call to resolutions.

Edited March 18, 2022 by MelShi
Correct typo

[Fly and Sail]

Carnival Resolution Department says it's their "policy" to not offer any refunds due to ship change and the resulting cabin change.

 

Pretty sure that's not a lawful position. Even though my cruise and suite was comped by the casino I want the $200 reservation fee / down payment back. Escalated the matter now.

 

First experience with them and most definitely the last. I talked to Chase (used my CSR card) and they said they'll process a chargeback for me if it comes to that.

[Fly and Sail]

Escalated to the Executive Offices and got a refund. All this to get $200 back for a cruise they'll probably resell for $6k. They should have PAID me to cancel this free cruise. 😂

 

Anyway glad I'm off this ship. If anyone is looking for an Ocean Suite on the SEP 20th sailing there should be ONE available now.

[carolmacey]

On 2/16/2022 at 8:57 AM, pogoism9 said:

 

They have the best space ratio of the fleet, and at the levels they have been sailing with lately, you will only have probably 1400-1600 passengers. The layout is also super easy.

We are on this sailing as well. Does anyone know what % of full the ships are filling?  

[Essiesmom]

Just got off Spirit yesterday.  Four day sailing, guest count 2054 of 2124 lower berths.  That’s 92%.  But if you counted all the 3/4 berths it was 80%.  There were 92 children under 12.  Likely it won’t be that full as school will be back in session.  EM

Edited April 5, 2022 by Essiesmom