Eight cruise line brands from Carnival Corporation & plc have announced plans to resume guest cruise operations, with AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises (U.K.) and Seabourn sailing in the United States, the Caribbean and Europe.
The brands are resuming operations using a gradual, phased-in approach, with sailings announced on 42 ships to date through November 30, representing 52 percent of the company's total capacity across its global fleet of 91 cruise ships. The initial cruises will take place with enhanced health protocols developed in conjunction with government and health authorities, and informed by guidance from the company's public health, epidemiological and policy experts.
Carnival Corporation’s most recent brand restart announcements are summarized just below, with a full list of initial restart plans by brand, ship and expected start date available further down. Additional brand updates on the resumption of guest cruise operations for the remainder of 2021 will be announced later.
North America Brands:
- Carnival Cruise Line will resume guest cruise operations with eight ships by the end of August, including sailings out of Galveston, Miami, Port Canaveral, Long Beach and Seattle (to Alaska). Included in that roster is Mardi Gras, the line’s newest ship and the first cruise ship in North America powered by eco-friendly liquefied natural gas (LNG), with sailings from Port Canaveral starting on July 31.
- Princess Cruises expects to resume guest cruise operations in July with Alaska sailings and a series of cruises around U.K. coastal waters, as well as cruises out of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Mexico, Hawaii and California coast starting in September.
- Holland America Line plans to resume guest cruise operations in July with Alaska sailings, 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 fall.
- Seabourn expects to resume guest cruise operations in July sailing from Greece and Barbados, along with the beginning of the Antarctica season in November.
Europe and Asia Brands:
- Costa Cruises resumed guest cruise operations in May with sailings in Italy and Greece and will be offering sailings to France and Spain in July, followed by Portugal and Turkey in September.
- AIDA Cruises resumed guest cruise operations in March, sailing in the Canary Islands, in May with sailings in Greece and Germany, and is now offering additional sailings out of Germany as well as sailings in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Malta from July, and the Persian Gulf from November.
- P&O Cruises (U.K.) will offer a series of cruises this summer sailing around U.K. coastal waters beginning in June, expanding to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast starting in September.
- Cunard will offer a series of cruises this summer sailing around U.K. coastal waters in July, followed by voyages to the Iberian coast and Canary Islands. In November, Queen Mary 2 returns to service with a combination of transatlantic crossings and Caribbean cruises.
Additionally, Holland America Line and Princess Cruises are offering land-based vacation options this summer for travelers to experience Alaska through a combination of escorted, explorer and rail tours, as well as lodging and sightseeing.
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