Carnival Plans to Resume Some Voyages in August

Carnival Corp announced Monday it plans to resume certain North American voyages in August as it tries to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, which has idled its ships since March.

The company said its Carnival Cruise Line brand intends to restart cruises on eight ships from Miami (Carnival Horizon, Carnival Magic and Carnival Sensation), Port Canaveral (Carnival Breeze and Carnival Elation) and Galveston (Carnival Dream, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Vista) on August 1, while operations in all other North American and Australian markets would remain suspended through August 31.

All Carnival Spirit Alaskan cruises from Seattle will be canceled, as well as the Carnival Spirit Vancouver-Honolulu cruise on September 25 and the Honolulu-Brisbane transpacific cruise on October 6, the company said. All Carnival Splendor cruises in Australia through August 31 will be canceled.

"We are committed to supporting all public health efforts to manage the COVID-19 situation. We are taking a measured approach, focusing our return to service on a select number of homeports where we have more significant operations that are easily accessible by car for the majority of our guests," Carnival said in a statement.

The company said it is working with experts, government officials and stakeholders on additional protocols and procedures to ensure passenger health and safety.

Carnival is among operators hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, as cruise lines around the world have canceled thousands of voyages over safety concerns and halted tourism.

Three ships in particular, of the Carnival's Princess Cruises brand, became hotbeds for coronavirus outbreaks, starting with the Diamond Princess in Japan and then the Grand Princess off California. One ship, the Ruby Princess, is part of a homicide investigation in Australia as the country’s deadliest coronavirus infection source.

Voyages on Princess ships are suspended through at least June 30, as is the case for most of Carnival's other brands, including Costa Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises and Holland America Line, whose coronavirus-hit Zaandam was stranded at sea for weeks before being cleared to debark passengers in Florida in April.

Carnival's P&O Cruises and Cunard brands have canceled all voyages through July 31 as well as certan Cunard sailings up to September 8.