TAMPA, Fla. -- Hundreds of passengers were supposed to be well out to sea by Monday, but instead they were all in the same boat - stuck in Tampa until Tuesday.
The Carnival Miracle was originally scheduled to depart Sunday and visit Belize City, Mahogany Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, but now the ship will set sail Tuesday, slashing the 7-day cruise to a 5-day cruise only making stops in Grand Cayman and Cozumel.
"We are doing some pre-emptive but necessary maintenance work on Carnival Miracle which requires two extra days in port while in Tampa," the cruise line said in a statement. "This decision was made with the goal of limiting the overall impact to guests and to provide a great cruise experience for our many guests who are booked on the Miracle over the coming summer travel season. We regret that our guests on this one specific cruise are going to be starting their sail two days later than planned and have booked additional entertainment and activity options and offered all guests the option of a credit for shortened itinerary or a full refund if they choose to cancel."
Dozens of people were walking around Port Tampa Bay on Memorial Day trying to decide how to spend their unexpected trip to Florida.
“There weren’t really any options," said Angela Adasme, in town from Chattanooga, Tenn. "It was either cancel the cruise or come and stay with us. They gave us a two-day pro-rated refund and $200 onboard credit.”
Adasme decided to explore the Tampa Bay area and said she really wanted to visit the Dali Museum and take a trip to Orlando to enjoy Universal Studios.
Carnival did offer passengers four free shuttles to Tampa Bay area attractions - Busch Gardens, Ybor City, Tampa Premium Outlets and Clearwater Beach.
Nagaraju Podili and Prameela Pachwa opted to take in the Florida beaches. Being from Cincinnati, Ohio, they don’t get much time on a beach.
“We need to rent a car, actually we were planning to rent yesterday because of the rain we didn’t get it,” explained Podili.
Subtropical Storm Alberto brought wet and windy conditions to the Tampa Bay area Sunday, but by Monda,y most people were looking to explore the area in between spotty showers.
“It’s really nice and I’m excited to go around and see Ybor City and all the different things that Tampa has,” explained Kati Compton who was celebrating her high school graduation with her very first cruise.
