by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:51 AM ET, Mon March 14, 2022
Carnival Cruise Line announced its Carnival Paradise ship has resumed guest operations from Tampa, marking the 22nd vessel in the company's fleet to return to service.
Carnival Paradise becomes the second of two ships that sail year-round from Port Tampa Bay, joining Carnival Pride, which restarted operations from the Florida city on November 12. The vessel departed Saturday on a five-day cruise to Mahogany Bay and Isla Roatan, Honduras; and Cozumel, Mexico.
Passengers booked on the returning vessel will enjoy four-, five- or six-day cruises featuring popular destinations, including Key West, Florida.; Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; Mahogany Bay, Honduras; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Belize and Grand Cayman.
Carnival commemorated the special occasion with crew members greeting the ship's first returning guests with a special welcome conveying their excitement in getting "Back to Fun."
The cruise line began service from Tampa in 1994 and now offers nearly 200 sailings per year from Port Tampa Bay and carriers more than 200,000 guests annually. Company officials also revealed the entire fleet would return to service by May when Carnival Splendor begins service from Seattle to Alaska.
Earlier this month, Carnival simplified its health screening process by adding the VeriFLY app fleetwide for all ships in all of its U.S. homeports to allow vaccinated guests to easily submit pre-embarkation information.
"VeriFLY helps our guests easily and securely complete pre-embarkation tasks right from their smartphone. Guests can save time at the port and get on board faster by completing the process via VeriFLY," said Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy.
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