Carnival Cruise Line to Resume U.S. Sailings in July

Carnival Cruise Line today confirmed plans to resume passenger sailings in the U.S. starting in July to vaccinated guests.

The sailings announced Monday include the Carnival Vista departing the Port of Galveston on July 3, followed by the return of operations on Carnival Breeze on July 15.

In statement, Carnival said the cruises are available for guests who have received their final dose of a CDC-approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days prior to the beginning of the cruise and have proof of vaccination, in accordance with current guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy seemed to express frustration with the vaccine requirement.

“We appreciate the progress and support for our U.S. restart from the CDC and other key federal agencies; however, the current CDC requirements for cruising with a guest base that is unvaccinated will make it very difficult to deliver the experience our guests expect, especially given the large number of families with younger children who sail with us. As a result, our alternative is to operate our ships from the U.S. during the month of July with vaccinated guests,” said Duffy.

Carnival is also targeting a July restart of the Carnival Horizon from PortMiami in Florida, pending approval from the State of Florida and the CDC. The company said it will provide an update by Friday concerning protocols specific to these sailings to guests.

Duffy also acknowledged the effort by Florida and Texas in making vaccinations available to cruise line personnel, which Duffy said has expedited the restart process.

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