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carnival magic in cozumel

FILE PHOTO: Tourists enjoy a ride on a catamaran as cruise ship Carnival Magic is seen near the shores of Cozumel October 17, 2014./File Photo

Carnival Cruise Line Announces More Ship Restarts

Mike Schuler
Total Views: 2731
July 19, 2021

Carnival Cruise Line has announced the resumption of guest operations for three more ships in September and four in October as it continues to ramp up operations.

With the announcement, Carnival has return plans for 15 of its 24 ships by October.

Carnival said it plans to continue to operate all its ships as “vaccinated cruises” through at least October, however exemptions for unvaccinated guests will be made on “a limited, capacity-managed basis” within 14 days of sailing as the company finalizes its vaccinated guest count. The company’s intention is to operate the sailings with at least 95 percent vaccinated guests.

“The decision to sail with vaccinated voyages was a difficult one to make, and we recognize this is disappointing to some of our guests especially the many families with children under the age of 12 who we love to sail, and who love to sail with us,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “It’s important to remember that this is a temporary measure given the current circumstances. In consultation with our medical experts and advisors, we’ve determined this plan is in the best interests of the health and safety of our guests, crew and the destinations that we bring our ships to. It’s very important that we continue to maintain the confidence of our destination partners, so that we can provide our guests with the optimal cruise experience and sail our itineraries.”

Carnival said unvaccinated guests, including those under the age of 12, will be subject to pre-cruise and pre-embarkation testing and testing again prior to debarkation. Unvaccinated guests will also be charged $150 per person to cover the costs of testing, reporting and health and safety screenings. Unvaccinated guests departing from Florida (effective July 31) and Texas (effective August 2) will also need to show proof of travel insurance coverage, based on the itineraries being sailed and the requirements of ports and destinations visited.

The three ships for September are Carnival Glory from New Orleans, starting September 5, Carnival Pride from Baltimore, starting September 12, and Carnival Dream from Galveston, starting September 19.

Turning to October, the four additional ships to restart will be Carnival Conquest from Miami, effective October 8, Carnival Freedom from Miami, effective October 9, Carnival Elation from Port Canaveral, effective October 11, and Carnival Sensation from Mobile, effective October 21.

“Our plan envisions successfully bringing back our entire fleet by the end of the year, returning to full service – most especially for the millions of families who sail with us – and building back our business for the benefit of our guests, employees and the tens of thousands of jobs and local businesses that depend on our company,” added Duffy. “We will continue to offer exemptions to our unvaccinated guests on a limited, capacity-managed basis within 14 days of sailing as we finalize the vaccinated guest count. The more bookings we initially secure for our cruises with fully vaccinated guests, the more exemptions we can ultimately offer for those unvaccinated guests already booked and those wishing to sail.”

By the end of July, Carnival will have five ships in its restart plan, including the inaugural sailing of LNG-powered Mardi Gras.

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