Carnival Cruise Line, the US focused contemporary market unit in Carnival corporation & plc group, it has revised the delivery Mardi Gras, as well as the transformed Carnival Radiance – both resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic – and published new itineraries for Carnival Breeze and Carnival Magic that are all part of an updated deployment plan from November 2020 to May 2021.
Mardi Gras, the first LNG-powered ship to operate in the Western Hemisphere, will now enter into service from Port Canaveral, Fla. on Feb. 6, 2021 instead of mid-November 2020. The ship is under construction at Meyer Turku in Finland.
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,” the company said in a statement.
As a result of the delay, Carnival Breeze will be redeployed from Fort Lauderdale to Port Canaveral and will assume the itineraries for Carnival Radiance from Nov. 8, 2020 to Apr. 24, 2021. “Consequently, guests on 18 Carnival Breeze sailings from Fort Lauderdale scheduled to operate from Nov. 7, 2020 to Mar. 7, 2021 are being notified that their cruises have been cancelled,” Carnival said.
Carnival Magic's Transatlantic and European itineraries from Mar. 13, 2021 to May 3, 2021 have been cancelled. Seven sailings previously scheduled for Carnival Breeze from Fort. Lauderdale from Mar. 13 to Apr. 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.
