Carnival Glory Schedule Change Possible Due to Tropical Storm Barry (Update: Will Arrive On Time)

Update: 7/13/19 @ 4:30 p.m.: Great news for passengers sailing the Carnival Glory. Carnival has announced via text message that the Glory is now set to sail at its scheduled time, despite the area being impacted by Tropical Storm Barry. This is also despite the Port of New Orleans website still showing that the port is largely closed to traffic.

Here is the text Carnival sent:

Carnival Glory will be arriving tomorrow, as scheduled. Please plan to arrive at the cruise terminal within your Arrival Appointment time. We look forward to welcoming you on board. This is our final update.

Update: 7/12/19 @ 2:30 p.m.: The Port of New Orleans is closed to traffic until Monday. As well, the Port of Mobile has also closed. While Carnival has yet to release details of what will happen with the Carnival Glory and its passengers, it seems likely the cruise will be delayed. (See our update above. Carnival has said the Glory will sail as scheduled on Sunday.) For the latest updates, you can follow our article here.

Original Article:

One cruise ship (Carnival Valor) has already had its scheduled altered due to Tropical Storm Barry. Could another be on the horizon? In our opinion, it seems likely at this point. However, at this time there is no official change in the Carnival Glory schedule. The ship is set to arrive at the Port of New Orleans on Sunday morning.

For days a tropical disturbance has lumbered across the Gulf of Mexico, just south of New Orleans. Now the storm has upgraded to Tropical Storm Barry and looks set to make landfall on Saturday, west of New Orleans.

Track of Tropical Storm Barry

New Orleans is now under a tropical storm warning. More importantly, there are forecasts of 6-10 inches of rain in the city. New Orleans has already received considerable rains that caused flooding, all while the Mississippi River is at an elevated stage. Officials are worried about a serious flooding risk.

Tropical Storm Barry rainfall projection

If you are planning to board the Carnival Glory — currently scheduled to dock in New Orleans on Sunday morning — then we think your cruise schedule will be adjusted. (Update: Glory will arrive as scheduled. See above.)

Carnival told us via email there are “no changes at the moment, but we’re monitoring the storm and will make any changes as needed.”

To us, however, there are a few reasons that a schedule change seems likely:

  1. New Orleans could be under flood warnings on Sunday morning, when the Glory is set to arrive. Already seeing heavy rains with more on the way, unless the storm is drier than expected, areas around the city seem likely to be flooded. That could inhibit travel for passengers.

2. Tropical Storm Barry is slow moving. Despite projections to make landfall around midday on Saturday, the forecast shows the center of the storm still over the middle of Louisiana on Sunday morning. That could mean the heavy rains of the storm might still be around on Sunday when the Glory is set to dock.

3. The Port of New Orleans is largely closed until Monday. According to their website, “the Port Administration Building is closed for all nonessential personnel” until Monday. Port cargo operations are also closed until at least Monday. While the cruise operations aren’t specifically mentioned as closed, we have contacted the port to see if these closures also apply to cruise ships. We will update when we hear back.

What Could Happen With the Carnival Glory

So if the Carnival Glory does have to adjust its schedule, what’s most likely to happen?

There are likely one of two possibilities.

First, the ship could dock at the Alabama Cruise Terminal in Mobile. This is what we saw on Thursday when the Carnival Valor docked in Mobile instead of the scheduled New Orleans. Passengers headed to the ship were bused from New Orleans. Checking the schedule, Mobile has no cruise ships in port that day so it seems like it could handle the Glory porting there instead of Louisiana.

The other alternative is to delay the arrival of the ship until at least Monday, assuming the the Port of New Orleans is able to be up and running by then. The delayed docking would give more time for any flooding to recede, if needed. This would mean passengers currently on the Glory would be at sea an extra day before their cruise gets back home.

For now, the most important thing is to wait for word from Carnival if you are booked to sail aboard the Carnival Glory on Sunday. They should be in contact with passengers directly. You can also call them at 1-800-764-7419 for updates.

We will also update readers as we hear more from Carnival, the Port of New Orleans, and the Alabama Cruise Terminal.

Update: Since posted, a representative from the Alabama Cruise Terminal referred us to Carnival regarding any schedule changes for the Carnival Glory.

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