First phase of Carnival fleet-wide review announced

Carnival Cruise Lines has announced the first implementation phase of its fleet-wide comprehensive operational review, focused on Carnival Triumph, as well as Carnival Sunshine, which is currently undergoing a previously scheduled dry dock for product enhancements. The cruise line is making significant investments to enhance the level of operating redundancies and the scope of hotel services that can run on emergency power, and further improve each ship’s fire prevention, detection and suppression systems. Given the necessary lead time to source needed materials and implement the enhancements, Carnival will extend the current out-of-service period for these two ships. Carnival Triumph will now return to service on June 3, with a total of 10 additional cruises being cancelled. Guests on the affected voyages will receive a full refund, reimbursement for non-refundable transportation costs and a 25% discount on a future four- to five-day cruise. Carnival Sunshine, which is currently undergoing a multi-week dry dock to complete a comprehensive full-ship makeover, will now enter service May 5, following the cancellation of two European cruises. Guests on the cancelled Sunshine voyages will receive a full refund, plus reimbursement for any non-refundable travel costs. Additionally, they will receive a 25% discount on a future cruise. The additional time out of service will allow for implementation of the enhanced operating redundancies and other measures. “We sincerely regret cancelling these cruises and disrupting our guests’ vacation plans,”said Carnival president Gerry Cahill. “We are fully committed to applying the recommendations stemming from our fleet-wide review and to make whatever investments are needed despite the difficult decision to impact people’s vacations.”