Carnival Cruise Line Has Carried Two Million Guests Since Restart

As the first major U.S. cruise line with its full fleet back in guest service since the industry’s restart in 2021, Carnival Cruise Line has now reached the milestone of welcoming two million guests, according to a press release sent out on Thursday.

The milestone was commemorated today in Port Canaveral, Fla. aboard Carnival Freedom as the Gibbs family – Daniel and Kristi with son Mason and grandmother Theresa Campbell – from Ocala, Fla. boarded the ship. They were surprised with fanfare from Carnival Freedom’s Captain Mario Imbimbo, Hotel Director, Cruise Director and team members. 

In addition, during this time, guests have taken more than 1.3 million shore excursions in Carnival’s destination ports, and two million Carnival-branded items have been sold in the gift shops fleetwide, including 150,000 items from the line’s 50th Birthday collection.

“We are so pleased to have sailed two million guests since our restart, providing much-needed vacations featuring our signature fun to an array of destinations in the Caribbean, The Bahamas, the Mexican Riviera, Alaska and Europe,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “All the while, providing an economic boost to those destinations and providing our crew members with opportunities to support their families.”

Carnival will restart in its 14th homeport of New York City in June with Carnival Magic and has announced plans that Carnival Splendor will restart in Australia following its Alaska season with a three-day cruise departing Sydney on October 2, 2022.

And in November, Carnival’s newest ship, Carnival Celebration, featuring a roller coaster and powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), will debut in Miami.

SAGA POSTPONES SHIP LAUNCH AND TOURING PROGRAMME UNTIL 2021

Spirit of Adventure had been due to take its first passengers this summer, but the inaugural sailing was first shifted to November and will now be on 5 February next year.

Sister ship Spirit of Discovery will not sail until 7 March next year and tours are postponed until 31 January 2021.

A Saga spokesperson said: “Over the past few months, we have worked hard to put in place detailed plans to safely return to cruising and have made fantastic progress with all this work.

“Sadly, however, with Covid-19 again on the increase and most countries still not accepting cruise ships, we have taken the decision to extend the suspension of our cruise operations to next year. This includes the postponement of the inaugural cruise of the Spirit of Adventure.

“We are in the process of contacting all our guests to discuss their options, which include rolling over their booking or receiving a full refund. We look forward to welcoming our guests onboard our ships and on our tours as soon as we are practicably able to do so.”

Saga said 2022 cruise bookings were “extremely strong” and showed pent-up demand. Covid precautions mean ship capacity will be limited to 800, with enhanced cleaning and upgraded air conditioning.