Updates from Carnival and NCL

Well, yesterday was a busy day for cruise line news. Cancellations and redeployment announcements and maybe some news from the CDC. 

Lets start with cancel news from NCL. Norwegian Cruise Line announced they are extending their pause in operations from US Ports through August 31, 2021 cancelling cruises on eight of their ships.

• The Breakaway, Dawn, Escape, Getaway, Sky, Spirit, Star and Sun have cancelled sailings through August 31, 2021.
• Epic though September 1, 2021
• Pearl through November 7, 2021

Although NCL cancelled cruises in the US, they did announce redeployment of three ships to foreign ports.

• Norwegian Joy will sail 7 Night Caribbean cruises from Montego Bay Jamaica with stops in Cozumel, Roatan and Harvest Cay, their private island destination. Sailings are August 2021 - October 2021.
• Norwegian Gem will sail 7 Night Caribbean cruises from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Stops will include St. Maarten, Barbados and St. Lucia and will sail August 2021 - October 2021.
• Norwegian Jade will sail 7 Night Greek Isle Cruises from Athens Greece from July 2021 - November 2021. Stops will include Mykonos, Santorini and Rhodes.
• All passengers will be required to be vaccinated and safety protocols will be in effect.
• Bookings are currently open for sale.

Carnival Cruise line cancelled cruises from US Ports through June 2021. But this one came with a little bite. Carnival President and CEO Christine Duffy said although there is no plan to, they may have to consider sailings from other countries in order to resume operations.

Not sure if its related but it was reported there was some positive news from the CDC. Spokesman for the CDC, Jade Fulce stated that hopefully they can resume operations of revenue cruises with restrictions by mid summer. My thought is the cruise lines are putting pressure on the CDC and the US to restart cruising by setting up ships outside the US. The last thing the they want is the industry finding another home. 

Cruise lines including, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Crystal and Viking have all made plans to resume operations this summer from foreign ports. In part, I believe is repositioning ships normally used in Alaska but also so they can resume operations and put that pressure on the US. Cruises have been on hold for over a year so not only is the patience of the avid cruiser wearing this, so is the cruise lines. 

I would expect more updates this week and will keep you up to date as much as possible. 

Mike Miller
​Freedom to Roam Travel
(904) 534-4318
[email protected]