Carnival Cruise Line has announced which ships will return through November and December, along with protocol updates to align with CDC adjustments to the Conditional Sailing Order. Just five Carnival ships will resume operations through the final two months of 2021, including New Orleans, Baltimore, Tampa, Long Beach, Port Canaveral, and Miami.
Just Five Carnival Cruise Ships Restarting Through November and December
The cruise line has released its restart plans for more vessels through the remainder of the year. Unfortunately, not the entire fleet will be back by the end of 2021, as just five ships will resume through November and December.
Also Read: Which Carnival Cruise Ships Have Resumed Operations?
“We are very pleased with the progress of our restart which will grow to 15 ships sailing from seven U.S. homeports by mid-November,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “We are making slight adjustments to our timeline to take into account supply chain realities and ensure that our destination and shore excursion offerings can meet the strong demand we are seeing from our guests. Our teams, ship and shore, are prepared to continue delivering on our great guest experience and manage all health and safety protocols.”
Five ships will resume, and there are also adjusted restart dates, including Carnival Radiance pushed back to December 13 out of Long Beach and Carnival Sensation not resuming until January 2022:
- Carnival Valor will follow Carnival Glory in New Orleans with four- and five-night sailings starting on Nov. 1;
- Carnival Legend will restart Nov. 14 out of Baltimore, replacing Carnival Pride, which restarts guest operations from Baltimore Sept. 12 and then moves its homeport to Tampa following a Panama Canal repositioning cruise;
- Carnival Radiance will have a new maiden voyage date of Dec. 13 out of Long Beach (rescheduled from Nov. 5 due to a revised dry dock transformation plan);
- Carnival Pride’s new service from Tampa is scheduled to start on Nov. 14;
- Carnival Conquest’s restart from Miami on Oct. 8 has been rescheduled to Dec. 13;
- Carnival Sensation’s Oct. 21 restart from Mobile has been moved to Jan. 2022.
You may have noticed some ships are missing from the restart list except for the adjusted dates. Five vessels in total will return in 2022, including Carnival Liberty out of Port Canaveral, Carnival Sunshine from Charleston, Carnival Paradise from Tampa, Carnival Ecstasy out of Jacksonville, and Carnival Sensation out of Mobile.
Carnival Splendor and Carnival Spirit, based out of Australia, are also to remain on hold through December 16 as the cruise line continues to work with the government on a safe return down under.
Carnival Protocol Updates
Carnival Cruise Line also provides an update on its protocols to align more with recent updates by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and new rapid testing sites at all of its homeports.
The cruise line will continue to follow CDC guidelines to make sure guests and crew remain safe. Guests will have to present proof of vaccination and a negative test at check-in, something which is already in place for current departures.
However, Carnival plans to make it easier by setting up mobile pre-cruise rapid testing sites at all of its homeports. The full details are still to come, but this will make it easier for those struggling to get tested before their cruise.
The cruise line says within its Have Fun. Be Safe protocols, “We realize some of our guests are having a challenge getting a pre-cruise COVID-19 test, especially with the new two-day window established by the CDC that goes into effect on September 13, 2021. We are working to set up mobile testing sites at all our embarkation homeports to conduct a rapid test the day before or day of your departure.”
On August 29, 2021, the CDC updated its Conditional Sailing Order, including adjustments to testing, which now needs to be completed within two days before sailing rather than the previous three days. Carnival now says, “Effective with sailings as of September 13, 2021, the CDC requires pre-cruise testing for vaccinated guests to be taken within two days prior to the sailing date. If the sailing is on Saturday, the test may be taken on Thursday and Friday, and as late as Saturday, if you are guaranteed to receive your results in time for check-in.”
Resuming operations continues to be fluid as ports also make updates to keep their residents safe. We’ve already seen multiple updates to protocols to fall in line with requirements in the Bahamas.
