Itinerary change to 9 night Carnival Island l cruise on 11th June

[ddvgww]

I have just received an email from our travel agent which we knew would be coming,   Original itinerary was 3 sea days, Noumea, Lifou, Mystery Island, Noumea,  2 sea days.  Obviously that can't happen due to the unrest in Noumea.   New itinerary is only 2 ports, 1 day Santos and 1 day Vila.  Unsure why they have dropped Mystery Island or couldn't have stayed overnight at the other 2 ports as a whopping 7 days at sea is a lot.  In fairness to Carnival they have offered to cancel but no refund, only a full future cruise credit.   My husband and I will still go as we have cruised to the islands many times and are going more just for the pleasure of cruising.   I wonder how many people will cancel?  It will be interesting on board to see if the ship is still at full capacity or half empty. 

[mr walker]

What ship & what are the dates for this cruise please.

Cheers

 

Oh, I now see 11June was in the thread title 😞

Edited May 30 by mr walker
added info

[NSWP]

7 sea days magic.

[Haoie]

Knew it was coming I suppose. But no replacement ports at all? 

 

I'm on the Jul Splendor sailing and I'm thinking this'll be us too.

Edited May 30 by Haoie

[Haoie]

Honestly, not overly fussed about Noumea - IF it's replaced with a different port, right?

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, ddvgww said:

I have just received an email from our travel agent which we knew would be coming,   Original itinerary was 3 sea days, Noumea, Lifou, Mystery Island, Noumea,  2 sea days.  Obviously that can't happen due to the unrest in Noumea.   New itinerary is only 2 ports, 1 day Santos and 1 day Vila.  Unsure why they have dropped Mystery Island or couldn't have stayed overnight at the other 2 ports as a whopping 7 days at sea is a lot.  In fairness to Carnival they have offered to cancel but no refund, only a full future cruise credit.   My husband and I will still go as we have cruised to the islands many times and are going more just for the pleasure of cruising.   I wonder how many people will cancel?  It will be interesting on board to see if the ship is still at full capacity or half empty. 

Luganville is extra distance, so it would require them to drop a port. I believe it should still be 3 ports though, and Mystery Island was doable.

[MicCanberra]

It is a poor itinerary change, understandable that the New Caledonian ports were dropped but may have expected a few more additional ports than just two. Even a stop at Moreton island could have been added.

[ddvgww]

I agree it is a pretty poor itinerary change from Carnival.  I was surprised when I read the email from our travel agent this morning,   I wonder what P&O are doing for their revised itinerary to the islands?  A bit better than Carnival hopefully.   As I said, doesn't really bother me as we have cruised to the islands many times and are doing this cruise just for the fun of the cruising experience as we cruise about every 2 or 3 months.  This won't be the case for lots of passengers though who will be disappointed.   I guess it is relatively easy for people who live In Sydney to cancel but harder for people who live interstate and have paid for return flights.  

[MicCanberra]

I imagine many will get the future cruise credit

[ddvgww]

42 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I imagine many will get the future cruise credit

If that's the case then at least we won't have many long queues in the bistro.  I'll post after the cruise on how full, or empty,  the ship seemed.

[MicCanberra]

10 minutes ago, ddvgww said:

If that's the case then at least we won't have many long queues in the bistro.  I'll post after the cruise on how full, or empty,  the ship seemed.

There may be many more like you (like to cruise) but are late bookings getting a last minute deal.

[ddvgww]

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

There may be many more like you (like to cruise) but are late bookings getting a last minute deal.

That's a fair point.  I'll keep an eye online to see if this cruise comes back up for sale as it has been sold out for weeks.

[arxcards]

14 hours ago, ddvgww said:

I agree it is a pretty poor itinerary change from Carnival.  I was surprised when I read the email from our travel agent this morning,   I wonder what P&O are doing for their revised itinerary to the islands?  A bit better than Carnival hopefully.   As I said, doesn't really bother me as we have cruised to the islands many times and are doing this cruise just for the fun of the cruising experience as we cruise about every 2 or 3 months.  This won't be the case for lots of passengers though who will be disappointed.   I guess it is relatively easy for people who live In Sydney to cancel but harder for people who live interstate and have paid for return flights.  

P&Os previous trip to the islands on Pacific Adventure also dropped two ports.

 

I don't think many will cancel, as there no refunds, just a future credit. Just two weeks away, the lure is too close except for those that are only cruising to visit Noumea. As of 5 minutes ago, there are just 9 vacant cabins.

[MicCanberra]

Many cruisers just love to cruise and the destination is not that important, and there are many more reasons why someone will stil cruise despite the itinerary change. Cruising with friends and family, holidays locked in, cruise is just part of a trip, etc.

So perhaps thinking about it further, maybe not that many will cancel, perhaps 1/4 to 1/5.

[arxcards]

In the past 2hrs it has gone from a net of 9 vacant cabins to 11.

 

I think that most of those that cancel were those looking for an out for personal reasons but couldn't otherwise cancel. Losing Noumea x 2 stops and getting Luganville, I wonder if it will be closer to 1/50, with 1/5 unhappy with Carnival but still cruising anyway.

 

[MicCanberra]

You could be right, but there may also be people jumping on board for last minutes, filling the cabins as they vacate, I suppose we won't  ever know for certain 

[CountessCookie]

49 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

You could be right, but there may also be people jumping on board for last minutes, filling the cabins as they vacate, I suppose we won't  ever know for certain 

I mean I did just consider doing this. 😅

[CDaze71]

On 5/31/2024 at 10:33 AM, arxcards said:

In the past 2hrs it has gone from a net of 9 vacant cabins to 11.... 

 

Where do you look to see these exacting details? I've been watching this and other sailings on Carnival direct, but can't see how many exact cabin are actually available. I almost considered jumping on this sailing, but it's last minute and as I'm Platinum, I've missed my window of choosing my arrival time early. 16 days vs 14 days. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

39 minutes ago, CDaze71 said:

Where do you look to see these exacting details? I've been watching this and other sailings on Carnival direct, but can't see how many exact cabin are actually available. I almost considered jumping on this sailing, but it's last minute and as I'm Platinum, I've missed my window of choosing my arrival time early. 16 days vs 14 days. 

It is against Cruise Critic guidelines to name (or hint at in any way) travel agents/agencies.

[arxcards]

23 minutes ago, CDaze71 said:

Where do you look to see these exacting details? I've been watching this and other sailings on Carnival direct, but can't see how many exact cabin are actually available. I almost considered jumping on this sailing, but it's last minute and as I'm Platinum, I've missed my window of choosing my arrival time early. 16 days vs 14 days. 

Carnival.com.au is as good as anywhere when there are just a handful of cabins. There have been a few cabins coming and going for weeks, as we were also considering booking last minute. So far, there is no last minute deals, and I am in no rush.

 

When there are less than 7 cabins available in any given deck/location/type, all available cabins are visible. It may be possible to book a guarantee, but they are mostly  covering the same cabins as all the guarantee allocations were done weeks ago. As of 10 mins ago, there are:

5 insides

5 Ocean view

17 balconies

0 suites/mini suites

 

While those numbers remain, there won't be much of a price drop, and the buffet queues will remain long.

[MicCanberra]

16 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

It is against Cruise Critic guidelines to name (or hint at in any way) travel agents/agencies.

Cheers, always good to remind people of the guidelines, but  they were referring booking directly with the cruiseline.

[arxcards]

The prices may have dropped a little, perhaps as VIFP status.

 

4 x insides

1 x oceanview

9 x balconies

[ddvgww]

The cruise is sold out again so enough people must have booked last minute as the cabins became available due to cancellations.  Seems we will still be sailing at close to full capacity despite the inferior itinerary.   There are obviously lots of people out there like my hubby and I who just enjoy the whole cruise experience. Only 5 sleeps to go!