The Carnival Horizon will be out of service longer than anticipated to fix a propulsion problem with the ship now set for a drydocking in Palermo for repairs.
This means sailings on the Horizon are cancelled until January 22 and Carnival is responding quickly, with the Liberty and Sunshine re-entering service to pick up the Horizon’s guests and itineraries from Miami.
Both those ships will sail from Miami in place of the Horizon for the Dec. 19, Dec. 26 and Dec. 31 departures. The Sunshine will then move north to Charleston for a Jan. 13 restart, while the Liberty will pick up the Horizon’s Miami-based Caribbean itineraries that sail on Jan. 8 and Jan. 22.
Carnival Cruise Line announced plans for more ship restarts for January and February, as it works towards the return of its full fleet sailing from U.S. homeports in the spring of 2022, according to a press release.
With 17 ships scheduled to be operating by year-end, Carnival Sunshine will restart from Charleston on Jan. 13 and Carnival Liberty from Port Canaveral on Feb. 11.
With today’s announcement, Carnival’s U.S.-based operations will cover the following homeports and ships by February, and represents 90 per cent of Carnival’s U.S.-based capacity:
• Galveston: Carnival Breeze, Carnival Dream and Carnival Vista • Miami: Carnival Freedom, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Sunrise and Carnival Conquest • Port Canaveral: Mardi Gras, Carnival Elation, Carnival Magic and Carnival Liberty (effective Feb. 11) • New Orleans: Carnival Glory and Carnival Valor • Long Beach: Carnival Panorama, Carnival Radiance and Carnival Miracle • Baltimore: Carnival Legend • Tampa: Carnival Pride • Charleston: Carnival Sunshine (effective Jan. 13)
“Our restart plan continues to excel across all metrics, and we are looking forward to completing the restart of the fleet in the new year,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “We appreciate the support and patience of our guests, travel agents and port and destination partners who have been key to this successful restart.”
Duffy said that Carnival continues to carefully monitor the status of public health and adjust its operating protocols accordingly. “We are optimistic that vaccines will be approved for children between the ages of 5-11 before the end of the year and we look forward to welcoming more families back on board,” she added. As it relates to ships operating in January and February, Carnival will continue to operate vaccinated cruises under its current protocols.
Cruises on Carnival’s three remaining U.S.-based ships – Carnival Ecstasy from Jacksonville, Carnival Paradise from Tampa, and Carnival Sensation from Mobile – have been cancelled through February.
In addition, Carnival Splendor from Sydney, Australia is cancelled through Feb. 7, and Carnival Spirit from Brisbane, Australia is cancelled through Feb. 20.
The Celebrity Edge’s first cruise, and the first U.S. sailing for a large modern cruise ship, operated at just over 40 per cent occupancy from Port Everglades, sailing on June 26.
Load factors are expected to increase quickly, as ships get back into a regular rhythm of sailings with new policies and procedures.
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