Carnival Cruise Line Issues Weather Warning About This Destination’s ‘Significant Presence of Sea Ice’

An icy journey is making headlines in the cruise community.

Carnival Cruise Line recently sent a letter to passengers aboard its Pride cruise ship about significant sea ice, which may impact the ship's route, according to cruise industry media reports. 

“At present, in areas along our intended route, there is a significant presence of sea ice which could impact the itinerary,” a letter to guests aboard the Carnival Pride stated, as obtained by CruiseFever. 

Carnival did not respond to a request from Travel + Leisure about the reported customer email.

What Is Sea Ice?
Sea ice is essentially frozen seawater that sits on top of the ocean. Its size depends on the season, as it expands in the cold and contracts in warmer weather. 

The Carnival Pride is currently south of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, steaming northeast on a scheduled cruise of Greenland. The ship departed from Baltimore on May 25, according to CruiseMapper. 

The cruise line celebrated the departure of the Carnival Pride ship on social media, as it was a return of operations to Baltimore after the Key Bridge collapsed several weeks ago. 

This would not be the first time that Carnival Pride has had issues navigating into the ports of Greenland due to ice. Passengers have previously shared experiences of missed ports or other cancellations due to ice or weather. 

“Currently sailing on the Pride, we’ve been told arctic weather is unpredictable and it is unfortunately unsafe to try either port in Greenland,” a cruise passenger shared about their experience aboard the Carnival Pride in 2024. “That sucks, but whatever, nature does what nature does.”

A viral video from separate incident in September 2024 depicted another Carnival ship, Spirit, narrowly dodging a large piece of ice, however there was no damage to the boat. “The crew did an amazing job at accessing the damage and keeping all of its crew and passengers safe and informed,” a passenger on board the ship shared in the TikTok post.

After the incident gained attention in media outlets, a Carnival representative revealed there was no damage or impact in a statement to CNN.