Carnival Cruise Line will make an announcement on Monday regarding the company’s return to service, according to a post on social media.
The company had voluntarily suspended operations earlier in March for a period of one month.
“While we previously indicated we would have a decision by Friday about our return to operations, we must move that announcement to Monday, March 30. We apologize for the delay and appreciate our guests’ patience,” the company said.
Carnival Corp. has offered the use of its ships as temporary hospitals for non-coronavirus patients to free up space at land-based hospitals to treat patients with Covid-19.
President Trump announced at a press conference on Thursday that he had spoken with Carnival Corp. chairman Micky Arison on Thursday morning. “He’s going to make ships available,” he said.
The president has already ordered that two Navy hospital ships are deployed to areas hits hard by coronavirus. The USNS Comfort will head to New York Harbor and the USNS New York will be dispatched to a location on the West Coast. If needed, the Carnival ships could supplement those efforts.
“In addition to the big medical ships that you have coming, if we should need ships with lots of rooms, they will be docked at New York and Los Angeles and San Francisco, different places, so I want to thank Micky Arison. That’s Carnival Cruise Line,” the President said.
In a statement shortly afterwards, Carnival Corp. said that select ships from its many brands — including Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia — would be made available to help with a possible shortage of land-based hospital beds.
“As part of the offer, interested parties will be asked to cover only the essential costs of the ship’s operations while in port,” the company said.
“If needed, cruise ships are capable of being quickly provisioned to serve as hospitals with up to 1,000 hospital rooms that can treat patients suffering from less critical, non-Covid-19 conditions,” Carnival Corp. said.
Temporary cruise ship hospital rooms can be quickly converted to accommodate remote patient-monitoring devices over the ship’s high-speed WiFi network, the company said. The ships would be capable of providing cardiac, respiratory, oxygen saturation, and video monitoring capabilities. Rooms have bathrooms, private balconies and isolation capabilities if needed.
The company said the ships would be able to provide up to seven intensive care units in their onboard medical centres with central cardiac monitoring, ventilators and other medical devices.
Carnival said various decks could house multiple medical functions, the company said.
Carnival Cruise Line has signed a five-year agreement with the city of Norfolk, Va., to operate cruises from the Half Moone Cruise Center.
Norfolk has agreed to upgrade the port so it can accommodate larger ships. Improvements will include a new boarding bridge to streamline the embarkation and debarkation process.
The 130,000-gross-ton Carnival Magic will sail a series of 12 cruises from the port in 2021. It will be the largest cruise ship to sail from Norfolk, which has been welcoming Carnival cruises for almost 20 years.
The long-term commitment will elevate Carnival’s presence in the city and will give travellers in the Mid-Atlantic more cruising options to the Caribbean.
“Our cruises from Norfolk have been very well received by our guests, and this agreement speaks volumes about our confidence in growing the market,” said Carnival Cruise Lines president Christine Duffy.
“This commitment strengthens that partnership and solidifies Norfolk’s position as a true Mid-Atlantic cruise port,” Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander said.
The Carnival Magic’s 2021 schedule will have four- to eight-day cruises to the Caribbean. Reservations are open.
The Carnival Magic offers hundreds of balcony staterooms and suites. It also has a complimentary kids program in three age groups, the Cloud 9 spa, a WaterWorks aqua park, a variety of indoor and outdoor dining, and an entertainment promenade.
Before repositioning to Norfolk, the Carnival Magic will sail a series of voyages in the Mediterranean. It will then take a two-week drydock in Cadiz, Spain.
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