Another Carnival Cruise Brand Is Fully Back Sailing

Carnival Corporation’s cruise brands are making a serious effort to return all of their ships to sea as soon as possible. On June 6, Seabourn, the company’s luxury cruise brand, announced the return of Seabourn Sojourn, the final vessel to resume operations for the brand. 

Other Carnival Corporation brands are doing equally well. Besides Seabourn, Carnival Cruise Line, Cunard, and Costa Cruises have returned all their vessels to sea.

P&O Cruises, AIDA Cruises, and Holland America all have one ship out of service, P&O Australia has two ships, and Princess cruises still has three ships out of operation. 

Seabourn Sojourn Sails From Athens

Carnival Corporation’s luxury cruise brand Seabourn returned its final ship to operations today as Seabourn Sojourn sailed from Athens, Greece. The cruise line now has all five vessels in operation for the first time since March 2020. 

Seabourn Sojourn will spend the summer in the Mediterranean, sailing from several homeports, namely Pireaus, Greece; Civitavecchia, Italy; Valletta, Malta, and Barcelona, Spain. Sister ships Seabourn Odyssey and Seabourn Quest operate in Alaska and the Mediterranean, respectively.

The company’s newest cruise ships, the 41,865 gross tons, 604-passenger Seabourn Ovation and Seabourn Encore, also spend the summer in Europe. Ovation in Northern Europe, and Encore in the Mediterranean.

“Today is an important milestone for the entire Seabourn family, and we are so incredibly happy to have all of our ships back in operation,” said Seabourn President Josh Leibowitz. “The Seabourn Sojourn team members have been looking forward to this day and are eager to welcome guests back on board.”

The first of the line’s two ultra-luxury, purpose-built expedition ships, Seabourn Venture, embarks on its inaugural expedition this summer. After several delays, the vessel’s fourth scheduled maiden voyage is set to depart in July. 

Carnival Corp Fully Operational Before End Of The Year

Carnival Corporation’s brands are making good progress on their return to service. Several brands are already sailing with their entire fleet, while others have just a few ships to bring back to operations.

As Carnival Splendor welcomed her first guests in over two years on May 7, the entire Carnival Cruise Line fleet was officially operating with guests again. It marked the end to what has been two years full of changes for the Miami-based cruise line.

Not only did the cruise line say goodbye to several ships, but it also welcomed a new ship, Mardi Gras, and is celebrating its 50th birthday this year. That celebration will culminate when the cruise line welcomes its newest ship, Carnival Celebration, in November.

Cunard, Costa, and P&O

Cunard is currently sailing with all its ships, with Queen Elizabeth sailing on a 43-night Panama Canal And Alaska cruise, which departed Southampton on May 2. The cruise line will welcome a new ship, Queen Anne, in January 2024.

Italian cruise operator Costa Cruises has made a triumphant return to service afer the pandemic, during which it has been operational for most of the time. The cruise line is operating all of its vessels, including all four of the new ships delivered in recent months – Costa Toscana, Costa Smeralda, Costa Firenze, and Costa Venezia.

P&O Cruises is currently operational with all vessels except Arcadia, which is scheduled to return on July 19. The UK’s biggest cruise line will also welcome its second LNG-powered Excellence-class ship, Arvia, on December 9 of this year.

P&O Australia started operations in Sydney last week. It will be bringing its other ships online in August and October. 

AIDA, Holland America, and Princess Cruises

Costa Cruises’ sister brand AIDA has only one ship to return, AIDAvita will return to service from Rostock, Germany, on July 24.

The same counts for Holland Americal Line, the Seattle-based cruise line will return its final cruise ship to operations on June 12. Westerdam will sail roundtrip from Seattle to Alaska, with stops in Juneau, Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, Ketchikan, Alaska, and Victoria BC, Canada. 

Last but not least, Princess Cruises, the second-biggest cruise line in the Carnival Corporation portfolio, still has three ships that are not operational yet. 

Coral Princess will be one of the first ships to operate in Australia as she returns to service next week, June 16, sailing from Brisbane on a 3 Night Australia Seacation. Diamond Princess will be sailing on the US West Coast, starting September 1, from San Diego, California. 

Finally, Sapphire Princess is returning to service on September 24, 2022. She will operate a series of cruises that visit Mexico, the California Coast, and Hawaii. Sapphire Princess will have her homeport in Los Angeles.