Carnival Cruise Line to Move Baltimore Operations to Norfolk

As rescue and cleanup efforts continue in Baltimore Harbor after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, Carnival Cruise Line is temporarily moving its Baltimore operations to Norfolk, Virginia. Carnival Legend operates year-round from Baltimore, and is currently at sea, due back on Sunday.

The ship will return from its current voyage to Norfolk instead of Baltimore and guests will be provided with complimentary bus service back to Baltimore. Carnival Legend’s next seven-day itinerary, departing March 31, will then operate and return to Norfolk.

“Our thoughts remain with the impacted families and first responders in Baltimore,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “We appreciate the pledge made by President Biden today to dedicate all available resources to reopen Baltimore Harbor to marine traffic as soon as possible. As those plans are finalized, we will update our future cruise guests on when we will return to Baltimore, but in the meantime, we appreciate the quick response and support from officials in Norfolk.”

The Port of Baltimore is the 29th largest cruise port in the U.S. Some 378,000 cruise passengers pass through the port each year. According to CLIA, 12 cruise ships are scheduled to make a total of 115 calls this year.

The city’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River on Tuesday morning, afterone of the bridge’s supports was hit by a container ship.