Today we have some updates on current and upcoming cruise line restart news and related information.

Carnival Glory

Carnival Cruise Line announced that it has an agreement with the city of New Orleans and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide Carnival Glory for first responders housing through Sept. 18.

Related to this announcement, Carnival will cancel Glory’s cruise scheduled to depart on Sept. 12 and will plan to restart its guest operations with Carnival Glory from New Orleans on Sunday, Sept. 19.  Carnival had already cancelled the Sept. 5 departure for Carnival Glory.

Holland America Panama Canal

The Panama Canal has been called one of humankind’s greatest engineering achievements, and for the 2022-23 cruise season four Holland America Line ships will feature itineraries that include a full transit between Atlantic and Pacific oceans. On board, guests get a front-row seat on the eight-hour daylight journey through the Panama Canal, often cited as a rite-of-passage experience by avid cruisers.

Ranging in length from 14 to 23 days aboard Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Volendam and Zuiderdam, Holland America’s Panama Canal voyages depart from several ports, including San Diego, California; Seattle, Washington; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Many of the itineraries have two or three embarkation or debarkation options, enabling guests to stay on for an extended trip or utilize the port that is most convenient.  

Carnival Restarts

With eight of its ships already in guest operations (and more restarting soon), Carnival Cruise Line announced the next round of details about additional ship restarts for November 2021 and beyond.

• Carnival Valor will follow Carnival Glory in New Orleans with four- and five-night sailings starting on Nov. 1;
• Carnival Legend will restart Nov. 14 out of Baltimore, replacing Carnival Pride, which restarts guest operations from Baltimore Sept. 12 and then moves its homeport to Tampa following a Panama Canal repositioning cruise;
• Carnival Radiance will have a new maiden voyage date of Dec. 13 out of Long Beach (rescheduled from Nov. 5 due to a revised dry dock transformation plan);
• Carnival Pride’s new service from Tampa is scheduled to start on Nov. 14;
• Carnival Conquest’s restart from Miami on Oct. 8 has been rescheduled to Dec. 13;
• Carnival Sensation’s Oct. 21 restart from Mobile has been moved to Jan. 2022.

Carnival First Back To The West Coast

Carnival Cruise Line is the first cruise operator to resume sailing from California since the industry-wide pause in operations 17 months ago.  Carnival Panorama departed on a seven-day cruise from Long Beach recently.  The week-long voyage includes visits to three popular Mexican resort towns including Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas.

Cunard Line

Cunard Line has decided that having been out of service for over 18 months, they would like Queen Mary 2’s initial few voyages to sail closer to home. Also, to comply with the latest regulatory requirements, when ships first re-enter North American waters they will undergo inspections by authorities.