Carnival drops Aruba

[KarenS]

From Travel weekly: "Carnival Cruise Lines' will launch a new five-port, seven-day southern Caribbean itinerary from San Juan on the Carnival Destiny beginning in January 2007.

The Destiny will now stop in St. Lucia, Antigua, Dominica, Barbados, and St. Thomas/St. John. It formerly operated a four-port, seven-day cruise to St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados and Aruba.

Vance Gulliksen, Carnival spokesperson, said the decision to eliminate Aruba from the itinerary was both a fuel-saving initiative and also a way to freshen the Carnival Destiny program, which had operated the same itinerary for five years.

'By removing Aruba from the itinerary, we are able to offer two new ports of call while at the same time achieving significant fuel savings,' he said.

Carnival CEO Bob Dickinson said in a release that 'the southern Caribbean is one of the world’s most desirable cruising regions' and that 'the new five-port, seven-day itinerary provides consumers with an opportunity to experience a diversity of cultures and historical landmarks, along with some of the world’s most magnificent beaches.'”

[DiviAruba]

I think Carnival made a big mistake. I realized a few months ago that they would also let you board in Aruba. I was going to add the cruise on with my timeshare week next year, but they have now cancelled it. I think it was the only cruise line that had boarding in Aruba in a long time. Must have been a scheduling nightmare as you could board in Aruba or San Juan.