Instead of being on the high seas on Memorial Day, passengers on the Carnival Miracle found that they had to stay in Tampa a little longer than expected.

The 2,124-passenger Carnival Miracle reportedly was stuck at Port Tampa Bay for maintenance issues, according to WTSP 10 News.

A Carnival spokesman said the Miracle was originally set to depart Sunday for a seven-day cruise, making stops in Cozumel, Mexico; Belize, Mahogany Bay, and Grand Cayman. Now, the ship is scheduled to set sail Tuesday at 7 p.m., and instead make a five-day cruise; it will stop only in Grand Cayman and Cozumel and return to Tampa on June 3.

Carnival said passengers will receive a $200 onboard credit and a two-day, pro-rated refund of their fare, according toCruiseMapper. They can also choose to cancel and receive a full refund, or reschedule with no penalty.

The delay comes amid recent moves by Carnival Cruise Line, part of Carnival Corp. & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) to put more ships in Port Tampa Bay, especially as demand for cruises to Cuba grows.

Cuba’s popularity prompted Carnival to add 20 voyages to the Caribbean island in 2019. The newly remodeled Carnival Paradise (2,052-passenger capacity) will now sail 31 cruises to Cuba from Port Tampa Bay next year, and in fact, 23 of the ship’s total 78 sailings per year will be stopping off at the island-nation.

Additionally, in January, the Miracle became the second year-round Carnival ship to make Tampa Bay its home port.

Along with Carnival’s other Tampa-based ship, the 2,052-passenger Carnival Paradise, the two vessels will carry a total of 280,000 passengers from Tampa annually, representing a tenfold increase from when the line launched service at Port Tampa Bay in 1994. Add in Carnival’s Holland America ship at Tampa and that number swells to 320,000 passengers a year.

For more on this story go to: https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2018/05/29/carnival-miracle-delayed-leaving-port-tampa-bay.html