Carnival Cruise Ship Arrives at PortMiami After Journey from Dry Dock

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Sporting a shiny new look, a new livery, and necessary upgrades, Carnival Valor has made its way back from dry dock in South France to the United States. The vessel sailed into PortMiami on September 1 and docked in the early morning hours. 

Although she is not part of Carnival Cruise Line’s resumption plans for the near future, the ship is scheduled to start operation in November. She already has the new livery that Carnival is rolling out across the fleet. One that the company’s newest ship, Mardi Gras, first featured. 

Rolling Updates Fleetwide

Carnival Cruise Line has been making some substantial headway into reviving its fleet lately. A few months ago, the cruise line announced that all ships in the fleet would be losing the typical Carnival white hull with red letters. Instead, all ships in the fleet would be receiving the beautiful designs currently featured on Mardi Gras

The new hull design, which is inspired by the deep blue officer uniforms and the iconic colors of the Carnival funnel, will be rolled out fleetwide over the coming months and possibly longer.

Carnival Cruise Line was receiving some criticism during the pandemic when multiple cruise ships looked rusty while remaining on hold during the global suspension of operations.

The new livery design is a welcome change, and Carnival Valor is one of the first to receive the new colors. Earlier this year, Carnival Magic, Carnival Glory, and Carnival Dream received their new liveries.

Carnival Valor
Photo Credit: Tony Davis

It was not a major dry dock for the Carnival Valor; besides the new livery, the vessel received multiple upgrades to the hotel areas and underwent regular maintenance. Carnival Valor’s previous dry dock was in 2016 when Carnival Cruise line added venues like Guyโ€™s Burger Joint and the Alchemy Bar.

Also Read: Fourth Carnival Cruise Ship Receives New Livery and Heads for North America

The Dry dock in Marseilles, France was completed on July 28 and soon after, the vessel made its way to Gibraltar where we first had an exclusive look at the new-look ship thanks to photos by Tony Davis. Carnival Valor then departed the port on August 8 and headed to the cruise capital of the world, PortMiami, Florida.

When Will She Sail?

The vessel is not part of the cruise line’s initial restart plans for its fleet of ships. However, the vessel will be sailing during the latter stages of the cruise line’s restart plans. 

As it stands, the 110,000 gross tons ship, which has a guest capacity of 2,980 at double occupancy and 1,180 international crew members, is scheduled to commence sailings on November 1 of this year. Her first cruise will be a voyage taking her from New Orleans on a five days Western Caribbean cruise that will sail to Cozumel and Yucatรกn (Progreso) with a sea-day at either end. 

Carnival Valor Cruise Ship
Photo Credit: Tony Davis

Carnival Cruise Line has, however, been somewhat mysterious about what will be happening with the remaining ships towards the end of the year.

In one of its quarterly investment briefings Carnival Corporation, the cruise line’s parent company said Carnival Cruise Line intended to be sailing with its entire fleet by the end of the year. The wait, for now, is for Brand Ambassador John Heald, who has said updates are coming in the next few days.

Worth Reading: Which Carnival Cruise Ships Have Resumed Operations?

All ships in the Carnival fleet are scheduled to be receiving the new livery in the upcoming time; the next ship to come out of dry dock is Carnival Legend which is almost done with her dry dock and has been sailing in the Mediterranean since early morning September 1 just outside of Marseille and is currently making her way back again to port. 

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Robert McGillivray
Robert McGillivray
Robert has been involved in the cruise industry since January 2007. He joined his first ship, the Seabourn Pride, in Miami Florida, and never looked back. Robert started his cruise career as a bar-waiter and worked his way up to being a corporate trainer for the same luxury 6-star cruise line. After a short break from ships in 2013, Robert has worked as a Hotel Director onboard several different cruise ships worldwide and even in Antarctica, and on the North Pole. As a writer for Cruise Hive Robert stays on top of all current developments and brings you breaking news, facts, and special reports. As an avid traveler and photographer, Robert has visited no less than 101 countries worldwide and stepped on to his 7th continent on his 30th birthday. His photos have been published by news media like Bloomberg and The New York Times, and are used by Celebrity and Azamara Cruise lines for their promotional materials. Robert currently resides in the Philippines on the tropical island of Panglao, with his wife and two daughters. Find out more about us here.

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