Carnival Cruise Line today celebrated the resumption of guest operations from Tampa, Florida with the sailing of Carnival Pride, the latest step in its successful post-pandemic restart. For now, Carnival Pride will be the brand's lone vessel sailing out of the Gulf Coast port, but Carnival Paradise is set to join her in March 2022.
To commemorate the occasion, Carnival held a "Back to Fun" event at the Port of Tampa on Sunday. Carnival's Vice President of Guest Operations Sarah Beth Reno, Carnival Pride Captain Rino Costanzo, and Port Tampa Bay's Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Raul Alfonso were on hand to cut the ceremonial ribbon and personally welcome the ship's first COVID-era guests on board.
Carnival Pride now departs on a round-trip, seven-day Western Caribbean cruise, which will take guests to Costa Maya and Cozumel in Quintana Roo, Mexico; Roatan Island, Honduras; and Belize City, Belize before returning to Tampa. Through mid-April 2022, Carnival Pride's will sail a mixture of six-, seven- and eight-day Western Caribbean itineraries out of Tampa Bay.
"We are so pleased to have Carnival Cruise Line returning to Port Tampa Bay today. The return of cruising has a far-reaching impact on our region, with many local businesses standing to benefit. It's estimated that a ship like Carnival Pride generates an average of $334,000 in passenger and crew onshore spending per call," said Raul Alfonso, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, Port Tampa Bay.
"We have been a proud member of the Tampa community for more than 25 years, having been the first cruise line to sail from Tampa in 1994, so we're absolutely thrilled to provide our guests an opportunity to get 'Back to Fun' from the port while supporting the local economy," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.
Carnival established the first year-round cruise program from Tampa in 1994, at which point it carried 28,000 passengers per year from the port. Since then, the cruise line has increased passenger capacity ninefold and become one of the area's largest cruise operators.
With more than half of its U.S. fleet now returned to sailing after more than a year on pause, Carnival will continue putting additional vessels back into service over the coming weeks and months, until all 22 of its U.S.-based ships have resumed guest operations in March 2022.
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