Carnival to set sail in July out of Galveston
Carnival Cruise Line has removed all scheduled July sailings from its website except for a handful slated to depart from Miami and Galveston.
The change has fueled speculation among cruise-focused travel websites that Carnival has selected three of its ships — the Vista, Horizon and Breeze — to lead its phased-in resumption of operations in July.
The website shows 14 cruises available for booking through the month. Vista and Breeze are scheduled to depart from the Port of Galveston for 12 of the trips while two six-day Western Caribbean voyages are available from PortMiami aboard the Horizon.
Carnival is scheduled to operate out of 16 U.S. ports when business returns to normal.
Meanwhile, Carnival officials said the company continues to evaluate revised CDC guidance issued last week that for the first time acknowledged that cruising could resume from U.S. ports this summer.
Carnival’s decision to keep selling voyages on the Horizon, Breeze and Vista but not the others comes as the company pushes to get crew members aboard all three ships vaccinated. • Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Frank Del Rio said Wednesday that July sailings from the U.S. are no longer possible, given the 90-day time frame it takes to get a ship ready to sail.
“The July U.S. launch, at least for our company, is just not possible,” Del Rio said, speaking on a quarterly call with analysts. Del Rio’s comments come a day after the CDC outlined new rules for returning to the seas.