Carnival Cruise Line announced Wednesday that it’s now suspending its operations in the U.S. through the end of March due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19 and other issues.
By extending its pause in operations through March 31, Carnival says several cruises have been canceled. The cruise line also says select ships and homeport operations are being changed due to itineraries and dry dock work.
The cancellations include:
- All embarkations from U.S. homeports through March 31, 2021
- Carnival Freedom from Galveston through April 10, 2021 (which includes a repositioning of the ship from Galveston to Seattle and a 17-day Carnival Journeys cruise which is not allowed under the current guidelines issued by the CDC)
- Carnival Miracle from San Diego and San Francisco through Sept. 16, 2021 (which includes many 10-day and longer itineraries not allowed under the current CDC guidelines)
- Carnival Liberty from Port Canaveral from Sept. 17 through Oct. 18, 2021 (to accommodate rescheduled dry dock work)
- Carnival Sunshine from Charleston from Oct. 11 through Nov. 13, 2021 (to accommodate rescheduled dry dock work)
- Carnival Spirit’s 15-day cruise from Singapore to Brisbane on June 12, 2021 (consistent with the current limitations on international travel in place in Australia)
The company says booked guests and travel agents are being notified directly of the cancellations. There options will be a future cruise credit and onboard credit package, or a full refund.
“We are sorry to disappoint our guests, as we can see from our booking activity that there is clearly a pent-up demand for cruising on Carnival. We appreciate their patience and support as we continue to work on our plans to resume operations in 2021 with a gradual, phased in approach,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.
Before this current extension, Carnival planned to resume operations at the end of February. It was among other cruise companies that suspended their voyages until Feb. 28 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
