Carnival Cruise Line has announced that its new cruise ship Mardi Gras will begin operations in 2021 due to delay in delivery caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new vessel will be a liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ship to serve the Western Hemisphere and will begin service from 6 February 2021 from Port Canaveral in Florida, US.
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The departures from Port Canaveral from 14 November to 30 January 2021 have been cancelled.
The Carnival Radiance renovation project in Spain worth $200m has also been suspended. The company is evaluating different options to finish the transformation.
Due to the delayed arrival of Carnival Radiance, another cruise ship Carnival Breeze will be redeployed to Port Canaveral and sail according to the Carnival Radiance itineraries.
18 Carnival Breeze sailings from Fort Lauderdale from 7 November to 7 March 2021 have also been cancelled.
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By GlobalDataAdditionally, the Carnival Magic’s itineraries for transatlantic and European voyages from 13 March 2021 to 3 May 2021 have been cancelled.
Seven sailings from Fort Lauderdale on Carnival Breeze from 13 March to 24 April 2021 will move to Miami and the guests will sail on the same itinerary on Carnival Magic.
Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy said: “We continue to assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on global commerce, public health and our cruise operations.
“In addition to our current pause in service, there have been many other unintended consequences, including the shipyard, dry dock and ship delivery delays, and related changes to our deployment plans for our fleet.
“While we had hoped to make up construction time on Mardi Gras over the summer, it is clear we will need extra time to complete this magnificent ship.
“We share our guests’ disappointment and appreciate their patience as we work through this unprecedented time in our business and the lives of so many people.
“We remain committed to working with government, public health and industry officials to support the response to the pandemic and to return to operations when the time is right.”
In May, Carnival Cruise Line announced that it will resume operations in North America from 1 August with eight ships from Miami, Port Canaveral and Galveston.
