Oil Spill, Cruise Line Impacts
May 2, 2010 
13 Comments
As the situation with the gulf coast oil spill continues to worsen, my initial concerns are about the massive damage to the wildlife & environment as well as the impact to the gulf coast fishermen and their families. Being a Cruise Industry blogger, I also quickly wondered if this would impact the Carnival Cruise ships that sail roundtrip from Mobile, AL and New Orleans.
Just as CruiseSource.us has always kept you informed about the potential impacts to your cruise vacations from natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes, we will keep you up-to-date with potential impacts from the oil spill. As of 9 PM ET, this is the latest statement from Carnival Cruise lines:
We are closely monitoring the situation with the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the potential impact to our operation in the Port of Mobile.
Based on the information we have received from the local port officials and the U.S. Coast Guard in Mobile, we do not anticipate any disruption to the Carnival Fantasy cruise departing on Monday, May 3, 2010. We are expecting the Port of Mobile to remain open and the cruise to operate as scheduled.
We are looking forward to welcoming our guests aboard the Carnival Fantasy on Monday. The Captain, officers, staff and crew are dedicated to providing our guests with fun and memorable cruise vacations.
~ Subscribe to get the latest Cruise News. Unfortunately, the only good news about the oil spill that I’ve seen today is that the Carnival Fantasy will sail out as scheduled… which seems pretty insignificant compared to all the bad news. But I know that if you are scheduled to be on the Fantasy tomorrow getting to go on your planned vacation is important to you and I wish you happy sailing! ~ Rich Tucker
Related Post: Will Oil Spill Boost Summer Cruise Sales?
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My husband and I are scheduled to sail on the Carnival Elation out of Mobile on Saturday May 15th. We know of a delay of 3 Hrs, sailing at 7:00pm instead of 4:00pm. What do you think the chances are that the cruise will be canceled by Carnival?
Hey Lisa,
I just talked to Carnival and they said that they have not changed any itineraries due to the Oil Spill. Where did you get the 3 hour delay information?
Thanks
Rich Tucker
Lisa,
I just learned that the Carnival Elation delay on May 15th from 4 PM to 7 PM did not have anything to do with with Oil Spill. Due to the Cruise prior being a 15 day TransCanal, customs is requiring the Elation to disembark at 7 PM so that it has ample time to clear the ship.
Rich Tucker
Hello Rich, I just read that the oil spill has no entered the golf of mexico stream and is heading up the Florida coast. We are set to sail on the Western Carribbean with Carnival leaving June 5th 2010 from Miami. Would you be informed of any dealys in the up comming weeks?
Thanks
Brock
Brock,
I will know when there are delays. As of now there are not any delays from the Oil Spill for Cruise Ships. As much as the Oil Spill sucks for our beloved gulf coast region, it has not impacted cruise vacations yet.
Thanks,
Rich Tucker
I also planned for a cruise in the next month. I am a consumer but possess a career as a scientist (and trust me, I am not an authority by any stretch (apples and oranges at best:-)), with a background in risk management of environmental exposure and an MBA, having worked with many firms. Unfortunately, corporate concerns are sincere but their media releases weigh heavily on the bottom line. As a customer, I have cancellation insurance, pray for all taking a cruise in the coming days and months that lie ahead, feel for the cruise line industry, and will likely avoid the golf coast at this time. Not good news for me now with an overused apologetic expression later. Right, we do not live in a vacuum and must go on with our lives – but we are also capacitated with the ability to think with reason. Best wishes……and safe travels!
If my august cruise gets cancelled will I receive a refund?
If your cruise gets cancelled you will either get a full refund or a future cruise credit. That would depend on how sailings the cruise line had to cancel and how major the impact would be for them. ~ Rich Tucker
We are looking at a cruise out of New Orleans at the end of the month. My wife is pregnant and I’m concern about fumes from the oil spill. Should I be concern? Is there any signs of oil reaching Mexico?
I have been watching this closely as I have a cruise scheduled in September and I am rapidly approaching the deadline to pay-up or back out. So I figured I would share what I have found…
I just saw an interview on FOXNEWS.com where a prominent scientist was pointing out that there are organisms in the ocean that actually eat oil and that tons of oil seeps into the ocean naturally every year. He sounded very optimistic about the situation.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4229431/oil-spills-long-reach
Also this is an interesting model on the expected path of the oil:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE-1G_476nA&feature=player_embedded#!
Factoring this all in… I am still planning to proceed with my Eastern Caribbean cruise, but am hoping to purchase travel insurance in the coming days. My booking agent at Cruise.com just told me that adding insurance at this point (to a new or existing reservation) would not cover the oil spill. He mentioned both a “preexisting condition” as well as a “natural disaster”. Hopefully I will find someone who will cover it. Best of luck…
Brad,
Thank you for commenting at CruiseSource.us – Your comment is very useful. If the cruise is canceled, your Cruise Line will either give you the money back or a future cruise credit. If the cruise saills, then you have to be on it. We offer cancel for any reason insurance which pays you 70% of your money back and you can cancel for any reason. You have to buy the insurance at time of booking to the cancel for any reason clause. You could cancel your existing booking and rebook through another agency (or possibly even your current agency) in order to buy insurance at time of the new booking. Oil Spills are not covered by specifically covered by any insurance. You would need to make sure that your insurance includes cancel for any reason.
So you may want to look at the current pricing for the cruise you are booked on. If it has not went up then you should be able to cance your existing booking and book a new one to buy the insurance at time of booking to get cancel for any reason. Work closely with your agent to make sure you get the deisred outcome. Please Comment if you have any questions.
Rich Tucker
As of 11:40 AM ET, it appears the Carnival Fantasy will set sail today as scheduled. If you are in Mobile and want to report back in the comments that would be awesome. ~ Rich Tucker