Carnival Cruise Line will be notifying guests and travel advisors on Tuesday of revisions to the delivery of its newest ship, Mardi Gras, as well as the renovated Carnival Radiance—both resulting from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic—and new itineraries for Carnival Breeze and Carnival Magic that are all part of an updated deployment plan from November 2020 to May 2021.
The key points of the changes:
- Mardi Gras, touted by Carnival as the first LNG-powered ship to operate in the Western Hemisphere and featuring the first roller coaster at sea, will now enter into service from Port Canaveral, FL, on February 6, 2021; itineraries out of Port Canaveral for departures from November 14, 2020 to January 30, 2021 have been cancelled
- Carnival Radiance’s $200 million dry dock at the Cadiz, Spain shipyard was suspended this spring when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a nationwide lockdown; Carnival is now evaluating shipyard options to complete the transformation, but the ship is likely not going to be completed until the spring
- As a result of the delayed arrival of Carnival Radiance, Carnival Breeze will be redeployed from Fort Lauderdale to Port Canaveral and will assume the itineraries for Carnival Radiance from November 8, 2020 to April 24, 2021; consequently, guests on 18 Carnival Breeze sailings from Fort Lauderdale scheduled to operate from November 7, 2020 to March 7, 2021 are being notified that their cruises have been cancelled
- Carnival Magic’s transatlantic and European itineraries from March 13, 2021 to May 3, 2021 have been cancelled; seven sailings previously scheduled for Carnival Breeze from Fort. Lauderdale from March 13 to April 24, 2021 will move to Miami and those guests will sail on the same itinerary, but on Carnival Magic operating from PortMiami.
“We continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global commerce, public health and our cruise operations. In addition to our current pause in service, there have been many other unintended consequences, including shipyard, dry dock and ship delivery delays, and related changes to our deployment plans for our fleet,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “While we had hoped to make up construction time on Mardi Gras over the summer, it’s clear we will need extra time to complete this magnificent ship.”
Guest and travel advisor notifications will be emailed over the course of the day on Tuesday, July 7.
Visit www.carnival.com.
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