Carnival Cruise Line has provided a major update that includes another delay for the new Mardi Gras cruise ship and cruises in February out of three homeports. This comes as the cruise line continues to work on making sure operations can resume safely in 2021.
Mardi Gras Delayed Again
The Mardi Gras will be delayed once again which will be a huge disappointment to those guests that were looking forward to the ship’s debut in February 2021 out of Port Canaveral.
Carnival has said the ship will be delivered from the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland later this month but she won’t kickstart sailings until April 24, 2021.
Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said:
“We apologize to our guests but we must continue to take a thoughtful, deliberate and measured approach as we map out our return to operations in 2021.”
“Our commitment to the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit is at the forefront of our decisions and operations.”
Carnival has already started email those impacted guests about the further cancellations covering compensation options:
Mardi Gras is one of the most anticipated new vessels in North America for 2021 is the first XL-class in the fleet and powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG). One of her biggest new features is the first roller coaster at sea named BOLT.
On Cruise Hive we’ve already covered her recent sea trials along with videos and photos during the fitting out of all the interior spaces.
The Original Mardi Gras: The First Carnival Cruise Ship
Mardi Gras was originally scheduled to debut on August 31, 2020, out of Copenhagen but was delayed until November 2020 due to the pandemic. She was then delayed again until February 6 out of Florida, and now cruisers will have to wait even longer to enjoy Carnival’s most advanced and largest cruise ship ever.
More Carnival Cruises Cancelled
Carnival Cruise Line has also announced further cancellations with departures from Miami, Port Canaveral, and Galveston, all cancelled through February 2021. This means operations will now remain on hold until March 2021 at the earliest.
Carnival is working on implementing new health protocols and working through the new Conditional Sailing Order announced by the CDC on October 30, 2020.
Also Read: Carnival Cruise Line Moves Deadline for Future Cruise Credit
The Miami-based cruise line was previously planning on restarting cruises in February with a limited amount of ships from just three homeports. It did seem this would be the final delay, but unfortunately, cruising will just have to wait a little longer just like other major cruise lines that have also suspended operations well into 2021.
Photo Credit: Jarmo Piironen / Shutterstock.com
