Sensation and fantasy switching Itineraries

[ruag8tr2]

Carnival has decided that the Fantasy and the Sensation will switch itineraries because of the propulsion problems with the Sensation. With Grand Turk being so far away, the Sensation cannot make the trip with its current problem. While I am booked on the 5/4/06 cruise (now on Fantasy), I really don't care which ship I go on, but I am anticipating a lot of ppl will be upset that they aren't going to go on the ship they booked. How would you feel if this happened to you? Same itinerary, different ship, same class of ship (Fantasy Class).

Dennis

[Lisa63]

It did happen to us, only on Celebrity. We had booked our February 2006 cruise on Millennium, and found out a few months before sailing that the ship was swapping itineraries with Infinity. (Infinity was originally doing longer cruises in South America.) As Infinity was not scheduled for a drydock until March, the line felt more confident using Millennium on the longer itineraries.

As the ships are sisters, our cabins were unchanged. I was disappointed that I would not get a chance to see the decor of the RMS Olympic Dining Room on Millennium (Olympic is among my favorite ships), which was the main reason we had booked this particular ship. But, we enjoyed the SS United States Restaurant, instead.

Initially, a lot of people were upset (if message boards are enough of a representative sample), but while onboard I heard no one even mention Millennium.

[Dan]

I forget which Carnival ships are undergoing or just underwent refits after Katrina duty. If I was booked on a ship that was just out of an updating, I might be a little peeved about going on one that has been refurbed recently. Otherwise if it was the same class and nothing really different about the ship, I wouldn't care.

[ruag8tr2]

Dan,

That is a part of the problem. The refitted ship (Sensation) has been experiencing major problems with both the propulsion and word on the boards is that the ship came out of drydock too early.

Dennis

[JohnG]

The way I understand it is:

Carnival Sensation and Fantasy ships are switching itineraries due to the propulsion problems that Sensation is presently having. Fantasy will now do 4 & 5 day sailings and the Sensation will do the 3 & 4 day sailings.

The actual change would happen on 4/6/06 with both ships in port on that day. Cabin numbers and everything else will remain the same on bookings (as the ships are the same).

Carnival is making the changes automatically and the announcement should be hitting the agent community sometime today.

Also, I was informed that anyone who chooses to cancel will be subject to regular penalties.

So if you are scheduled for a 5 day Turks and Caicos cruise on Sensation, you still get the same itinerary, on an identical class ship, and similarly, for the 4 day itinerary.

[ruag8tr2]

SOunds good to me. I don't blame Carnival for charging "regular" cancellation fees. They are offering the same cruise on a different ship. No big deal.

Dennis

[Mebert]

If it were me, I wouldn't mind switching ships. I would just be happy to be going on a cruise.

[Slainte]

Being that they are the same class ship, it wouldn't bother me at all.

[KeithnRita]

Same here, it would be okay by us.

[Joanandjoe]

We don't see the big deal, either. We are somewhat amazed that two ships are identical; but, then, we've never sailed on Carnival. None of the nine ships on which we have sailed, or will sail on this year, is identical to any other ship; althought the differences between Horizon and Zenith are pretty minor (such as hot tubs on Zenith but not Horizon). Even our HAL Vista class ship, the Noordam, is different from the other three Vistas.