Tag Archives: Carnival Freedom

Carnival to restart operations from three U.S. ports

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The Carnival Dream will sail from Galveston starting Aug. 1.
The Carnival Dream will sail from Galveston starting Aug. 1.

Carnival Cruise Line plans to resume service on Aug. 1 with sailings from Miami, Port Canaveral and Galveston on eight ships.

Carnival is calling it the first phase of its resumption plan. The cruise line’s operations pause will extend in all other North American and Australian markets through Aug. 31.

The cruise line said that any resumption of cruise operations “is fully dependent on our continued efforts in cooperation with federal, state, local and international government officials.”

Carnival has not provided itinerary details, but plans to launch the Carnival Dream, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Vista from Galveston; the Carnival Horizon, Carnival Magic and Carnival Sensation from Miami; and Carnival Breeze and Carnival Elation from Port Canaveral.

Carnival Vista | The Carnival Vista in the main canal at the… | Flickr

Carnival said it would “engage experts, government officials and stakeholders on additional protocols and procedures to protect the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we serve. We appreciate the understanding and support of our guests and travel agent partners and look forward to welcoming them on board as the environment for travel and tourism improves.”

The line also announced additional cancellations beyond Aug. 31 on the Carnival Spirit, which cancelled its Alaska cruises from Seattle as well as its Vancouver-Honolulu cruise on Sept. 25 and Honolulu-Brisbane transpacific cruise on Oct. 6.

When Carnival Cruise Line Ships Are Expected to Start Sailing Again

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Carnival Freedom

Carnival Cruise Line has said it intends to start cruising again with some ships in mid-May, while other itineraries and ships are projected to start service again later this year.

A look at the expected first sailing of each Carnival ship as the cruise industry gets back into service (all information is subject to change due to the COVID-19 crisis):

Carnival Breeze
Date: May 16, 2020
Homeport: Port Canaveral
Length: 7 nights
Itinerary: Amber Cove, St. Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk

Carnival Conquest
Date: May 15, 2020
Homeport: Miami
Length: 3 nights
Itinerary: Nassau

Carnival Dream
Date: May 16, 2020
Homeport: Galveston
Length: 5 nights
Itinerary: Costa Maya and Cozumel

Carnival Ecstasy
Date: May 14, 2020
Homeport: Jacksonville
Length: 4 nights
Itinerary: Freeport and Nassau

Carnival Elation
Date: May 16, 2020
Homeport: Port Canaveral
Length: 5 nights
Itinerary: Nassau, Princess Cays and Grand Turk

Carnival Fantasy
Date: May 16, 2020
Homeport: Mobile
Length: 5 nights
Itinerary: Costa Maya and Cozumel

Carnival Fantasy Cruise Ship - Carnival Cruises Carnival Fantasy ...
Carnival Fantasy

Carnival Fascination
Date: May 15, 2020
Homeport: Bridgetown, Barbados
Length: 7 nights
Itinerary: San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Kitts and St. Lucia

Carnival Freedom
Date: May 17, 2020
Homeport: Galveston
Length: 7 nights
Itinerary: Roatán, Belize City and Cozumel

Carnival Glory
Date: May 17, 2020
Homeport: New Orleans
Length: 7 nights
Itinerary: Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel

Carnival Horizon
Date: May 16, 2020
Homeport: Miami
Length: 8 nights
Itinerary: Aruba, Bonaire, La Romana and Amber Cove

Carnival Imagination
Date: May 14, 2020
Homeport: Long Beach
Length: 3 nights
Itinerary: Ensenada

Carnival Inspiration
Date: May 15, 2020
Homeport: Long Beach
Length: 3 nights
Itinerary: Ensenada

Carnival Legend
Date: November 15, 2020
Homeport: Tampa
Length: 7 night
Itinerary: Grand Cayman, Roatán, Belize City and Cozumel

Carnival Legend

Carnival Liberty
Date: May 15, 2020
Homeport: Port Canaveral
Length: 3 nights
Itinerary: Nassau

Carnival Magic
Date: May 17, 2020
Homeport: Miami
Length: 6 nights
Itinerary: Half Moon Cay, Amber Cove and Grand Turk

Carnival Miracle
Date: October 4, 2020
Homeport: San Diego
Length: 4 nights
Itinerary: Catalina Island and Ensenada

Carnival Panorama
Date: May 16, 2020
Homeport: Long Beach
Length: 7 nights
Itinerary: Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta

Carnival Paradise
Date: May 14, 2020
Homeport: Tampa
Length: 4 nights
Itinerary: Cozumel

Carnival Pride
Date: May 17, 2020
Homeport: Baltimore
Length: 7 nights
Itinerary: Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport

Carnival Radiance
Date: November 8, 2020
Homeport: Port Canaveral
Length: 7 nights
Itinerary: Cozumel, Belize City, Roatán and Costa Maya

Carnival Victory to become Carnival Radiance in 2020 | News ...
Carnival Radiance

Carnival Sensation
Date: May 14, 2020
Homeport: Miami
Length: 4 nights
Itinerary: Key West and Cozumel

Carnival Spirit
Date: July 7, 2020
Homeport: Seattle
Length: 7 nights
Itinerary: Tracy Arm Fjord, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan and Victoria

Carnival Splendor
Date: June 19, 2020
Homeport: Sydney, Australia
Length: 3 nights
Itinerary: No ports of call

Carnival Sunrise
Date: May 15, 2020
Homeport: Norfolk
Length: 5 nights
Itinerary: Nassau and Freeport

Carnival Sunrise Cruise - Ship Review - Photos & Departure Ports ...
Carnival Sunrise

Carnival Sunshine
Date: May 16, 2020
Homeport: Charleston
Length: 5 nights
Itinerary: Nassau and Half Moon Cay

Carnival Valor
Date: May 14, 2020
Homeport: New Orleans
Length: 4 nights
Itinerary: Cozumel

Carnival Vista
Date: May 16, 2020
Homeport: Galveston
Length: 7 nights
Itinerary: Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel

Galveston Continues Expansion of Cruise Products

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The Liberty of the Seas sails year-round from Galveston

For the Port of Galveston, the major news for 2018 is the continued expansion of cruise products and related services available, according to Interim Port Director Peter Simons.

Carnival Cruise Line is moving the Carnival Vista to Galveston later in the year replacing the Breeze. The Vista will sail alongside the Liberty and the Freedom.

“To accommodate the Vista we are in the process of doing some infrastructure upgrades in Cruise Terminal No. 1,” said Simons.

Last fall, the port also welcomed the Vision of the Seas, and Simons explained that while she was originally intended to be a seasonal product, she is replacing the Enchantment of the Seas on a year-round basis.

“We will have three Carnival and two Royal Caribbean ships year-round, and Disney seasonally from October to January,” he added.

The current scheduling has two ships in port on Saturdays, two on Sundays, one each on Mondays and Thursdays, and Disney on Fridays.

Terminal Expansion

“We have completed the expansion of Cruise Terminal No. 2, and when we did the design for that, we planned for larger ships and more passengers. Both of our terminals are able to handle bigger ships and more capacity,” he said.

“What we are doing though on the channel side is adding mooring structures to accommodate the longer Carnival Vista, and we are also finishing a mooring improvement project at Terminal No. 2 that will enable us to handle even larger ships in the future. We are upgrading the main mooring to be 200-ton bollards – the longer dock will also allow us easier access to the loading doors.

“We are also in the conceptual stage, looking at the designs and options for a third cruise terminal. There is definitely demand to sail from Galveston on weekends and we want to be able to accommodate what we see as future growth in that market.”

Simons said the port is talking to cruise lines about how to fund the new terminal. He said the port’s options were either bank financing or teaming up with a cruise line.

Meanwhile, he is also looking at how to provide the next generation of ships with LNG.

Team Effort

At press time, Galveston projected just short of 1.9 million passengers embarking and disembarking on some 258 sailings for 2017, up from 1.7 million passengers for 2016. For this year, the forecast is for 308 sailings and more than 2 million passengers, according to Simons.

“We see a lot of people coming down a couple of days early for special events, so there is a fair amount of extra local spending in connection with the cruise traffic. The vast majority of the passengers are drive-ups regionally and usually from the lower Midwest, but even as far north as Illinois and South Dakota. The fly-ins are typically from the West Coast.

“There is also a wide variety of things to do both on Galveston Island and in the vicinity that we are working with the cruise lines on for pre- and post-stays,” he added.

Simons, who joined the port in 2012 and was director of operations before being named interim port director, credited the port staff, the longshoremen and the stevedores for Galveston’s growing cruise traffic. He said it was a team effort with very attentive and hard-working people, making the cruise lines feel comfortable here and helping to grow their business.