Carnival Cruise Line is celebrating another momentous milestone in its “Return to Fun” cruise travel restart, with 3,000,000 guests having sailed since Carnival Vista set sail and cruising once again got underway after the industry-wide pandemic shutdown.
Impressive Cruising Numbers
Just under one month after celebrating the one-year return to service, Carnival Cruise Line can now celebrate an amazing 3,000,000 guests welcomed aboard its fleet of 23 Fun Ships. Carnival saw its total guest count hit 2,000,000 in May and it has now risen to 3,000,000 in less than 75 days – an average of 95,000 guests per week.
“Carnival set the pace for the industry as the first major cruise line to return to full guest operations in the U.S., and we continue to lead as we now have welcomed three million guests who have enjoyed much-needed vacations,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.
These impressive increases come during the busy Caribbean summer season, when more families are setting sail for unforgettable cruise vacations. To meet the pent-up demand for safe and economical getaways, Carnival is striving for 110% occupancy on its ships this summer, welcoming families and groups to fill extra berths above the standard double occupancy measurement.
In addition to the extreme demand in the Caribbean, Carnival is also working to meet demand in one of this year’s hottest cruise destinations, the chill Alaskan region. Due to the loss of the 2020 season completely and the abbreviated 2021 season, more and more travelers are seeking out cruises to the Last Frontier this year.
Carnival is offering its biggest ship deployment ever in Alaska, with three vessels – Carnival Miracle, Carnival Spirit, and Carnival Splendor – offering a combined 49 cruise options for the season from San Francisco and Seattle. Approximately 100,000 guests are anticipated to enjoy and discover Alaska this year aboard Carnival cruises.
More Popular Homeports
Carnival’s five busiest homeports – PortMiami, Port Canaveral, Galveston, Long Beach, and New Orleans, were among the first to resume guest operations and account for 77 percent of all Carnival embarkations, equaling an impressive guest total of 2,324,823.
Carnival has resumed sailing from all 14 of its United States homeports, including year-round voyages as well as seasonal offerings. In October, more international homeports will be added to the sailing schedule as the cruise line begins to welcome guests in Australia once again, with sailings from Sydney with Carnival Splendor.
“The economic benefit to our homeports and destinations is also significant and we are looking forward to restarting cruise operations in Australia this October,” said Duffy.
In terms of the number of sailings, Carnival’s hometown of PortMiami leads the way with more than 215 voyages to date. Carnival Conquest, Carnival Sunrise, and Carnival Horizon are offering a variety of sailings from Miami this summer.
The cruise line’s newest ship, Carnival Celebration, is scheduled to homeport from Miami when she joins the fleet in November.
Amazing Port Visits
It isn’t only Carnival’s homeport numbers that are impressive. In the past 13 months, the cruise line has made more than 3,000 port-of-call visits at 92 individual ports in 36 countries.
Mexico has seen the most visits, with nearly 800 – of which 385 have been to Cozumel, the most popular cruise port Carnival visits worldwide. The other cruise ports in Carnival’s top five to visit are Nassau (320 calls) and Half Moon Cay (155 calls) in The Bahamas, Amber Cove, Dominican Republic (159 calls), and Mahogany Bay, Roatan (123 calls).
In all these amazing ports of call, travelers have enjoyed more than 2,000,000 shore excursions in the past 13 months, every one of which supports local economies, businesses, and retailers.
More to Come
Despite these already impressive numbers, there is still a great deal to come for Carnival Cruise Line in 2022.
The cruise line is just days away from dropping pre-cruise COVID-19 testing for vaccinated passengers on short sailings, and the phased change in testing protocols is sure to continue in the next few weeks and months.
Carnival Luminosa will be joining the fleet in October, followed quickly by Carnival Celebration in November, which will wrap up the cruise line’s outstanding 50th birthday celebration that has been ongoing throughout the year.
Progress will continue to be made on the cruise line’s new port development project on Grand Bahama, and many more fun cruise vacations will continue to sail.
