Carnival Cruise Line has now removed most cruises through August, and this follows the removal on the majority of cruises through July just days ago. This will undoubtedly be a worry for booked guests, especially with more than a year of suspensions and uncertainty on resuming operations this summer.
Where Are August Cruises?
The Miami-based cruise line has now removed most cruises in August except for three vessels. Currently, the Carnival website shows bookings for Carnival Breeze and Carnival Vista out of the Port of Galveston in Texas and the Carnival Horizon out of PortMiami, Florida. Only from September are more ships currently available to book
The cruise line has not released any reason why most cruises are removed through August but there is a likely reason. Carnival removed most sailings except for those same three cruise ships through July and here was the reason:
“While we evaluate the CDC’s new guidance on the resumption of cruising from the U.S., we have closed for sale all July voyages except for Carnival Horizon, Carnival Vista and Carnival Breeze. We have taken no other actions on these cruises, and will update guests and travel agents once we finalize plans for the resumption of guest operations under the new CDC guidelines. We appreciate the support and understanding of our guests and travel partners, and commit to communicating more information as quickly as possible.”
So it’s likely to be the same case for the August sailings, which are now no longer available for booking. The cruises may just be closed for new bookings are not actually canceled. However, many times now, when the cruise line removed cruises from its site, there is often a further suspension announced not long after.
With the ongoing situation between the cruise industry and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention on resuming cruises, anything is possible. Cruise lines are not happy with Phases 2B and 3 released from the CDC on May 5, 2021. Those instructions cause even further restrictions and a lack of clarity which have already been called a “joke” by Florida’s Governor and “absurd” by Norwegian Cruise CEO Frank Del Rio.
It’s looking more possible that Carnival Breeze, Carnival Vista, and Carnival Horizon are the very first ships in the fleet that will restart operations this summer. With Carnival Breeze and Horizon already arriving back in Galveston, Texas, prorations have already started, including crew member vaccinations.
Carnival Horizon is a Miami-based ship, and we already know that PortMiami has commenced crew vaccinations across Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and MSC cruise ships.
Carnival Cruise Line has also extended the final payment date to May 31, 2021 to provide further confidence for guests. It means guests can request a full refund and cancel without any penalty.
Also Read: Cruise Rally Held in Galveston As Carnival Cruise Line Makes a Return
For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what Carnival decides doing this summer. The CDC has said it’s aiming to allow cruises by mid-summer and has been working with the cruise lines to make it happen.
Will Carnival Cruise Line go down the pathway of simulated sailings or will it decide to skip them and offer cruises with fully vaccinated crew and passengers? Keep checking for all the latest developments.
