Carnival Cruise Line has been back in operation for over a month now, and in that month, we’ve had a number of reports about COVID-19 and vaccinations. But there is much more happening at America’s favorite cruise line.
Multiple ships have had the makeover with the new livery, including Carnival Valor this week, and Carnival Legend is in dry dock right now getting her updates. We’ve seen seven Carnival cruise ships return to service, and 15 ships will be operational by the end of October. But, most importantly… No bacon?
Bacon Only Every Other Day
It has been the talk of the town and one that has many guests up in arms. There is a lack of bacon onboard Carnival’s ships. John Heald, the Carnival Cruise Line brand ambassador, even made a dedicated ‘bacon’ post this week as rumors were flying Carnival had been cutting down on the bacon.
The actual reason is a general shortage of hogs in the U.S. coupled with increased usage. Nonetheless, reason enough for John Heald to calm everyone down a bit:
“Our suppliers are having some challenges sourcing bacon for our ships. I promise this has nothing to do with my sailing on Carnival Horizon and Mardi Gras over the last six weeks.
We’re going to temporarily move to an every-other-day schedule for bacon at the Lido Buffet. If you see this sign up on Lido on your cruise, it’s because it’s the day we won’t be serving bacon. But no fear. It will be back the next day. Just a little ba-cation for the day. Meanwhile, there will still be breakfast ham and sausage. No one loves bacon more than me. So if I can do this, so can you.”
Carnival Legend in Dry Dock
Carnival Legend is the next ship to receive Carnival’s new livery. The beautiful blue hull first featured on Mardi Gras proved such a success Carnival will roll it out fleetwide. The new hull design is inspired by the deep blue officer uniforms and the iconic colors of the Carnival funnel.
Carnival Valor sailed with her new livery last week, making five ships that have been given a new look; the others are Mardi Gras, Carnival Magic, Carnival Glory, and Carnival Dream.
Carnival Legend’s dry dock will be focused on routine hotel maintenance and cosmetic enhancements, the new red, white, and blue hull design and paint scheme, the arcade will be relocated, replacing the Chapel and the Library on Deck 3, and the addition of The Cove, the arts and crafts center, replacing the Video Arcade on Deck 4.
Carnival Legend will likely be coming out of dry dock on August 20 and set sail with guests again on November 14 for a 7-day sailing from Baltimore, Maryland, to Bermuda, where the ship will stay for three days at The Dockyard (Sandy’s Parish).
How Many Carnival Ships Have Returned?
Carnival Cruise Line is taking the slow and steady pathway to restart its ships during the coming months. So far, seven Carnival cruise ships have resumed sailing from PortMiami, Port Canaveral, Galveston, and Seattle.
Mardi Gras, the company’s newest cruise ship, is in San Juan, Puerto Rico today, and her next stop will be Amber Cove. Mardi Gras‘ last call to Puerto Rico brought excitement as the ship encountered a nearly submerged vessel at night.
Carnival Miracle is in her homeport of Seattle, preparing for a new Alaska voyage. Carnival Sunrise was the seventh Carnival cruise ship to start this week, as she sailed from PortMiami on a cruise to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Here she was eagerly anticipated by the country’s Prime Minister. She is now underway from Ocho Rios to her next destination, Bimini in the Bahamas.
Other Carnival ships that have resumed operations are Carnival Horizon, which is currently at Half Moon Cay. Carnival Breeze, sailing from Galveston, is currently on her way to Costa Maya, and Carnival Magic became the sixth ship in the fleet to restart operations when the ship departed on August 7 from Port Canaveral, Florida.
Of course, last but not least, Carnival Vista, is also sailing from Galveston, Texas. The first Carnival ship to resume operations is currently in Roatan, Honduras. She had some issues the last week, which you can read all about.
The next in line to resume operations will be Carnival Panorama; she will be the second ship operating on the west coast, this time from Long Beach, California.
Carnival Cruise Line is well on its way to recovery; the more ships operate, the more we return to normal. Even with a shortage of bacon!
