With Alaska News, Carnival Cruise Line Reaffirms Plans to Sail in July

After news broke on Thursday that the U.S. House of Representatives had unanimously approved a measure that would save the Alaska cruise season, three Carnival Corp. brands wasted no time in reaffirming their intention to sail Alaska this summer.

Carnival Cruise Line is one of those brands that will restart out of Alaska in July—Carnival has already opened up Alaska sailings out of Seattle beginning July 27 aboard Carnival Miracle.

The ship will sail seven, seven-day itineraries that include calls in Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. It will also sail one eight-day itinerary with an additional stop in Icy Strait Point. Only guests who have received their final dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days prior to the beginning of the cruise and have proof of vaccination will be allowed to sail.

The sailings are still subject to approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, Carnival had been targeting July for some time now and has said it expects the sailings to be approved. Just this week, Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy told Lester Holt that “I think the CDC and the interagency groups that are working with us now have that same goal in mind as President Biden said, he wants to reopen America by the Fourth of July and we want to make sure that the cruise industry can be part of that reopening of America.” 

In a statement, Arnold Donald, the CEO of Carnival Corp., said it was “great news for cruising.”

“We are excited to once again serve our guests from the U.S., and we express our deep gratitude to all national, state and local officials who have worked collaboratively with us, the CDC and our entire industry to make this possible. It is great news for cruising, for travelers ready to again explore the world and for all the communities in Alaska that depend on cruising and have suffered great hardships over the past year,” he said.

“As one of America’s natural treasures, Alaska is a land of beauty and wonder, and one of the most popular destinations for our guests. We look forward to our brands restarting this summer from the U.S. while also supporting our longtime partners and the communities in Alaska.”

Moving forward outside of Alaska, Carnival is working to finalize its plans to operate Carnival Horizon from Miami, and Carnival Vista and Carnival Breeze from Galveston in July.