Carnival Cruise Line will resume operations with just eight of its 26 ships

Carnival Cruise Line has provided an update on how it will resume service once no sail orders from the CDC are lifted, with plans to operate just eight ships initially.

The world’s largest cruise line by capacity will keep the majority of its 26-ship fleet in cold lay-up, but from August 1st, plans to begin cruising once more from three US ports (Galveston, Miami and Port Canaveral) with eight ships.

RELATED: Saudi Arabia buys stake in Carnival as it seeks to become cruise destination

RELATED: Ship Preview: 4 new Carnival Corp ships were meant to be delivered in 2020

The eight ships will cover all the classes within the Carnival fleet and will sail to the Eastern and Western Caribbean, the cruise line said.

Galveston

From Galveston, Carnival Dream, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Vista will sail four- to eight-day cruises to the Western Caribbean. These voyages call on ports including Costa Maya, Cozumel, Mahogany Bay, Belize, Montego Bay and Grand Cayman. Carnival Freedom operates two eight-day Eastern Caribbean cruises during this time period.

Miami

Carnival Horizon, Carnival Magic and Carnival Sensation sail from Port Miami during August 2020, operating a series of four- to eight-day cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean, and the Southern Caribbean.

Port Canaveral

Carnival Breeze and Carnival Elation will be sailing out of Port Canaveral throughout the month of August. Both vessels will offer voyages ranging from four to seven days to the Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean.

All sailings from other homeports, including Australia aboard Carnival Splendor, will be canceled through August 31st, 2020, as well as all cruises to Alaska aboard Carnival Spirit for the entire 2020 season and Carnival Spirit’s Vancouver to Honolulu cruise on September 25th and its transpacific repositioning voyage from Honolulu to Brisbane on October 6th.

RELATED: Carnival forced to cancel Mardi Gras’ first 8 cruises due to shipyard delay

RELATED: Carnival Cruise Line ships collide in port, narrowly miss Oasis of the Seas

Carnival Cruise Line said in a statement that it will be developing new protocols for cruising to safely resume in August.

“We are committed to supporting all public health efforts to manage the COVID-19 situation,” the cruise line said. “We are taking a measured approach, focusing our return to service on a select number of homeports where we have more significant operations that are easily accessible by car for the majority of our guests.”

“We will use this additional time to continue to engage experts, government officials and stakeholders on additional protocols and procedures to protect the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we serve,” it added.

The line’s other vessels are scheduled to resume cruising from other homeports from September 1st, excluding Carnival Legend and Carnival Spirit, which have had voyages canceled through October.

The line said that those passengers with canceled voyages will be notified by email and may choose between a future cruise credit and onboard credit package, or a full refund.