Carnival Cruise Line has christened Mardi Gras at Port Canaveral, Fla. at a “Universe of Fun” celebration in the first ship naming ceremony held in the U.S. since the cruise industry’s restart this summer.
Carnival’s Chief Fun Officer Shaquille O’Neal attended the festivities and cut the ribbon of his first Big Chicken restaurant at sea that debuted on Mardi Gras when she began cruise operations on July 31.
Miss Universe, Dominican Republic, Kimberly Jimenez served as the ship’s Godmother and officially named the ship and was joined by Miss Universe, Andrea Meza and Miss USA, Asya Branch who sang the national anthem. The event featured a “World of Nations” flag procession to highlight the diversity of the 120 nationalities of Carnival crew members, and, of course, a Mardi Gras parade with a Second Line Band.
“Today’s naming ceremony of our flagship Mardi Gras, the first in the industry since our restart of operations, signifies excitement and optimism as we look to bring our entire fleet back into guest service by spring 2022,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “This ship has been amazing guests during her pre-inaugural season and the celebration today with our Chief Fun Officer Shaq, our Godmother Kimberly, and so many special guests, was extremely gratifying and emotional.”
Following remarks by Duffy and Carnival Corporation President and CEO Arnold Donald, Carnival friends and partners Romero Britto, Emeril Lagasse, Kathie Lee Gifford, Vanna White and Guy Fieri provided their congratulations on the ship’s naming and helped bring the champagne bottle to the ship.
Godmother Jimenez blessed the ship in both English and her native Spanish and activated the traditional champagne bottle break, officially naming the ship. In a celebration of the ship’s name, a special Mardi Gras parade with Duffy, Donald and O’Neal leading it, capped off the festivities.
In the ongoing saga that is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) versus Florida, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. was recently granted a preliminary injunction to sail fully vaccinated cruises from its coast.
And earlier this week, after a 17-month cruise suspension, it did exactly that.
On Aug. 15, Norwegian Gem set sail from the company’s homeport in Miami, the third of the company’s 17 ships to set sail since the return of cruising (and marking the first voyage from Florida).
“It has been an exhilarating few weeks as we relaunch our fleet, reunite with our shipboard families and welcome our guests back for their long-awaited cruise vacations,” said Harry Sommer, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, in an Aug. 15 statement. “I’ve been impressed and proud of how our global team and partners have come together to safely bring back cruising, an over $55 billion-dollar industry that positively impacts communities around the world.”
Several developments led to Norwegian Gem’s embarkation in Florida: In the past few weeks, a federal court upheld the state’s lawsuit that the CDC’s Conditional Sail Order (CSO) should not be a requirement. As a result, it stands only as a regional recommendation, though many cruise lines plan to abide by the CDC guidelines, regardless. Additionally, the government agency has noted that sailings with 95% or more vaccinated guests and crew are free to make their own decisions regarding COVID-19 testing parameters and any mask mandates (at least for those passengers that are fully inoculated).
Several cruise lines that were initially not requiring pre-cruise testing and facial coverings, such as Carnival Cruise Line, are starting to mandate both as cases of the Delta variant spike in the U.S.
Norwegian was an early adopter of strict COVID-19 protocols. Its Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands have always required pre-voyage testing and 100% vaccination of its guests and crew. Because of this, passengers are able to enjoy all venues onboard without the use of masks.
“The health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit is our No. 1 priority, today, tomorrow and forever. It’s not a slogan or a tagline, we fiercely mean it and our commitment to these principles is demonstrated by the lengths our company has gone through to provide the safest possible cruise experience from Florida.”
Additionally, in Florida, businesses operating locally were formerly forbidden from mandating vaccinations of its patrons, but that has now changed. A judge ruled in Norwegian’s favour to permit the company to ask for documentation of vaccine status, which led to Norwegian’s Gem’s planned launch.
“The health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit is our No. 1 priority, today, tomorrow and forever,” said Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian. “It’s not a slogan or a tagline, we fiercely mean it and our commitment to these principles is demonstrated by the lengths our company has gone through to provide the safest possible cruise experience from Florida. We want nothing more than to sail from Miami, the cruise capital of the world, and from the other fabulous Florida ports and we welcome [the] ruling that allows us to sail with 100% fully vaccinated guests and crew, which we believe is the safest and most prudent way to resume cruise operations amid this global pandemic.”
In fact, when I sailed last week on the Norwegian Encore in Alaska, Harry Sommer, president and CEO of NCL, and members of the corporation’s SailSAFE health and safety program reiterated the same during a press conference, with Sommer stating that he believes that permitting 5% unvaccinated passengers — which could amount to hundreds of passengers — is significant, and he won’t expose that many to the virus, even if it means not sailing with young children for a period.
Program participant Dr. Stephen Ostroff further considered full vaccination to be the “linchpin” for healthy cruising at this time.
“[It] 100% ought to be the standard for cruise ships quite frankly, pure and simple,” Ostroff said.
Norwegian Gem will traverse a series of weeklong voyages to the Caribbean and four-day cruises to the Bahamas through Oct. 17, 2021, before repositioning to New York for five to 11-night voyages to the Bahamas, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has announced today that Florida Judge Williams ruled in its favour granting a preliminary injunction which paves the way for the company’s three brands to require documentation confirming a guest’s vaccination status prior to boarding for cruises departing from Florida.
“The health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit is our number one priority, today, tomorrow and forever. It’s not a slogan or a tagline, we fiercely mean it and our commitment to these principles is demonstrated by the lengths our Company has gone through to provide the safest possible cruise experience from Florida. We want nothing more than to sail from Miami, the Cruise Capital of the World, and from the other fabulous Florida ports and we welcome today’s ruling that allows us to sail with 100% fully vaccinated guests and crew which we believe is the safest and most prudent way to resume cruise operations amid this global pandemic,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
“The public health environment continues to evolve around the globe and our robust science-backed health and safety protocols, with vaccines at its cornerstone, allow us to provide what we believe is the safest vacation experience for people who long to get back to their everyday lives and explore the world once again.”
The company’s first sailing from Florida is scheduled on August 15, 2021, on Norwegian Gem departing from Miami.
“We are pleased that Judge Williams saw the facts, the law and the science as we did and granted the Company’s motion for a preliminary injunction allowing us to operate cruises from Florida with 100% vaccinated guests and crew,” said Daniel S. Farkas, executive vice president and general counsel of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. “While litigation is a strategic tool of last resort, our Company has fought to do what we believe is right and in the best interest of the welfare of our guests, crew and communities we visit in an effort to do our part as responsible corporate citizens to minimize, to the greatest extent possible, further spread of COVID-19 as we gradually relaunch our vessels.”
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