What about the cruises scheduled

[KeithnRita]

Joey,

Don't have any idea. Would guess by Oct 1.

[Tut]

Officially, United has announced that customers with scheduled travel into New Orleans from Aug. 25th thru Sept. 30th are eligible for a refund or can reroute to any alternative city for no extra charge.

There are other airlines doing the same thing but I'm only aware of the policy for United because that's the one we're flying on. I've just spent 3 hours on the phone with airlines, transportation, hotels, and Carnival Cruise Line to get all my "ducks in a row".

Carnival announced that cruises departing on Sept. 11th and beyond will now operate round trip from Galveston, TX.

We are now officially set for travel to IAU in Houston, Limousine service ( :cheesy: ) to and from the airport in Houston to the Moody Gardens Hotel (thanks JohnG) in Galveston and back. Free shuttle from the hotel to the port.

Called Carnival and asked about our itinerary and was told we would be going to the same ports as we would leaving from New Orleans. The only difference is leaving from Galveston but everything else was the same. Plus he told me that each person would be receiving a $50 on board credit which I thought was very nice of them.

That's all I have for the September cruises. I'm sure as it gets closer to October, those sailing at that time will be able to see what's happening with their cruises. Just a little FYI though. Don't wait until you get a notice or email, check the web site and go down to the bottom and click on "Customer Service" then click on "Weather Update and Information" on the left hand side. I still haven't officially received any communication but by checking I was able to do all my changes without being on hold very long - well, not as long as I could have been, I guess.

"And that's the way it is!"

[JohnG]

I was scheduled to sail from New Orleans on Conquest on Oct 23. They have announced that Conquest will sail from Galveston until further notice. We also get $50 pp SBC. I called Delta and they changed my ticket to Galveston at no extra charge.

My daughter is scheduled to sail from New Orleans on Oct 30 on NCL Sun. NCL hasn't announced anything yet.

[jtutak]

Carnival Cruise Lines Three Cruise Ships to Federal Government As Part of Hurricane Relief Efforts 09/03/2005 MIAMI (Sept. 3, 2005) – Carnival Cruise Lines has chartered three of its cruise ships to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) on behalf of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for six months as part of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

The three cruise ships are the Ecstasy, Sensation and Holiday.

The Ecstasy, normally homeported at Galveston, Texas, operating four- and five-day cruises, and Sensation, normally homeported in New Orleans operating four- and five-day voyages, will be pulled from service effective Monday, Sept. 5. Initial plans are for both vessels to be docked in Galveston.

The Holiday, which is homeported at Mobile, Ala., operating four and five-day Mexico cruises, will be pulled from service effective Thursday, Sept. 8. Initial plans are for the vessel to remain docked in Mobile.

“We sincerely apologize to those guests whose vacations have been impacted by these voyage cancellations,” said Bob Dickinson, Carnival president and CEO. “However, given that Hurricane Katrina is the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, we trust our guests will understand that the decision to enter into these charters was the right one. This inconvenience to our guests will provide desperately needed housing for thousands of individuals affected by this tragedy,” he added.

All guests whose bookings have been cancelled will be offered full refunds and will have the opportunity to re-book their cruise on any Carnival ship. Guests who re-book on any Carnival ship will receive a $100 per person shipboard credit. Carnival is protecting travel agent commissions on cancelled cruises.

As a result of three ships being taken out of service, Carnival is implementing some additional deployment changes within its fleet.

The Elation, which currently operates seven-day cruises from Galveston, will offer a one-time six-day voyage departing Sept. 4, then take over the Ecstasy’s four and five-day Galveston program effective Saturday, Sept. 10. Guests on the Elation’s six-day voyage will receive a 15 percent refund and a $50 per person shipboard credit. The Ecstasy’s five-day cruise of Sept. 5 has been cancelled.

All guests originally scheduled to sail on the Ecstasy during the affected six-month period will be automatically moved to the Elation. The Ecstasy and Elation are sister ships with identical layouts. Guests will be assigned to the same cabins on Elation that they had booked on the Ecstasy.

Carnival Conquest, which is normally based in New Orleans, will move to Galveston after it completes its current drydock on Sept. 11, to operate her original seven-day itinerary to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. The 110,000-ton Carnival Conquest entered service in 2002.

The Ecstasy entered service in 1991, the Sensation in 1993 and the Elation in 1998. All three are sister ships in Carnival’s eight-ship, Fantasy-class series. The vessels measure 70,367 gross tons and have a basis-two passenger capacity of 2,052 and a total passenger capacity of 2,606.

The 46,052-ton Holiday entered service in 1985 and has a basis-two passenger capacity of 1,452 and a total passenger capacity of 1,800.

Carnival shipboard employees will be staffing the three chartered ships. The Ecstasy, and Sensation each have approximately 920 crew and the Holiday has approximately 660.

Affected Carnival guests will be notified of the cancelled and modified sailings this afternoon.

For additional information and questions, guests can contact their travel agent, call 1-800-CARNIVAL or visit carnival.com.

[DaCruzNut]

Hi, dahdwdp, and

Glad you found us! I think you'll find we're a friendly bunch!

[JoeyandDavid]

Jim

Thanks for the update.

I found the word "chartered" in the first line of the release very interesting. Would love to see the contract for that deal. I bet Carnival just put in a PO for 3 new ships! :wink: