Carnival Cruise Line Announces Updates To Fleet Plan

MIAMI, July 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise Line today announced new plans for its fleet that will generate tremendous guest excitement once it resumes sailing, with a confirmed date for an additional Excel-class, LNG-powered ship arriving in November 2022, four ships either sold or put on long term lay-up status, and other ships redeployed to new homeports, as it seeks to leverage its strong network of year-round and seasonal homeports in the U.S. with upgraded offerings. The highlights of the plan include:

    --  As part of Carnival's 50(th) birthday in 2022, a November 2022 delivery
        date for the unnamed, second Excel-class ship has been confirmed from
        the Meyer Turku shipyard. The sister ship to Mardi Gras will showcase
        many of her features, including BOLT, the first roller coaster at sea,
        and sail out of PortMiami as previously announced. Carnival said it will
        open the ship for sale this fall and guests can register to be the
        "first to know" about the ship's itineraries and special open for sale
        promotions at www.carnival.com/ship2022.
    --  As part of Carnival Corporation's recent announcement to reduce its
        overall capacity and focus on ships with upgraded features, Carnival
        Fantasy and Carnival Inspiration have been sold. Carnival Fascination
        and Carnival Imagination will move to a long term lay-up status, with no
        specific timeline identified for a return to operation.
    --  Carnival Sensation will move from Miami to Mobile and take up
        itineraries previously assigned to Carnival Fantasy and Carnival
        Fascination, with guests on those two ships being re-accommodated on
        Carnival Sensation.
    --  Carnival Sunrise will move from Port Everglades to PortMiami and assume
        the itineraries previously operated by Carnival Sensation, providing a
        larger, upgraded ship for short itineraries with the many new features
        installed during Carnival Sunrise's $200 million transformation
        completed in 2019. Guests booked on the Sunrise 4- and 5-day itineraries
        from Port Everglades will be automatically moved to sailings from
        PortMiami.
    --  Carnival Sunrise is part of Carnival's 50(th) birthday celebration and
        there will be no changes to her birthday sailing, which is scheduled for
        March 5, 2022. These special sailings have been in high demand and will
        feature special entertainment, at-sea ship rendezvous and onboard
        activities and offerings. For more information on this special group of
        itineraries in March 2022, please visit www.carnival.com/sailabration.
    --  Carnival Fascination itineraries from San Juan and Barbados have been
        cancelled for 2020-2021 as the cruise line focuses its return to
        operations on mainland drive markets in the U.S.
    --  Itineraries for Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration from Long
        Beach have been cancelled through Apr. 19, 2021. Carnival Panorama will
        continue to operate 7-day cruises from Long Beach while Carnival Miracle
        will operate shorter itineraries from San Diego to Baja Mexico.
    --  Carnival Radiance will now move directly from Europe after its $200
        million transformation and homeport in Long Beach in April of 2021,
        where it will assume the short Baja Mexico itineraries previously served
        by Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration. Guests booked on
        Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration after April 22, 2021 will
        be re-accommodated on Carnival Radiance, where they will experience the
        host of upgrades and new features including Shaq's Big Chicken
        Restaurant and an expanded waterpark popular with families sailing with
        children.
    --  Separately, Carnival also notified its Australian guests that it has
        extended its pause of operations in that country, and has cancelled six
        cruises scheduled to operate between Sept. 25 and Oct. 29, 2020.

"We have used this pause in operations to think carefully about our fleet and to build a plan that gives our guests new choices and upgrades to current ship offerings," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "We have a great variety of ships across the Carnival Cruise Line fleet and we are thrilled to have been able to confirm a delivery date ahead of what we had anticipated for our second Excel ship, which is exciting news for guests interested in sailing from PortMiami on the sister ship to Mardi Gras! At the same time, we will continue to invest in the four remaining Fantasy class ships that we are keeping in the fleet. We have many guests who prefer our Fantasy class ships which work so well for shorter itineraries from smaller ports that cannot accommodate our larger ships. With a fleet that gives guests lots of choices in ships, homeports, destinations and features including a multitude of dining, entertainment and accommodation choices, we are very excited about the future for Carnival Cruise Line."

Guests and travel agents are being notified directly about impacted sailings, guest re-accommodations and cancellations. Duffy thanked guests and travel agent partners alike for their continued patience, loyalty and support during this unprecedented time for the cruise industry. "With our future fleet plan resolved, we are focused on ensuring we are ready to return to operations once it is determined that the time is right to resume cruising in the U.S.," she said.

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SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line