Over the past few months Carnival Cruise Line has been rethinking its fleet. As a result the cruise line is saying goodbye to two ships, is putting two others on long term lay-up status and is redeploying other ships to new homeports.
Carnival Cruise Line has announced new plans for its fleet once it resumes sailing. When the time is right the cruise line will do so with less ships and revised itineraries.
Commenting on the the company´s decision Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line said: “We have a great variety of ships across the Carnival Cruise Line fleet and we are thrilled to have been able to confirm a delivery date ahead of what we had anticipated for our second Excel ship, which is exciting news for guests interested in sailing from PortMiami on the sister ship to Mardi Gras! At the same time, we will continue to invest in the four remaining Fantasy class ships that we are keeping in the fleet.”
A new ship for 2022
As part of Carnival’s 50th birthday in 2022, a November 2022 delivery date for the unnamed, second Excel-class ship has been confirmed from the Meyer Turku shipyard. The sister ship to Mardi Gras will showcase many of her features, including BOLT, the first roller coaster at sea, and sail out of PortMiami. While the ship will open for sale this fall, guests can already register to be the “first to know” about the ship’s itineraries and special open for sale promotions here.
Reduced capacity & revised itineraries
Carnival has many guests who prefer the cruise line´s Fantasy Class ships which work well for shorter itineraries from smaller ports that cannot accommodate larger ships.
As part of Carnival Corporation’s recent announcement to reduce its overall capacity and focus on ships with upgraded features, Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Inspiration have been sold. Carnival Fascination and Carnival Imagination will move to a long term lay-up status, with no specific timeline identified for a return to operation.
Carnival Sensation will move from Miami to Mobile and take up itineraries previously assigned to Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Fascination, with guests on those two ships being re-accommodated on Carnival Sensation.
Carnival Sunrise will move from Port Everglades to PortMiami and assume the itineraries previously operated by Carnival Sensation, providing a larger, upgraded ship for short itineraries with the many new features installed during Carnival Sunrise’s $200 million transformation completed in 2019. Guests booked on the Sunrise 4- and 5-day itineraries from Port Everglades will be automatically moved to sailings from PortMiami.
Carnival Sunrise is part of Carnival’s 50th birthday celebration and there will be no changes to her birthday sailing, which is scheduled for March 5, 2022. These special sailings have been in high demand and will feature special entertainment, at-sea ship rendezvous and onboard activities and offerings. More information on this special group of itineraries in March 2022 can be found here.
Carnival Fascination itineraries from San Juan and Barbados have been cancelled for 2020-2021 as the cruise line will focus its return to operations on the U.S.
Itineraries for Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration from Long Beach have been cancelled through Apr. 19, 2021. Carnival Panorama will continue to operate 7-day cruises from Long Beach while Carnival Miracle will operate shorter itineraries from San Diego to Baja Mexico.
Carnival Radiance will now move directly from Europe after its $200 million transformation and homeport in Long Beach in April of 2021, where it will assume the short Baja Mexico itineraries previously served by Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration. Guests booked on Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration after April 22, 2021 will be re-accommodated on Carnival Radiance, where they will experience the host of upgrades and new features including Shaq’s Big Chicken Restaurant and an expanded waterpark popular with families sailing with children.
Carnival has also decided to extend its pause of operations in Australia. Six cruises scheduled to operate between Sept. 25 and Oct. 29, 2020, have been cancelled.