Two Carnival Corp. Brands Plan to Resume Sailing
by Jessica Montevago /
Two of the Carnival Corporation’s cruise line brands have announced plans to resume sailing operations.
Italy-based Costa Cruises will first restart sailings from Italian ports this Sunday, followed by Germany-based AIDA Cruises, resuming on Nov. 1 with Canary Island voyages.
The brands will begin in a gradual, phased-in manner with six initial ships and limited itineraries, becoming the first two of the company’s nine global cruise line brands to resume operations.
Costa Cruises is restarting sailing with two initial ships beginning Sept. 6. Costa Deliziosa will offer weekly cruises from Trieste on Sept. 6, 13, 20 and 27, visiting five destinations in southern Italy, including Bari and Brindisi in Puglia, Corigliano-Rossano in Calabria, and Siracusa and Catania in Sicily.
Costa Diadema will follow on Sept. 19 from Genoa, calling at Italian ports in the western Mediterranean, including Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari and La Spezia. The one-week itineraries are being reserved exclusively for Italian guests.
In November, AIDA Cruises will resume its cruise operations with two of its ships sailing from the Canary Islands, followed by an additional two ships departing from the western Mediterranean and United Arab Emirates beginning in December.
The first of the brand’s cruises is set to begin Nov. 1, with seven-day voyages to and departures from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, with AIDAmar, followed by sailings from Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife with AIDAperla on Nov. 7.
AIDA Cruises will then resume sailing operations in the Western Mediterranean with AIDAstella departing on seven-day cruises from Palma, Mallorca, beginning Dec. 12. Additionally, AIDAprima will offer seven-day cruises from Dubai starting Dec. 11 and from Abu Dhabi beginning Dec. 15.
The initial cruises will take place with adjusted passenger capacity and enhanced health protocols developed with government and health authorities to follow shoreside mitigation guidelines. Both brands are providing guests with detailed information about enhanced restart protocols, which will be updated as needed.
Carnival Corporation has been working with a number of world-leading public health, epidemiological and policy experts to support its ongoing efforts for developing enhanced protocols and procedures for the return of cruise vacations.
“We are engaged with a large number of medical experts and scientists around the world, and they are providing us with extremely valuable insight that we are using to develop new and enhanced protocols that are in the best interest of our guests, crew and overall public health,” said Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation. “In areas of the world where community spread is largely mitigated and authorities are supportive of a gradual return to service over time, we look forward to again welcoming guests on board.”
These public health, epidemiological and policy advisors have been working with the company and its brands to review existing and enhanced procedures and provide supplemental advice based on the latest scientific evidence and best practices for protection and mitigation.