Carnival Cruise Lines postpones more voyages
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge worldwide, the Miami-based cruise liner cancels more voyages throughout 2021.
By Michael McGrady, Maritime Direct Americas Correspondent
Even as COVID-19 ravages the maritime industrial sector, tourist-focused segments, including pleasure and leisure cruising, are also struggling.
Carnival Cruise Lines announced on January 25 that they had to issue more cancellations as the company continues to struggle with post-pandemic ship deployments and rollout.
“Like so much about this current global situation, we are adapting our plans as circumstances evolve and we are able to confirm alternatives,” said Christine Duffy, the president of Carnival Cruise Line, in a press release. “The support of our guests, travel agents, ports, and business partners has truly been overwhelming as we work through this situation.”
The Associated Press reports that the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention lifted a “no-sail” order on the cruise line industry in October of 2020.
Throughout the majority of last year, COVID-19 prevented the sector from conducting voyages and servicing millions of tourists. However, the CDC noted that companies could implement a “phased restart” if stakeholders meet specific testing and safety requirements.
All of these requirements are in the CDC’s “Framework for Conditional Sailing and Initial Phase COVID-19 Testing Requirements For Protection of Crew” document.
The company intended to phase in voyages in the spring months of 2021. However, the spike in COVID-19 cases has forced the company to pushback these bookings to November.
