Carnival Corporation Brands Resume Cruising in Europe, Caribbean
Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL, CUK) has announced the resumption of guest cruise operations this summer for seven of its brands including AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, and Cunard. The phased approach involves 16 ships, nearly 20% of its fleet, operating with adjusted passenger capacity and enhanced health protocols. Key itineraries include UK coastal cruises and voyages around the Greek Islands. The company emphasizes compliance and safety as it seeks to meet strong pent-up demand for cruising, marking a significant recovery step for the cruise industry.
- Resumption of operations for seven cruise brands, indicating recovery momentum.
- Gradual rollout using 16 ships, nearly 20% of fleet, enhancing operational stability.
- High guest satisfaction scores from previous sailings, reflecting effective health protocols.
- Strong apparent demand for cruises, suggesting potential revenue growth.
- Limited itineraries may restrict revenue potential in the short term.
- Cruises restricted to vaccinated guests only, potentially limiting customer base.
- Ongoing compliance and safety measures may incur additional operational costs.
MIAMI, May 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven cruise line brands from Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest cruise company, have announced plans to resume guest cruise operations this summer, with AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn and P&O Cruises (UK) sailing from global ports in Europe and the Caribbean.
Additionally, as the company continues to work with authorities to resume sailing in the U.S., its Carnival Cruise Line brand has announced possible U.S. restart plans and hopes to begin operating sailings in July on three ships from ports in Miami and Galveston, Texas. The company and several of its brands are also hopeful that cruises will be allowed to sail to Alaska for part of the summer.
Collectively, the brands resuming sailings from global ports over the next several months will be using a gradual, phased-in approach, including limited itineraries that have been announced on 16 initial ships to date, representing nearly
Three Carnival Corporation brands – P&O Cruises (UK), Cunard and Princess Cruises – will each offer a series of cruises this summer sailing around UK coastal waters, including the inaugural sailing for P&O Cruises' new flagship, Iona. Cruises will also resume this summer around the Greek Islands with four of the company's brands – AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn. Additionally, Seabourn has announced plans to restart in the Caribbean with a series of new summer sailings out of Barbados.
The newly announced voyages build on recent cruising restarts from the company's Germany-based AIDA Cruises brand, which resumed in late March sailing in the Canary Islands, and its Italy-based Costa Cruises brand, which restarted in May sailing to Italian ports. In addition to dozens of successful sailings from both brands in 2020, the most recent 2021 sailings from AIDA and Costa have demonstrated the effectiveness of enhanced health protocols developed in conjunction with local, national and global experts, and have generated high guest satisfaction scores, measured by detailed net promotor surveys.
"For all of our brands, our highest responsibility and top priorities are always compliance, environmental protection, and the health, safety and well-being of our guests, our shipboard and shoreside employees, and the communities we visit," said Roger Frizzell, chief communications officer for Carnival Corporation. "We are excited to have the majority of our leading cruise line brands resume sailings this summer, as we are seeing strong pent-up demand from our past guests and consumers in general to get away on a cruise, one of the world's most popular vacations."
Added Frizzell: "The resumption of our cruises marks a critical step in the recovery of our brands and the industry as a whole, which provides a major economic impact and supports jobs across multiple sectors around the world. As our cruise line brands gradually resume cruising, we will continue to work as an industry to share important learnings and best practices to help ensure the resumption of cruise operations is done in the best interest of public health."
In working with global and national health authorities and medical experts, as well as authorities in destination countries, the company's brands have developed a comprehensive set of health and safety protocols for protection and mitigation across the entire cruise experience for its initial cruises. This includes cross-industry learnings and best practices based on the proven health and safety record of industrywide sailings and input from top science and health experts and health authorities.
Below is a brief summary of Carnival Corporation's brands resuming guest cruise operations from global ports this summer:
AIDA Cruises
Germany-based AIDA Cruises restarted sailing in the Canary Islands with AIDAperla on March 20, with the season extending through July and offering new voyages departing from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Two additional ships, AIDAsol and AIDAblu, will restart at the end of May in Germany and Greece, respectively, with short voyages from Kiel, Germany, starting May 22 and seven-day cruises through the Greek Islands from May 23. In July, AIDA Cruises will launch additional new voyages in Germany, with AIDAsol departing from Rostock-Warnemünde through July 18, followed by a fourth ship, AIDAprima, which will restart on July 3, offering seven-day voyages departing from Kiel through October 23. All cruises are carried out in compliance with AIDA's enhanced health and safety protocols, which have been tested by SGS Institut Fresenius, confirmed by the classification society DNV GL and are in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Costa Cruises
Italy-based Costa Cruises resumed its cruise operations on May 1 with flagship Costa Smeralda sailing a week-long all-Italian itinerary, officially kicking off the brand's summer season, which will see a total of four Costa ships cruising in the Mediterranean. A second ship, Costa Luminosa, resumed sailing with week-long cruises to Greece on May 16, and will be followed by Costa Deliziosa on June 26, which will also offer one-week cruises to Greece. On July 4, the brand's new ship, Costa Firenze, will debut with a one-week itinerary in Italy, in addition to one-week international cruises from September 12 until mid-October. Alongside the debut of Costa Firenze, from July 3 Costa Smeralda will be back on international itineraries, with one-week cruises in Italy, France and Spain. All sailings will follow the procedures set out in the Costa Safety Protocol, developed by Costa together with scientific experts and Italian authorities, which includes enhanced health and safety measures for all aspects of the cruise experience, both on board and ashore.
P&O Cruises UK
P&O Cruises (UK), Britain's favorite cruise line, will resume operations with two of its ships sailing roundtrip from Southampton around the UK coast between June and September. The first of the brand's cruises is set to begin on June 27, with a series of "short breaks" on flagship Britannia through September 19. On August 7, the brand's new flagship Iona will depart on its seven-night maiden voyage around the coast of the island of Iona and the Scottish Isles, offering itineraries running to September 18. Given the advanced progress of the UK vaccination program, and strong expressed preference on the part of guests for this limited series of UK coastal cruises, these sailings on Britannia and Iona will be for UK resident COVID-19 vaccinated guests only. All guests and crew will be required to follow P&O Cruises' enhanced health and well-being measures to protect everyone on board. These have been developed with guidance from global medical and public health experts and scientists and in close coordination with UK government agencies.
Seabourn
Seabourn, the company's ultra-luxury brand, will resume its cruise operations in Greece beginning July 3, with a series of sailings on Seabourn Ovation operating roundtrip from Athens throughout the Greek Isles. A second ship, Seabourn Odyssey, will restart on July 18 with a series of new summer voyages operating roundtrip out of Bridgetown, Barbados, and visiting Antigua, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Maarten and St. Kitts. These series of voyages are open to any guests who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Seabourn guests will be required to comply with all health protocols that may be in place at the time of their departure. More details on Seabourn's protocols are available here.
Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises, the world's leading international premium cruise line, will resume operations with two of its ships in the UK, with a series of Seacations on MedallionClass ships, Regal Princess and Sky Princess, sailing roundtrip from Southampton around the UK coast through late September. The first of the brand's ships, Regal Princess, will offer 14 UK voyages beginning July 31, followed by Sky Princess on August 30, which will offer eight UK cruises. Given the advanced progress of the UK vaccination program and strong expressed preference on the part of guests for this limited series of UK coastal cruises, these sailings on Regal Princess and Sky Princess will be available for UK resident COVID-19 vaccinated guests only. All guests and crew will be required to follow Princess Cruises' enhanced health and well-being measures to protect everyone onboard. These have been developed with guidance from global medical and public health experts and scientists and in close coordination with UK government agencies.
Cunard
The company's Cunard brand will restart sailing for UK guests with a series of UK voyages on board Queen Elizabeth. The voyages will be roundtrip from Southampton between July and October, and include British Isles scenic sailings along Britain's coastline as well as special Sun Voyages, lasting between three and 12 nights. Given the advanced progress of the UK vaccination program, and strongly expressed preference on the part of guests for this limited series of UK coastal cruises, these sailings on Queen Elizabeth will be for UK resident COVID-19 vaccinated guests only. All guests and crew will be required to follow Cunard's enhanced health and well-being measures to protect everyone onboard. These have been developed with guidance from global medical and public health experts and scientists and in close coordination with UK government agencies.
Holland America Line
Working in close coordination with the government of Greece, Holland America Line, the leader in premium cruising, will restart cruising from Athens in August with four seven-day departures aboard Eurodam. This first of the brand's voyages will depart August 15, visiting several ports in the Greek Isles. A second unique itinerary departs August 22 to a different set of Greek ports. A seven-day itinerary will also depart Sept. 5 from Athens to Venice, Italy, with calls in Greece and Sarandë, Albania. These sailings from Greece are available for guests who have received their final dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days prior embarkation and have proof of vaccination. Holland America Line guests will be required to comply with all health and safety protocols in place at the time of departure for travel to and from the ship, as well as all onboard protocols and procedures for visiting ports. Additional preventive health measures under Holland America Line's "Travel Well" program will be in place.
Gray Line Alaska
In addition to the newly announced voyages, Holland America Line and Princess Cruises offer land-based vacation options this summer through Gray Line Alaska. Travelers may experience Alaska through a combination of escorted, explorer and rail tours, and lodging and sightseeing, between Kenai, Anchorage, Denali and Fairbanks, Alaska.
About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival Corporation & plc is one of the world's largest leisure travel companies with a portfolio of nine of the world's leading cruise lines sailing to all seven continents. With operations in North America, Australia, Europe and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard.
Additional information can be found on www.carnivalcorp.com, www.carnival.com, www.princess.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.seabourn.com, www.pocruises.com.au, www.costacruise.com, www.aida.de, www.pocruises.com and www.cunard.com.
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SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc
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