Carnival Cruise Line to Bring Back More Ships in September and October

Carnival Cruise Line announced today that three more ships will resume guest operations in September, and another four in October, which brings the total number of ships in operation for the Carnival Cruise Line fleet to 15

Carnival said in a press release will continue to operate all its ships as vaccinated cruises through at least October.

The three ships for September are the Carnival Glory from New Orleans, starting Sept. 5, the Carnival Pride from Baltimore, starting Sept. 12, and the Carnival Dream from Galveston, starting Sept. 19.

In October, the four additional ships to restart will be the Carnival Conquest from Miami, effective Oct. 8, the Carnival Freedom from Miami, effective Oct. 9, the Carnival Elation from Port Canaveral, effective Oct. 11, and the Carnival Sensation from Mobile, effective Oct. 21.

“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 onboard.”

Carnival is also notifying guests and travel agents of an extension in its pause of operations through Sept. 5 for the Carnival Pride from Baltimore, Sept. 11 for the Carnival Dream from Galveston, Oct. 4 for the Carnival Conquest from Miami and Oct. 16 for the Carnival Sensation from Mobile.

Cruises on the Carnival Sunshine from Charleston, the Carnival Ecstasy from Jacksonville and the Carnival Liberty from Port Canaveral will be cancelled through Oct. 31.

In addition, a three-day cruise on the Carnival Miracle from Long Beach on Sept. 24 is being cancelled, and then the Carnival Miracle will begin sailing from Long Beach on Sept. 27.

Carnival said will continue to welcome unvaccinated guests onboard, 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.

Carnival also said it is limiting the 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.

Carnival Dream Gets New Hull Design

The Carnival Dream has become the latest Carnival Cruise Line ship to be adorned with a new hull design, joining the Carnival Magic and the Carnival Glory which were completed over the past few weeks.

According to a press release, the Dream got the new colors in a drydock in Marseilles, France.

The livery is inspired by the design that debuted on the line’s newest ship, the Mardi Gras while serving as “an homage to maritime tradition with patriotic red, white and blue hues, also the colours of Carnival Cruise Line,” the cruise line said.

The next ship in line is the Carnival Valor, which is currently in drydock with work scheduled to be done by the end of July, marking the fourth ship to feature the new livery. Going forward, the new design will be added across all Carnival Cruise Line ships, the cruise line said.

After All-Nighter, Carnival Glory Patched and Cruising

Carnival Glory Repaired

The Carnival Glory has sailed on her Christmas cruise from New Orleans after an all-night effort to repair damage to the ship following a collision in Cozumel with the Carnival Legend on Friday.

Crews worked through the night to enclose the aft dining room which took the brunt of the damage, removing damage and welding in new steel to cover the opening. 

Carnival Glory

The 2003-built ship departed a day late on her itinerary, but passengers were able to board on Dec. 22 as scheduled. The itinerary called for a sea day on Dec. 23 followed by calls in Cozumel, Costa Maya, Mahogany Bay before two more sea days and a conclusion in New Orleans on Sunday, Dec. 29.

Carnival honored refunds for guests that opted not to join the sailing. For passengers embarking, they received one day pro-rated refund and a $100 onboard credit per stateroom.