After the Hawaiian Department of Transportation announced a port agreement had been signed with Carnival Cruise Line, the question came up whether the first Hawaiian cruise could proceed as planned. There has been good news on that front. Carnival Miracle’s Hawaii cruise is now a greenlight.
Despite the rate at which cruise ships have been finding COVID cases onboard, Carnival is positive the vessel can safely sail to Hawaii and back. It is implementing various additional safety measures to achieve this, such as additional testing of crew and passengers onboard.
Carnival Miracle to Sail to Hawaii on January 9
Carnival Miracle will be the first cruise ship in the fleet to call in Hawaii since the worldwide operational pause in March of 2020. The ship will sail from Long Beach, California, on January 9, for a 14-day cruise to the islands.
Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald shared the news on his Facebook page: “So let’s start with the good news, make that brilliant news that our Carnival Miracle Hawaii cruise is a go and in just three days Carnival Miracle will be sailing to the islands and I know how many people are so excited to be on this voyage. I must though thank the beards who have been in constant discussion with the Hawaiian authorities to make sure this cruise happened.”
Carnival Miracle will spend four days at sea and arrive in Honolulu on Oahu Island on January 14. From there, calls are scheduled to Kahului on Maui, and Kailua-Kona and Hilo on Hawaii Island. After another few relaxing days at sea, guests will have a day in Ensenada, Mexico, before returning to Long Beach. The voyage only received permission from the Hawaiian authorities this week, when necessary port agreements were signed.
The announcement that Carnival Miracle will sail will be welcome news for guests booked on the voyage. A previous cruise, scheduled for departure on December 3, did not sail as the Hawaiian authorities were not ready to receive cruise ships at that time.
Guests to Comply with Additional Safety Measures
Guests sailing onboard the 14-day cruise to Hawaii must comply with additional health and safety features. The company plans to perform additional COVID-19 testing during the voyage. This is besides the standard tests that will be performed before the voyage starts, and additional health measures such as the mask and vaccination mandates.
Guests will also need to comply with the mandatory Hawaii Safe travel requirements. This includes registering on the State of Hawaii website, stating the method of travel, and applying for a quarantine exemption done by uploading a picture of the vaccination card.
Crew members onboard are also monitored constantly while onboard; the cruise line tests crew members at a rate of more than 20% per day. The crew is also fully vaccinated and boostered where possible. Crew members that do test positive will need to be isolated for a minimum of 5 days and return a negative test result before being allowed back to work.
Carnival Cruise Line does not anticipate having to cancel any voyages such as NCL has done. Carnival says its health and safety protocols remain effective in monitoring, detecting, and responding to potential cases of COVID-19 onboard.
The 88,500 Spirit-class Carnival Miracle resumed operations back in July 2021. She sailed an initial season in Alaska and redeployed to cruises on the Mexican Riviera in September of last year. The vessel has one more Hawaiian cruise scheduled for February 20 of this year.
