In her 2021 Christmas message to travel advisors, Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy looks back at what has been an important year for the cruise line. Despite the pandemic and the many difficult moments that have brought to the cruise line, it has been a year that has brought many good things to America’s most popular cruise line as well.
The cruise line launched Mardi Gras and Carnival Radiance, brought 19 out of 22 ships back to operations, and hundreds of thousands of guests already sailed aboard one of those ships. Nonetheless, there is still much work to do.
Christine Duffy Looks at Roller Coaster 2021
It can’t be easy being the president of Carnival Cruise Line in 2021. The cruise line went through uncertainty and anxiety during the first months of the year, when the question was if cruise ships would sail, not when. But now, just before the holidays, Christine Duffy can look back at what has been a hugely successful second half of 2021:
“While 2021 started out with a lot of anxiousness and uncertainty, it is ending with hope, excitement, optimism, and momentum. We will finish the year having successfully restarted 19 of our 22 US-based shifts. And by March all of our US-based fleet will be back in operations just in time for our 50th birthday.”
The launch of Mardi Gras and Carnival Radiance certainly helped get the cruise line back on top. Mardi Gras was, and still is, one of the hottest ships sailing for the Miami-based cruise line.
Being the only ship with a roller coaster on board, the only ship permanently based in the United States fueled 100% by LNG, and a trendsetter in entertainment and a variety of food and beverage outlets, Mardi Gras certainly lived up to its name.
Carnival Radiance likewise has been received with rave reviews. The ship underwent a complete renovation to the point that sailing with the old name, Carnival Victory, was not enough. She is now sailing from Long Beach, California, while 19 out of 22 US-based Carnival Cruise ships are operational nationwide.
Successful, But Not There Yet
While the slow but steady approach has undoubtedly been a success story for Carnival, it doesn’t mean they’re out of the woods just yet. The pandemic rages on, and at least two ships will be out of commission for a while longer.
Carnival Spirit and Carnival Splendor will have been sitting idle for two years if they can begin operations early next year in Australia. However, that still looks unlikely, given the situation down under.
Christine Duffy also thanked the travel advisors that bring thousands of guests on board the Carnival ships each year. They play an essential role in the travel industry and have equally suffered during the time ships were not able to sail:
“Our travel advisor community has played an important part of our pause, restart recovery and path back to success. We want and need you along for this ride. As we continue to bring our fleet back and welcome three new ships to our fleet by 2023, we have big plans and we are looking forward and thinking about how we can all be successful as we move forward.“
Lastly, Christine Duffy ends her video by touching on the Funderstruck campaign introduced by Carnival recently, saying:
“I’m feeling like we’re all going to be struck by fun in 2022. Hmm. Maybe there’s more to come on that concept. So stay tuned. But until then most importantly, happy holidays and a healthy prosperous 20, 22 to all of you. We are Carnival cruise line. We are back better than ever.”
Also Read: Update on Carnival Cruise Line Ships and Latest Developments
We can be sure that Carnival will continue to do its best to keep its ships as fun as possible as we move to the new year and hopefully a new chapter in cruising history. There is certainly more than enough to look forward to, with Carnival launching no less than three new ships by 2023.
