Carnival Cruise Line has announced that four ships won’t be returning to service until Spring 2021.
Carnival Delays Ship Returns
There is a major fleet update from Carnival Cruise Line today that includes the delay of four cruise ships returning to service and the confirmation of sold ships.
With the cruise line still in suspension due to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “No Sail Order” and travel restrictions around the world, it comes as no surprise that more cruises are impacted. Carnival is delaying four vessels into early next year and one of the main reasons is due to rescheduled dry docks.
Here are the ships that have been impacted further:
- Carnival Magic itineraries operating from Miami will be cancelled until Mar. 13, 2021
- Carnival Paradise itineraries operating from Tampa will be cancelled until Mar. 19, 2021
- Carnival Valor itineraries operating from New Orleans will be cancelled until Apr. 29, 2021 (including the transatlantic cruise from New Orleans on Jan. 25, 2021 and the return from Barcelona on Feb. 26, 2021)
- Carnival Spirit itineraries operating from Brisbane will be cancelled through May 16, 2021, with the first sailing being the Singapore to Brisbane voyage embarking on June 12, 2021.
Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said:
“While we are sad to see Carnival Fascination and Carnival Imagination leave our fleet, it is a necessary move as it allows us to focus on ships that offer the greatest variety of features and stateroom accommodations for our guests.”
“This extended pause in our operations has also impacted shipyard availability, and we’ve had to reschedule required dry docks. As we continue to work through issues related to our eventual return to operations, we are committed to providing our guests and travel agent partners with certainty where we can, although we regret disappointing our guests. We appreciate the continued support and understanding of our guests and hope to welcome them back on board soon.”
The Carnival Magic, Carnival Paradise, and Carnival Valor will undergo dry dock refurbishments before returning to service and that is one of the reasons why those three ships won’t resume sailings until then. This is due to limited dry dock availability.
All other ships will remain on hold until sailings resume including those in Australia. The cruise line also confirmed that Carnival Fascination has been sold, likely to be sold for scrap. It was also finally confirmed that Carnival Imagination is sold but the Fantasy-class cruise ship was already beached so that was expected.
Carnival Ecstasy, Carnival Sensation, Carnival Elation, and Carnival Paradise which will be the only remaining Fantasy-class ships in the fleet will offer the latest enhancements and additional balcony staterooms when they resume cruises.
Carnival Cruise Line Ambassador also made the announcement on his popular Facebook page and you can watch it below:
Cruise operations have been suspended since March 2020 and it’s currently until November 1, 2020. However that does depend on the CDC, there could be a further extension. Carnival is sending out emails to all those guests impacted and offering compensation details including the option for a Future Cruise Credit and onboard credit.
This comes as parent company Carnival Corp yesterday announced a total of 18 cruise ships across its nine brands are being disposed of, more details right here.
Photo Credit: Emilian Danaila / Shutterstock.com
