Carnival outlines restart plans to end of 2021
Carnival Corporation has outlined plans that could see three quarters of its ships in operation by the end of the year.
Eight of the nine brands controlled by the company - AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Seabourn - have announced plans to resume guest operations on 54 ships to date through the end of 2021.
Nearly half of the capacity is represented by ships homeported in the United States.
In addition to those ships previously announced by the brands, Carnival Cruise Line intents to return to full fleet service in 2021 would add another nine vessels, totalling 63 ships to date that are expected to resume guest operations this year.
Further brand restart announcements are expected in coming weeks, including resumption plans for more ships and itineraries for 2021.
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Carnival Cruise Line resumed guest cruise operations with three ships to date sailing out of two United States ports, Galveston and Miami, and has announced its intent to have 15 ships in operation by the end of October and to have its entire fleet sailing by the end of the year.
Princess Cruises will resume guest cruise operations this weekend with its first ship sailing from Seattle to Alaska, and will expand with a series of cruises around UK coastal waters in late July, as well as cruises out of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Mexico, Hawaii and California coast in the fall, with eight total ships expected to be in operation by the end of the year.
Holland America Line will resume guest cruise operations this weekend with its first ship sailing from Seattle to Alaska, followed by sailings from Greece in August, and from Italy and Spain in September, as well as sailings to Mexico, Hawaii, the California coast and the Caribbean this autumn for a total of six ships expected to be in operation by the end of the year.
Seabourn resumed guest cruise operations with two ships to date sailing from Greece and Barbados, and plans to begin the Antarctica season in November with a third ship.
In Europe, Costa Cruises resumed guest cruise operations in May with sailings in Italy and Greece, and the line is now offering sailings to France and Spain, to be followed by sailings to Portugal and Turkey in September for a total of seven ships expected to be sailing in the Mediterranean by the end of the year.
AIDA Cruises resumed guest cruise operations in March sailing in the Canary Islands and in May with sailings in Greece and Germany.
The line is now offering additional sailings out of Germany as well as upcoming sailings in Spain, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands and the Persian Gulf from late July to December for a total of nine ships expected to be in operation by the end of the year.
P&O Cruises (UK) resumed guest cruise operations with a series of summer sailings around UK coastal waters that started in June, and plans to expand to the Mediterranean, the Atlantic coast and the Caribbean starting in September for a total of four ships expected to be in operation by the end of the year.
Cunard will resume guest cruise operations in August with one ship sailing UK coastal cruises, followed by sailings to the Iberian coast and Canary Islands, and plans to expand with a second ship returning to service in November with a combination of transatlantic crossings and Caribbean cruises.
The additional voyages build on recent restarts from five of the brands, including AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises, which have been sailing in Europe since March and May, respectively, as well as its P&O Cruises brand in the UK.
Most recently, the Carnival Cruise Line brand resumed in early July from the United States along with its Seabourn brand, which restarted earlier this month in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.
“With strong ongoing demand for cruising, we look forward to serving our guests with additional ships announced across eight of our brands and nearly three-quarters of our fleet capacity returning by the end of this year, marking an important milestone for our company and all those who rely on the strong economic impacts generated by the global cruise industry,” said Roger Frizzell, chief communications officer for Carnival Corporation.