Carnival Corporation has announced that it expects to resume guest cruise operations with 65 percent of its total fleet capacity by the end of 2021 across eight of its nine cruise line brands. Additionally, Carnival Cruise Line has announced plans that envision the brand's entire fleet returning to service by the end of 2021, which would further increase Carnival Corporation's total operating capacity to nearly 75 percent by the end of the year.
Eight of the company's brands—AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises (U.K.) and Seabourn—plan to resume operations on 54 ships through the end of 2021, with nearly half of the capacity represented by ships homeported in the U.S. In addition to those ships previously announced by the company's brands, Carnival Cruise Line's intent to return to full fleet service in 2021 would add another nine vessels, totaling 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.
Collectively, the brands are continuing to resume operations from ports around the world using a gradual, phased-in approach, including sailings in the U.S., Caribbean, Europe and Mediterranean, along with itineraries planned in Central America and to Antarctica, among others.
Carnival Cruise Line has resumed guest cruise operations with three ships to date sailing out of two U.S. ports: Galveston and Miami. Princess Cruises will resume operations this weekend with its first ship sailing from Seattle to Alaska, and will expand with a series of cruises around U.K. 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 also return to service 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 fall for a total of six ships expected to be in operation by the end of the year. Seabourn resumed operations with two ships sailing from Greece and Barbados, and plans to begin the Antarctica season in November with a third ship.
Among the European and Asian brands, Costa Cruises restarted 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 operations in March sailing in the Canary Islands and in May, it began 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 (U.K.) restarted operations with a series of summer sailings around UK coastal waters beginning 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 operations in August with one ship sailing U.K. 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 cruises include 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.
Related Stories
Cruise Ships Can Return to Costa Rica in September
This Week in Cruise Recovery: Canada To Open Early, Venice Ban
Royal Caribbean, Carnival Make Return to Cruising From U.S.
Princess, P&O Cruises Cancel Australia Cruises Till Mid-December