Hurricane Kay, now a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour, has caused one Carnival cruise ship to s its itinerary.
Carnival Panorama has now canceled one port, rescheduled two other port visits and added a new port to its current itinerary, all due to the projected impact of the storm.
The ship is currently sailing what was supposed to be a 7-night Mexican Riviera itinerary from Long Beach, California. Aside from the ship's departure on Saturday, September 3, 2022, very little remains of the original itinerary.
Carnival Panorama was scheduled to enjoy two days at sea, visiting Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday, September 6, followed by a visit to Mazatlan on Wednesday and a final port call in Cabo San Lucas on Thursday before another day at sea and returning to Long Beach on Saturday. September 10.
Instead, the ship's route was changed and after only one day at sea, Carnival Panorama visited Cabo San Lucas on Monday, September 5. When guests returned to the ship after visiting the port, they were informed of further itinerary changes.
Wednesday and Thursday are now sea days, and the visit to Puerto Vallarta has been canceled entirely. Instead, the ship will visit Ensenada on Friday, September 9, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
These dramatic changes to the itinerary will disappoint many passengers, but the safety of the ship, its passengers and crew always remains a top concern.
"The safety of our guests and crew remains our top priority," the letter said. "So we will continue to monitor the weather and provide you with further updates as needed."
Due to the changes, all pre-purchased carnival tours to Mazatlan have been rescheduled to the new visit date, and tours to Puerto Vallarta have been refunded to guest accounts. The Shore Excursions shipboard team has been working to finalize Ensenada tour options available to guests as soon as possible.