Carnival Cruise Lines has cancelled voyages of Carnival Splendor until January after an engine room fire last week.
The ship is scheduled to re-enter service on January 16 to allow time for repairs.
Travel agents and customers are currently being contacted to make new arrangements.
The company assured travel agent their commissions on the cancelled sailings will be protected.
Guests who were scheduled to sail on these voyages will receive a full refund of their cruise fare and air transportation costs, along with a 25% discount on a future cruise.
Carnival Splendor was towed to San Diego following the fire which occurred off the Mexican coast on November 8.
The cruise line said a team from the US Coast Guard, NTSB and flag authorities, along with Carnival’s engineers and technicians, is currently on board investigating the cause of the fire.
Carnival personnel are being assisted by representatives of the shipyard that built the vessel and other manufacturers of engine room components in assessing damage and necessary repairs.
“We realise how much guests look forward to their cruises and know that they are very disappointed by this news,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival president and CEO.
“We too are disheartened that we are not able to fulfill the dreams of those who have entrusted us with their important holiday plans. We sincerely apologise to everyone who was scheduled to sail on these cancelled voyages and look forward to welcoming them aboard in the future.
“Now that we have a full technical team engaged in the assessment, we wanted to provide this information as quickly as possible.”
