Whereas Port Tampa Bay has reopened with some momentary vessel depth restrictions and cruise vessels are starting to return, one ship is additional delayed and will be unable to return as deliberate on Sunday, September 29, 2024.
Margaritaville at Sea’s Islander was purported to return to her Florida homeport on Sunday to debark her present 5-night Key West and Cozumel crusing, and to start her subsequent cruise, an an identical 5-night crusing.
Now, the present crusing is turning into a 6-night cruise with an additional day at sea, whereas the subsequent cruise is being shortened to a 4-night voyage.
The cruise line reached out to company booked on the September 29 departure to tell them of the change simply at some point earlier than embarkation.
“This morning, the Port Heavy Climate Advisory Group, together with the U.S. Coast Guard surveyed the situation of the channel and have decided that Islander’s scheduled arrival into Port Tampa Bay is delayed till Monday, September 30, 2024,” the cruise line confirmed.
“The September 29, 2024 crusing aboard the Margaritaville at Sea Islander will now depart Port Tampa Bay on Monday, September 30, 2024.”
The ship can have an altered itinerary and can not go to Key West on Monday as deliberate, because the vessel will solely be departing Tampa that day. The ship will spend Tuesday at sea, then can be in Cozumel, Mexico on Wednesday, October 2.
One other day at sea will observe as Margaritaville at Sea Islander makes her method again to Tampa for debarkation on Friday, October 4 as deliberate.
No additional modifications are anticipated for the altered itinerary or further upcoming sailings. In fact, last-minute alterations are at all times doable on any cruise trip attributable to climate, port operations, mechanical difficulties, or many different causes.
Embarkation Not But Confirmed
Booked company now impacted by the altered itinerary have been contacted about their potential subsequent steps and what compensation could also be out there. The cruise line does observe that embarkation plans usually are not but confirmed.
“Please be suggested that embarkation on Monday, September 30 is more likely to be delayed based mostly on at the moment recognized info,” the notification learn. “We’ll ship one other discover with actual timing as quickly as further steering is offered by the U.S. Coast Guard.”
The delay of embarkation is one more reason for the ship’s altered itinerary. With a day at sea as the primary full day of the cruise, Islander will be capable of modify her crusing pace to simply compensate for just a few hours’ change in embarkation.
The 85,619-gross-ton, Spirit-class Margaritaville at Sea Islander, the previous Costa Atlantica, is one among simply two cruise ships for the small, area of interest cruise line Margaritaville at Sea.
The ship can welcome 2,114 company per crusing at double occupancy, or as much as 2,680 vacationers when absolutely booked. Additionally onboard are almost 900 worldwide crew members.
Islander simply debuted in mid-June, providing 4- and 5-night sailings from Port Tampa Bay, the primary time Margaritaville at Sea has supplied the town as a cruise homeport.
Satellite tv for pc monitoring information reveals that Islander is at the moment nonetheless at sea, effectively away from Port Tampa Bay and never heading towards the cruise port at the moment.
Learn Additionally: Tampa Cruise Port – Terminals, Transportation, What’s Close by
In reality, of the a number of delayed cruise ships that have to return to the Florida homeport, solely Carnival Paradise has to this point entered the channel to navigate towards the cruise terminals. This can be because of the restricted channel availability for the port’s preliminary reopening, when marine site visitors have to be prioritized attributable to a wide range of elements.
Of the completely different vessels impacted by the prolonged closure of Port Tampa Bay, Carnival Paradise is essentially the most delayed cruise ship, and due to this fact it is sensible that she could be the primary to return.
