A new round of restarts has been confirmed by Carnival Cruise Line following the re-introduction of eight ships.
A further five vessels in the fleet are scheduled to return to service by Christmas out of a range of US ports.
However, Carnival Sensation’s October 21 restart from Mobile has been put back to January 2022.
With the extension of Carnival Sensation’s restart, five ships sailing from US homeports will be moved to 2022 – Carnival Liberty (Port Canaveral), Carnival Sunshine (Charleston), Carnival Paradise (Tampa), Carnival Ecstasy (Jacksonville) and Carnival Sensation (Mobile).
The line has also cancelled four additional sailings for both Carnival Spirit and Carnival Splendor out of Australia until December 16.
The latest return to service plan includes:
- Carnival Valor following Carnival Glory in New Orleans with four- and five-night sailings starting on November 1;
- Carnival Legend restarting on November 14 from Baltimore, replacing Carnival Pride, which restarts operations from Baltimore September 12 and then moves to Tampa following a Panama Canal repositioning cruise;
- Carnival Radiance’s new maiden voyage from Long Beach in California has been put back to December 13 from November 5 due to a revised dry dock transformation;
- Carnival Pride’s new service from Tampa is set to start on November 14;
- Carnival Conquest’s restart from Miami on October 8 has been rescheduled to December 13.
Carnival is also advising passengers booked in November and December that it will continue to meet the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s standard of vaccinated cruises.
Passengers will need to present proof of both vaccination and a negative Covid-19 test at check-in.
A small number of capacity-restricted exemptions will be granted for children under 12 and other passengers who cannot be vaccinated, according to the line.
Carnival is working to set up mobile pre-cruise rapid testing sites at all of its homeports as a back-up alternative for vaccinated guests who are not able to make arrangements.
Passengers will be asked to wear masks in most indoor venues of ships where people congregate.
The line’s president Christine Duffy said: “We are very pleased with the progress of our restart which will grow to 15 ships sailing from seven US homeports by mid-November.
“We are making slight adjustments to our timeline to take into account supply chain realities and ensure that our destination and shore excursion offerings can meet the strong demand we are seeing from our guests.
“Our teams, ship and shore, are prepared to continue delivering on our great guest experience and manage all health and safety protocols.”
Meanwhile, four ships from sister brand Holland America Line will featured Panama Canal itineraries in winter 2022-23 – Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Volendam and Zuiderdam.