Carnival Valor Sets Sail to New Orleans After Drydock

Carnival Valor Sets Sail to New Orleans After Drydock

The Carnival Valor sailed from Barcelona on Wednesday to kick off a repositioning voyage back to its homeport in New Orleans.

The Carnival Cruise Line vessel is now offering a 15-night cruise after spending a few weeks at the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz.v

Before arriving at the Big Easy, the trans-Atlantic crossing will visit destinations in Portugal and Spain, including Málaga, Cádiz, and Ponta Delgada.

The Carnival Valor is then set to arrive in New Orleans later this month, resuming its regular schedule of cruises to the Western Caribbean.

Sailing from Louisiana along with the Carnival Liberty, the vessel offers a series of four- and five-night itineraries to ports in Mexico, including Progreso, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

As part of its routine drydock in Spain, the Carnival Valour underwent technical work, as well as class inspections and general maintenance.

Public areas and staterooms also received upkeep, including the replacement of items such as carpets, upholstery, and furniture.

In line with other Carnival ships, the 2004-built ship saw the addition of a new Heroes Tribute Bar and Lounge.

Currently being rolled out to the company’s fleet, the military-themed venue pays homage to the sacrifices made by Armed Services personnel and their families.

Taking over the area previously occupied by the Skybox Sports Bar, the lounge serves a special menu, with part of its profits donated to humanitarian organisations.

Following the Carnival Valor, the Carnival Liberty is also being dry-docked at the Navantia shipyard in Cádiz.

As the fifth ship in Carnival’s fleet to visit a shipyard in 2025, the vessel is currently undergoing routine maintenance at the Spanish facility.

Other ships that entered drydock this year include the Carnival Sunshine, the Carnival Spirit and the Carnival Miracle.

Carnival Adjusts Itineraries of Multiple Mardi Gras Departures

Carnival Cruise Line is adjusting itineraries of multiple Eastern Caribbean sailings onboard the Mardi Gras.

Affecting a total of 21 cruises with departure dates between December 2022 and April 2024, the change will see a call to San Juan, Puerto Rico, being replaced with a visit to Nassau, The Bahamas. 

According to a statement sent to booked guests, the itinerary alteration is part of a “operations plan refining.”

Any pre-purchased Carnival shore excursions for San Juan will be automatically refunded to their original form of payment, the company said.

New shore tours for the visit to Nassau will be available online shortly, Carnival added.  

After debuting in July 2021, the Mardi Gras continues to offer year-round departures from Port Canaveral.

Sailing from its Central Florida homeport every Saturday, the 5,200-guest vessel offers week-long departures to both the Western and Eastern Caribbean.

Visited destinations include Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatán and more.

In 2023, the LNG-powered ship is also set to offer a one-time cruise to the Southern Caribbean. Sailing in August, the eight-night voyage features visits to Aruba and Bonaire, as well as to Grand Turk.

Along with the Mardi Gras, two additional Carnival ships sail from Port Canaveral on a year-round – the Carnival Freedom and the Carnival Liberty.

Offering three- to five-night cruises to the Bahamas and the Caribbean, the vessels will soon be joined by the Carnival Magic for the upcoming winter season.

Before repositioning to Norfolk in May, the Dream-Class cruise ship offers six- and eight-night cruises to the Eastern and Southern Caribbean.

Itineraries include visits to popular ports such as St. Maarten, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, La Romana, Aruba, Bonaire, Princess Cays, Half Moon Cay and others.

Similar itineraries will be offered by the larger Carnival Vista during the 2023-2024 winter cruise season. 

Carnival Horizon to Drydock, Liberty and Sunshine to Take Her Place

The Carnival Horizon will be out of service longer than anticipated to fix a propulsion problem with the ship now set for a drydocking in Palermo for repairs.

This means sailings on the Horizon are cancelled until January 22 and Carnival is responding quickly, with the Liberty and Sunshine re-entering service to pick up the Horizon’s guests and itineraries from Miami.

Both those ships will sail from Miami in place of the Horizon for the Dec. 19, Dec. 26 and Dec. 31 departures. The Sunshine will then move north to Charleston for a Jan. 13 restart, while the Liberty will pick up the Horizon’s Miami-based Caribbean itineraries that sail on Jan. 8 and Jan. 22.