Carnival plans to resume some North American cruises in August
The Celebrity Infinity Cruise ship, wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, returns to PortMiami from a cruise in the Caribbean on March 14, 2020 in Miami, Florida.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Carnival Cruise Line plans to resume sailings this summer with eight ships scheduled to leave Florida on Aug. 1, the company announced Monday.
Barring any orders from the federal government, Carnival would be the first major cruise line to resume service since the coronavirus pandemic forced the industry to cancel operations worldwide in mid-March.
The latest no-sail order from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to expire on July 24 unless the country is still under a public health emergency at that time.
Carnival officials said they would gradually phase in service by “taking a measured approach” and focusing on a select number of homeports with significant operations and easy access by car.
“We will use this additional time to continue to engage experts, government officials and stakeholders on additional protocols and procedures to protect the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we serve,” the Miami-based company said in a statement.
Three of the first Carnival cruises to resume are set to leave from Miami while two are scheduled to depart from Port Canaveral and three others from Galveston.
The company also announced Monday that all other scheduled North American and Australian cruises have been canceled through Aug. 31.
The cruise ship industry has been one of the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the early weeks of the outbreak, several ships in the U.S. and abroad became clusters of infections, sickening thousands of people and killing dozens of others.
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