Carnival Cruise Line To Resume Cruises With New Phase-In Plan

Today, Carnival Cruise Line announced mass cancellations in addition to revealing its plans to resume service in North America using a “phase-in” approach. Beginning August 1, a total of eight ships from Miami, Port Canaveral and Galveston will resume operation. The ships resuming service will be the Dream, Freedom, Vista, Horizon, Magic, Sensation, Breeze and Elation.

That means all North American cruises from June 27 to July 31 will be canceled. Aside from Miami, Port Canaveral and Galveston, a pause in operation will be extended in all other North American and Australian markets through August 31.

The key elements of this plan include:

All North American cruises from June 27 to July 31 will be cancelled.
Beginning August 1, we plan to resume cruises on the following ships:
- Galveston: Carnival Dream, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Vista
- Miami: Carnival Horizon, Carnival Magic and Carnival Sensation
- Port Canaveral: Carnival Breeze and Carnival Elation.
Other than the above referenced service from Galveston, Miami, and Port Canaveral, all other North American and Australian homeport cruises will be cancelled through August 31.
All Carnival Spirit Alaskan cruises from Seattle will be cancelled, as well as the Carnival Spirit Vancouver-Honolulu cruise on September 25 and the Honolulu-Brisbane transpacific cruise on October 6.
All Carnival Splendor cruises in Australia from June 19 to August 31 will be cancelled.

Impacted guests and their travel advisors are being notified by email, including options for a combined future cruise credit (FCC) and onboard credit (OBC) package, or a full refund. Booked guests can make their selection online, alleviating the need to contact Carnival’s customer service center, which is still operating in a work-from-home status.

Carnival Cruise Line provided the following statement:

“We are committed to supporting all public health efforts to manage the COVID-19 situation. We are taking a measured approach, focusing our return to service on a select number of homeports where we have more significant operations that are easily accessible by car for the majority of our guests.

We will use this additional time to continue to 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”.

Other major cruise lines, including Norwegian and Princess, have suspended operations through June due to the “No Sail Order” from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That order is in place until one of the following happens:

The US Health and Human Services Secretary calls off the public health emergency
The CDC chooses to modify or rescind the ruling
100 days pass from the current order’s publication on April 15

As to what specific changes people can expect in August, a Carnival spokesperson said they are still working on a protocol for passengers, crew, and the safety of the community.

Carnival was scheduled to set sail to a new ship in 4th quarter 2020 that included the first ever roller coaster on board. Details Here.