Carnival Panorama, the third newest ship in the Carnival Cruise Line fleet, is currently sailing a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise from Long Beach, California. During the voyage, the captain informed guests the vessel was suffering from an issue affecting the ship’s maximum cruising speed.
Ports of call on this voyage include Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. However, the call to Cao San Lucas was shortened due to the engine issue so the vessel could reach Long Beach on time.
Carnival Panorama Suffers With Cruising Speed
Carnival Panorama will be departing from Cabo San Lucas at 2 PM instead of the previously scheduled 7 PM. This schedule change is being made in order to allow the ship to return to Los Angeles in time for its next voyage on December 31. The reason is an engine issue that is preventing the Vista-class cruise ship from sailing at maximum cruising speed.
While the safety of guests and crew is not affected in any way, the news will be disconcerting for guests with the issues that are plaguing airports in the US due to the Southwest Airlines cancellations.
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In a letter provided onboard dated December 28, Captain Carlo Queirolo explained the decision: “As I shared in my announcement earlier, the ship is experiencing an issue that is impacting its cruising speed. While our team works on a plan to complete repairs, it is necessary for us to depart Cao San Lucas earlier than planned. We will now be departing at 2:00 PM, and all guests must be back onboard by 1:30 PM, ship’s time.”
The captain further informed guests that any pre-purchased Carnival Shore excursions would be modified to accommodate the changes to the day in Cabo San Lucas.
Carnival Panorama departed from the port of Long Beach on Christmas Eve, December 24. Since then, the vessel has visited Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. After the call to Cabo San Lucas, she is due to set sail to Long Beach, where she will arrive on the morning of December 31.
Second Time Carnival Panorama Experiences Engine Issues
This is not the first time that the Carnival Panorama has experienced an issue with its engines. In August 2021, the ship faced a similar problem that resulted in itinerary changes, on a similar itinerary.
The engine issues seem to be specific to the Vista-class ships. in 2021, Carnival Horizon suffered engine issues affecting maximum cruising speed.
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Cruise Hive reported a similar issue with the Carnival Dream, which was also in August but back in 2019. In June 2019, sister ship Carnival vista also had an issue with its maximum cruising speed resulting in changes to its itinerary.
It still needs to be clarified what the cause of the current engine issue is, although engineers are trying to correct the issue onboard.
Carnival Panorama first began sailing in December 2019 and is the third newest ship in the Carnival Cruise Line fleet. The cruise ship is 133,500 gross tons and has a double occupancy capacity of 4,008 guests.
Whether the following cruise will be affected by engine issues is unknown. Previously when Vista-class cruise ships suffered engine issues, the solutions ranged from a simple fix to going for a dry dock for repairs.
