With last week's long-awaited removal of an advisory against travel via cruise ships by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the cruise industry appears to be poised for an epic comeback.
In fact, Carnival Cruise Line today announced that the one-week period between March 28 and April 3, 2022, turned out to be the busiest booking week in the company's entire 50-year history, as it recorded a double-digit increase over its previous seven-day booking record. Eager cruise-goers don't seem to see any reason to delay travel-planning any further, now that pandemic-era restrictions are waning almost everywhere.
Twenty-two of Carnival's 23 ships have already returned to passenger service, sailing from all of the line's year-round U.S. homeports. The company spearheaded the industry's restart and has since remained its leader in terms of customer demand. Its final ship to resume guest operations, Carnival Splendor, is set to return to service in Seattle on May 2.
In November, Carnival will debut the newest addition to its fleet, Carnival Celebration, in Miami. By the close of 2022, the company will boast more sailing capacity (as measured by ALBDs, available lower berth days) than it had in pre-pandemic 2019. Next, 2023 will see the introduction of Carnival Jubilee, yet another new Excel-class ship that will sail from Galveston, Texas.
"The excitement of the industry's restart, our successful return of our entire fleet, the guest reaction to Mardi Gras, our loyal guest response to our 50th birthday this year, the support of our travel advisor partners-and of course, the amazing work of our Carnival team-have all contributed to the strong demand we are seeing, and this record-breaking booking week," Carnival Cruise Line's president, Christine Duffy, said in a statement.
Duffy explained that the record-setting numbers resulted from the combination of bookings from all sales channels, including Carnival's website, the Carnival guest contact center, travel advisor partners and personal vacation planners. She also noted that, since Australia lifted its ban on international cruises in mid-March, Carnival is now finalizing plans for its return to Oz, the details of which will be announced soon.
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