Carnival Drops Calls At Dominica

Mbandy

Mbandy

Staff Captain
Siting "operational reasons", Carnival has dropped calls at Dominica for cruises on Carnival Victory effective with the November 21st sailing. There will not be an alternate port. In Leiu of Dominica, the Victory will spend a "Fun Day At Sea".

I'm sure glad it won't affect our cruise next week. Our excursion in Dominica is the one we're looking forward to the most.
 
ShipMaven

ShipMaven

Forever Remembered
Thanks for the heads up, Michael.

I'm not that great a Caribbean fan, but Dominica was one of the islands I DID like! :(

There must be more to this than meets the eye.
 
Cruizer

Cruizer

Staff Captain
ShipMaven said:
Thanks for the heads up, Michael.

I'm not that great a Caribbean fan, but Dominica was one of the islands I DID like! :(

There must be more to this than meets the eye.
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I agree. Dominica is very much on the way between St. Thomas and Barbados. I wonder what is up. However, if Carnival is saying it is for operational reasons, then most likely we will never find out. Operational reasons could mean anything from the captains are having trouble finding the island to the kickbacks were not big enough.
 
bob

bob

Community Manager Part Time Dinosaur
Staff member
..............on the topless deck
 
Mbandy

Mbandy

Staff Captain
Had a meeting with our Carnival Sales Rep today and she confirms that the move was all about fuel conservation. Without the extra stop the ship can travel at a slower speed and save fuel. She said that some other itineraries may be tweaked a bit for the same reason. She explained they are doing everytrhing possible to keep from having to reinstate the fuel supplement.
 
Cruizer

Cruizer

Staff Captain
Mbandy said:
Had a meeting with our Carnival Sales Rep today and she confirms that the move was all about fuel conservation. Without the extra stop the ship can travel at a slower speed and save fuel. She said that some other itineraries may be tweaked a bit for the same reason. She explained they are doing everytrhing possible to keep from having to reinstate the fuel supplement.
Click to expand...

Charge more, that will eliminate the need for a fuel supplement.
 
D

Dream Vacation

Pool Attendant
Carnival called our home with a recorded message that Domenica had been dropped from our cruise, and that we could go to Carnival's website for more information. There was nothing on the website, so we called Carnival and the rep didn't know anything about it. We had to prod her for details, and finally she was able to find some info - same story... needed to cut back on fuel, based on customer feedback.... Oh, but we could cancel with no penalty. Kind of hard when you've already bought your airlline tickets. We like Carnival and will enjoy the cruise, I'm sure, but weren't impressed with their customer service in this case.
 
Mbandy

Mbandy

Staff Captain
The original post was before our cruise on September 12. Now that I have done it, my opinion has changed.

Dominica was our favorite stop, a beautiful island.

The distance between the islands isn't as much as, say, the Western Caribbean. The ship didn't make more than 10 to 13 knotts between St Thomas and Dominica so the excuse of slower speed is BS in my opinion. Ships traveling other itineraries make 17 to 21 knotts to get from island to island.

My guess on Carnival avoiding Dominica? #1 a Sea day makes people spend money on the ship. (my on board account on this trip was substantially lower than any other I have had) #2 no shopping mecca at the end of the pier that kicks back to the cruise line.

Dominica was awesome. I suggest that cruisers look for other lines that still include it. For a fantastic tour try Bumpiing tours. Here's a link.

Bumpiing Tours
 
S

SandyBeach

1st Officer - Navigation
We did this cruise a few years back and loved Dominica. Even then I heard complaints about not enough time at sea. I always wondered why they booked that particular cruise.
We almost booked that cruise for next year, I would have been really upset if we had and then found out about Dominica as it's been one of the most beautiful islands we've been to so far.
 
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