GALVESTON, Texas – The Carnival Liberty is currently experiencing a technical issue which affects the ship's maximum cruising speed.
Due to the issue, a five-day cruise scheduled to depart on Nov. 5 has been canceled.
Guests scheduled to sail on the voyage will receive a full refund, as well as a 100 percent credit toward a future Carnival cruise.
The company released the following statement on the Liberty:
"The cruise ship Carnival Liberty, which is homeported in Galveston, Texas, is experiencing a technical issue which is affecting the ship’s maximum cruising speed. The issue is only affecting the ship’s speed and all other systems are operating normally. The ship arrived in Galveston on Monday and since then we have been working around the clock with outside technical experts to carry out our repair plan.
We had hoped to have the issue fixed in time for the next voyage, a five-day cruise scheduled to depart Saturday, Nov. 5, but our technical team, together with outside experts, have not been able to fix a problem with one of the ship’s diesel generators that was discovered on Monday. The work is taking longer than expected and, considering the ship would not be able to maintain the necessary speed to operate the planned itinerary, we have made the difficult decision to cancel tomorrow’s voyage. Guests scheduled to sail on this voyage will receive a full refund of their cruise, along with a 100 percent credit toward a future Carnival cruise.
The four-day cruise scheduled to depart Nov. 10, has been modified to include a call in Progreso instead of Cozumel. Guests sailing on this voyage will receive a $50 per person credit to their shipboard accounts and a 25 percent discount on a future Carnival cruise. Guests also have the option of cancelling and receiving a full refund.
We sincerely apologize for this disruption to our guests’ vacation plans."
Carnival canceled a cruise out of Galveston on Tuesday, as well, after the ship was hours late arriving at the port Monday.
The line’s Liberty ship should have arrived in Galveston about 6 a.m. Monday after a cruise, but a technical problem, as the company described it, slowed down the ship. It didn’t arrive until about 6 p.m.
Passengers for the next cruise were expected to begin boarding at 8 p.m. The ship was expected to set sail late Monday or early Tuesday, but that never happened.
On Tuesday morning, Carnival said in statement that its technical team along with other experts discovered another problem with one of the diesel generators, which could not be easily repaired. That prompted the cancelation of Tuesday’s cruise.
"Guests scheduled to sail on this voyage will receive a full refund of their cruise, along with a 100 percent future cruise credit and $90 per person reimbursement representing a previously promised onboard credit and stipend for meals in Galveston yesterday," the company said in the statement.
The delay has prompted Carnival to modify stops in upcoming cruises, as well.
The Nov. 5 five-day cruise will include a full-day call in Cozumel, Mexico, but the stop in Progreso, Mexico, has been canceled, the company said.
The Nov. 10 four-day cruise will include a stop in Progreso instead of Cozumel, the company said.
"Guests sailing on these voyages will receive a $50 per person credit to their shipboard accounts and a 25 percent discount on a future Carnival cruise," the company said in the statement. "Guests also have the option of cancelling and receiving a full refund."
Deanna Baird drove eight hours from Arkansas to Galveston to make the trip with her husband, daughter and two grandchildren.
“We got up this morning, looked out the window and we’re still here,” said Baird, who boarded the ship late Monday night. “The trip was shot.”
Now, her family has to drive all the way back to Arkansas and they didn’t even get to spend more than a few hours on the ship.
Aaliyah Hrowbowski flew in for the trip from Chicago. Now she has to re-book a flight back home to chilly Illinois.
“I will stick with Royal Caribbean in the future,” said Cibby Bowden, who was also disappointed to wake up Tuesday morning to hear the trip was canceled.
She and her friend, both from Houston, will stay a couple of days at a hotel in Galveston, using some of the reimbursement money they received from Carnival.
Trips after Nov. 14 are scheduled to operate as normal, the company said.
The line is posting updates at carnival.com and asked guests to sign up for alerts by texting CCL#1 to CRUISE (278473).