Carnival PLC Additional CCL Ship Restarts

 
TIDMCCL 
 
Carnival Cruise Line Makes Plans For Additional Ship Restarts In September And 
                                    October 
 
More Than Half the Carnival Fleet to be Sailing by October With Carnival 
Planning to Continue to Operate Vaccinated Cruises 
 
MIAMI, July 19, 2021 -- Carnival Cruise Line announced today that three more 
ships will resume guest operations in September, and another four in 
October - bringing the total number of ships to 15 - as the line's successful 
restart of operations continues to ramp up. Based on the success of its 
initial resumption of service and the guest response to the onboard experience 
and health and safety protocols that have been implemented, Carnival 
will continue to operate all its ships as vaccinated cruises through at least 
October. 
 
The three ships for September are Carnival Glory from New Orleans, starting 
Sept. 5, Carnival Pride from Baltimore, starting Sept. 12, and Carnival Dream 
from Galveston, starting Sept. 19. 
 
Turning to October, the four additional ships to restart will be Carnival 
Conquest from Miami, effective Oct. 8, Carnival Freedom from Miami, effective 
Oct. 9, Carnival Elation from Port Canaveral, effective Oct. 11, and Carnival 
Sensation from Mobile, effective Oct. 21. 
 
Related to this announcement, Carnival is notifying guests and travel agents of 
an extension in its pause of operations through Sept. 5 for Carnival Pride from 
Baltimore, Sept. 11 for Carnival Dream from Galveston, Oct. 4 for Carnival 
Conquest from Miami and Oct. 16 for Carnival Sensation from Mobile.  Cruises on 
Carnival Sunshine from Charleston, Carnival Ecstasy from Jacksonville and 
Carnival Liberty from Port Canaveral will be cancelled through Oct. 31. In 
addition, a three-day cruise on Carnival Miracle from Long Beach on Sept. 24 is 
being cancelled, and then Carnival Miracle will begin sailing from Long Beach 
on Sept. 27. 
 
"We are very excited about our restart and greatly appreciate the support of 
our guests, travel agents and port and destination partners," said Christine 
Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.  "By the end of July, we will have 
five ships in our restart plan, including the introduction of service on Mardi 
Gras, and we are seeing a great combination of strong demand and strong guest 
satisfaction scores tied to the positive guest experience on board." 
 
Carnival will continue to welcome unvaccinated guests on board, but all 
unvaccinated guests including children under the age of 12, will be subject to 
pre-cruise and pre-embarkation testing and testing again prior to debarkation 
(on cruises longer than four days) along with a $150 per person charge to 
cover the costs of testing, reporting and health and safety screenings. At this 
time, Carnival is limiting operation of its supervised youth programs to 
vaccinated children and youth 12 years and older. Unvaccinated guests departing 
from Florida (effective July 31) and Texas (effective Aug. 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. These additional 
measures will be in place through at least October but may be extended based on 
guidance from public health and medical advisors and the requirements of 
destination partners. 
 
"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 Duffy. "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." 
 
"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.  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," Duffy added. 
 
Booked guests and travel advisors are being notified of the plans for the 
returning ships, the cruise cancellations and the process by which they are 
being asked to follow to confirm traveler vaccination status and to apply 
for an exemption to the vaccination standard. Guests who want to change their 
plans, who are unable to wait to see if they receive an exemption, or who 
cannot meet the vaccination standards may change their reservation without 
penalty or request a full refund.  Guests, travel advisors and news media with 
additional questions are encouraged to review Carnival's Have Fun. Be Safe. 
 page and FAQ on Carnival.com. 
 
SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line 
 
CONTACT: Vance Gulliksen, [e-mail] 
 
 
 
END 
 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 20, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)