MIAMI, July 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival
Cruise Line announced today that three more ships will resume guest
operations in September, and another four in
October – bringing the total number of ships to
15 – as the line's successful restart of operations
continues to ramp up. Based on the success of its
initial resumption of service and the guest
response to the onboard experience and health and safety
protocols that have been implemented, Carnival
will continue to operate all its ships as vaccinated
cruises through at least October.
The three ships for September are Carnival Glory from
New Orleans, starting Sept. 5, Carnival Pride from Baltimore, starting Sept. 12, and Carnival Dream from Galveston,
starting Sept. 19.
Turning to October, the four additional ships to restart will be
Carnival Conquest from Miami,
effective Oct. 8, Carnival Freedom
from Miami, effective Oct. 9, Carnival Elation from Port Canaveral,
effective Oct. 11, and Carnival
Sensation from Mobile, effective Oct.
21.
Related to this announcement, Carnival is notifying guests and
travel agents of an extension in its pause of operations through
Sept. 5 for Carnival Pride from
Baltimore, Sept. 11 for Carnival Dream from Galveston,
Oct. 4 for Carnival Conquest from
Miami and Oct. 16 for Carnival Sensation from Mobile.
Cruises on Carnival Sunshine from Charleston, Carnival Ecstasy from
Jacksonville and Carnival Liberty
from Port Canaveral will be cancelled through Oct. 31. In addition, a three-day cruise on
Carnival Miracle from Long Beach
on Sept. 24 is being cancelled, and
then Carnival Miracle will begin sailing from Long Beach on Sept.
27.
"We are very excited about our restart
and greatly appreciate the support of our guests, travel
agents and port and destination partners," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise
Line. "By the end of July, we will have five
ships in our restart plan, including the introduction of
service on Mardi Gras,
and we are seeing a great combination of strong demand
and strong guest satisfaction scores tied to the positive
guest experience on board."
Carnival will continue to welcome unvaccinated guests on
board, but all unvaccinated guests including children under
the age of 12, will be subject to
pre-cruise and pre-embarkation testing and
testing again prior to debarkation (on cruises longer
than four days) along with a $150 per person charge to cover the costs
of testing, reporting and health and safety
screenings. At this time, Carnival is limiting operation
of its supervised youth programs to vaccinated
children and youth 12 years and older. Unvaccinated
guests departing from Florida (effective July 31) and Texas (effective Aug.
2) will also need to show proof of travel insurance
coverage, based on the itineraries being sailed and the
requirements of ports and destinations visited. These additional
measures will be in place through at least October but may be
extended based on guidance from public health and medical
advisors and the requirements of destination partners.
"The decision to sail with vaccinated voyages was a difficult
one to make, and we recognize this is disappointing to some of our
guests especially the many families with children under the age of
12 who we love to sail, and who love to sail with us," said
Duffy. "It's important to remember that this is a temporary
measure given the current circumstances. In consultation with
our medical experts and advisors, we've determined this plan is in
the best interests of the health and safety of our guests, crew and
the destinations that we bring our ships to. It's very important
that we continue to maintain the confidence of our destination
partners, so that we can provide our guests with the optimal cruise
experience and sail our itineraries."
"Our plan envisions successfully bringing back our entire fleet
by the end of the year, returning to full service – most especially
for the millions of families who sail with us – and building
back our business for the benefit of our guests, employees and the
tens of thousands of jobs and local businesses that depend on our
company. We will continue to offer exemptions to
our unvaccinated guests on a limited, capacity-managed
basis within 14 days of sailing as we finalize the vaccinated
guest count. The more bookings we initially secure
for our cruises with fully vaccinated guests, the more exemptions
we can ultimately offer for
those unvaccinated guests already booked and those
wishing to sail," Duffy added.
Booked guests and travel advisors are being notified of the
plans for the returning ships, the cruise
cancellations and the process by which they are
being asked to follow to confirm traveler vaccination
status and to apply for an exemption to
the vaccination standard. Guests who
want to change their plans, who are unable to wait to see
if they receive an exemption, or who cannot meet the
vaccination standards may change their reservation without penalty
or request a full refund. Guests, travel advisors and news
media with additional questions are encouraged to review Carnival's
Have Fun. Be Safe. page and FAQ on Carnival.com.
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SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line