Cruise line returning to Alabama port
MOBILE, Ala. — Nearly two years after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Carnival Cruise Lines is restarting operations in Mobile.
Carnival said Thursday that all 22 of its U.S.-based ships will be back in operation by March 2022, with the Carnival Sensation sailing out of Mobile on March 5, AL.com reported.
“Alabamians are ready to cruise again and they want to do it from their home state,” Mayor Sandy Stimpson said in a statement. “That is why we have been working closely with our partners at Carnival to help clear the way for their return.”
Stimpson said that cruising brings in $6 million in annual gross revenue to the city from wharfage fees and parking fees alone, and some of that money is used to offset the existing debt on the Alabama Cruise Terminal. During fiscal 2019, $3.1 million of the revenue was used to pay off terminal-related expenses, according to city figures provided to AL.com. The debt on the cruise terminal is not expected to be paid off until 2030.
The Carnival Sensation has a capacity of over 2,052 passengers and was last in Mobile in May so that its crew could get vaccinated. The ship was previously used as one of three ships chartered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to house victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.