Due to Hurricane Ida's ravagement of The Big Easy, Carnival Cruise Line has been forced to cancel a voyage, which was scheduled to depart New Orleans on Sunday, that would have been the first ocean cruise to set sail from the city in nearly 18 months.
The 2,980-passenger Carnival Glory had planned to become the first vessel to depart from the Crescent City on Sunday, September 5, one week after the Category 4 storm struck the city. As of today, electricity has been restored in some areas, but the vast majority of the metro remains without power, according to NOLA.com.
The Carnival Glory had been slated to sail a seven-day voyage from New Orleans to the Bahamas, with calls in Bimini, Freeport and Nassau, The Points Guy reported. In a statement, Carnival told the outlet that the decision to cancel Sunday's sailing was made after local officials conducted a post-storm assessment of the area.
"The channel to the cruise terminal remains closed, and New Orleans is under emergency management," Carnival wrote in its statement. "We will provide our guests and travel advisor partners with additional information as it becomes available."
As of right now, the cruise line has canceled sailings for the next week only, and the vessel is still scheduled to operate an identical itinerary departing September 19. However, that voyage will be subject to the status of the city's recovery efforts at that time, Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen told NOLA.com.
The company said that guests affected by Sunday's cancellation can choose to receive a full refund of the cruise fare or can transfer their booking to another cruise that leaves on Saturday from Galveston, Texas. "We are very sorry for this disruption to our guests' vacation plans, and we will keep those affected by the storm in our thoughts and prayers," Carnival added.
River cruise ships operating out of New Orleans have also been impacted by Hurricane Ida. Both American Cruise Lines and American Queen Steamboat Company (AQSC) have had to move their upcoming operations to more northerly ports along the Mississippi River that are located in Mississippi and Tennessee.
The 175-passenger American Melody, for example, embarked today on a 22-day sailing of the Mississippi River from Natchez, Mississippi, rather than from New Orleans. AQSC's American Queen has had to adjust its itinerary on a nine-day Mississippi River sailing that now departs on Monday from Memphis, rather than New Orleans. The iconic 436-passenger paddlewheeler is now set to stop in Mississippi's Vicksburg, Greenville, Natchez and Terrene Landing, as well as Helena, Arkansas.
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