Key Aspects:
- Carnival Sunshine arrived in Norfolk at 2:45 p.m. following rough weather delays that kept the ship from returning on schedule early Saturday morning.
- Guests embarking on Saturday, October 18 are delaying their arrival appointments by eight hours, but have received $25 onboard credit to compensate for the missed time and lost lunch.
- No itinerary changes have been confirmed for the 8-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary and there is plenty of time for the ship to make up for the delay before arriving at Celebration Key.
Following the poor weather that delayed Carnival Sunshine‘s return to Norfolk on Saturday, October 18, 2025, the ship will now be embarking guests for the next sailing eight hours later than originally planned.
The ship finally docked at the Half Moone Cruise & Celebration Center in Norfolk, Virginia at 2:45 p.m., far later than the originally planned docking at 8 a.m. Following customs and immigration clearance, debarkation was able to begin at roughly 3 p.m.
Initially, the latest time for Carnival Sunshine‘s docking was expected to be 4 p.m., so the actual arrival was a slight improvement on that worst case scenario.
Guests onboard were asked to vacate their staterooms no later than 3 p.m. in order to allow the housekeeping teams to begin turning over rooms in preparation for the next guests, who are now starting their cruise vacation much later in the day than anticipated.
Those incoming guests were kept updated on the situation and alerted to the revised embarkation schedule by email and text message.
Embarkation times were pushed eight hours later from the original cruise terminal arrival appointments. Guests who had expected to check-in at the cruise terminal from 10-10:30 a.m. will now be checking in from 6-6:30 p.m., guests with appointments from 1-1:30 p.m. will now be checking in from 9-9:30 p.m. and so forth.
All guests must be checked in and onboard no later than 10:30 p.m. so Carnival Sunshine can set sail as quickly as possible.
“To properly manage the embarkation process, we kindly ask for your full cooperation with this revised operational plan,” the message said. “Importantly, we must allow guests from the current cruise to disembark the ship and leave the parking facility before we can accommodate your arrival.”
The notification also alerted guests that the port’s parking facilities would not be open before 6 p.m. in order to permit previous cruisers to vacate the property so there would be adequate spaces for everyone.
Moving cruise terminal arrival appointments and ensuring parking facilities have enough time for other guests to leave before opening to new travelers are standard measures at any cruise homeport when a ship is delayed. This occasionally happens, as it has for Carnival Sunshine, due to rough weather.
Ships are also sometimes delayed due to essential medical evacuations or mechanical issues that prevent a vessel from returning to the homeport on schedule.
Incoming guests were each given a $25 onboard credit as compensation for lunch and the time they’ve missed onboard Carnival Sunshine on Saturday afternoon.
Will the Itinerary Be Changed?
Carnival Sunshine is setting sail on an 8-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary. Despite leaving Norfolk far later than originally planned, the ship should easily be able to make up the lost time on her way to the Bahamas, where her first stop is Celebration Key on Tuesday, October 21 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
It is possible, though unlikely, that the ship may arrive at Celebration Key slightly later than scheduled. More probable, however, is the few missing hours can readily be made up with an increase in speed once she departs Norfolk.
Read Also: Why You Should Always Opt in to Carnival Cruise Line Text Alerts
From Norfolk to Celebration Key is roughly 925 miles as the cruise ship sails. At her top sailing speed of 21 knots (24 miles per hour), it would take Carnival Sunshine a total of 39 hours to travel that distance.
Norfolk Cruise Port (Photo Credit: Kyle J Little)
Even with an 11 p.m. departure from Virginia, the ship has 56 hours before her planned arrival at Celebration Key.
This leaves plenty of time for docking and maneuvering, slower speeds in harbor areas, and even slightly slower speeds during the day for less windy conditions on the open decks during the ship’s first two full days at sea.
After Celebration Key, the ship will then spend Wednesday, October 22 at another private destination, Princess Cays, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., followed by Grand Turk on Thursday, October 23 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Two more full days at sea will follow as the former Carnival Destiny makes her way back to the Old Dominion State for debarkation on Sunday, October 26 – hopefully on time!
Of course, if any itinerary changes are necessary, guests onboard will be notified as soon as possible and kept updated as adjustments are confirmed.
Appeared first on: Cruisehive.com
