Carnival Cruise Line Cancels All Sailings Through End of Year Except for Florida Ports

In light of the CDC’s decision this week to extend the suspension of U.S. passenger cruise operations through October, Carnival Cruise Line has decided to cancel all sailings from its U.S. homeports—except for Miami and Port Canaveral, Florida—through the end of the year.

Carnival, which has emphasized throughout the pandemic that it would be returning to operations with a phased-in approach, is now focusing its possible 2020 return on Miami and Port Canaveral.

All other sailings outside of Miami and Port Canaveral will be canceled. Guests and travel advisors have been notified of the changes today. Carnival is still offering a FCC credit or a full refund for impacted guests. It is also offering the same to those still booked on Miami and Port Canaveral sailings should they want to cancel their booking.

“As we have said throughout this pause, our return to operations will be gradual and phased in. And while we are not making any presumptions, once cruising is allowed, we will center our initial start-up from the homeports of Miami and Port Canaveral,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. 

“The health and safety of our guests, crew and communities we serve remain the cornerstone of our plans and decisions. The patience and support of our guests and travel agent partners have been a huge motivation to our team as we have worked through this unprecedented situation and we are dedicated to getting back to operations when the time is right.”

The CDC on Wednesday said that more action is still needed for cruise lines to get the okay to sail and that data out of Europe, after some cruise lines restarted, suggests that cruise ships could still “continue to transmit and amplify the spread” of COVID-19.