Carnival Cruise Ships: 2006 Fleet Deployment Announced
September 27, 2005
Carnival Cruise Lines has ironed out the 2006 fleet deployment of Carnival cruise ships and the future looks good. With new four and five-day cruises out of Port Canaveral, new ports of call to feature on Caribbean itineraries and solid plans for Carnival cruise ships to return to the hurricane ravaged ports of Galveston, Mobile and New Orleans.
"We have put together a fleet deployment schedule that accomplishes multiple objectives, including continuity of existing programs, resumption of cruise programs interrupted or modified by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent three-ship charter to the U.S. government, and to introduce some exciting new itinerary and destination options," said Bob Dickinson, Carnival president and CEO. "This deployment plan successfully achieves all of these objectives and offers some terrific new cruise options in the process," he added.
Carnival Sensation will be hosting the new year-round program slated to depart from Port Canaveral, Florida. The 2,052-passenger ship will undergo a comprehensive refurbishment just prior to the initial sailing. These four- and five-day cruises will kick off on March 23, 2006 and run aboard the Sensation until October when the Elation is scheduled to take over the program. Four-day cruises will stop in Nassau and either Freeport or Half Moon Cay. Five-day cruises will call on the island destinations of Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau, or Key West and Cozumel.
Half Moon Cay is a new port for Carnival cruise ships. The private Bahamian Island owned by Holland America Line is a hot spot for watersports. Grand Turk, part of the Turks & Caicos Islands chain, is also a new port for Carnival cruise ships and is known for its beautiful beaches and coral reefs.
Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay will also be featured in Carnival cruise ships new seven-day cruises from Miami. Beginning in April 2006, the Elation will launch out of Miami through October 2006, sailing every Sunday on a brand new itinerary: Half Moon Cay, The Bahamas; St. Thomas/St. John, U.S.V.I; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands.
Lastly, Carnival cruise ships have planned their return to hurricane devastated areas.
Ecstasy is scheduled to return to her home port of Galveston, but not before a multimillion-dollar refurbishment. Effective April 8, 2006, the polished 2,052-passenger Ecstasy will carry on with her four- and five-day Caribbean cruising. The Elation, which replaced the Ecstasy on the four and five-day program from Galveston when she was chartered by the U.S. government, will continue to operate those voyages through April 3, 2006. A second Carnival cruise ship based in Galveston, the Carnival Conquest, currently operates seven-day western Caribbean cruises departing every Sunday.
The second of the three Carnival Cruise ships chartered by the U.S. government, the "Fun Ship" Holiday, is scheduled to resume year-round cruising from Mobile on March 27, 2006. She will also receive a complete refurbishment prior to re-entering service.
The third ship from the chartered trio, Sensation, will resume her four and five-day cruises from New Orleans beginning Oct. 26, 2006, the same program she operated prior to Hurricane Katrina.
Dickinson stated that Carnival is examining avenues for full resumption of cruise service from the port of New Orleans in the future. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Carnival also operated a year-round seven-day program out of New Orleans. "We are eager to return to pre-Katrina capacity levels from New Orleans, a homeport that is extremely near and dear to us," Dickinson added.
For those guests booked on voyages that are being canceled as a result of the deployment changes, keep in mind Carnival is offering full refunds and, for those whose bookings were under deposit or fully paid as of Sept. 21, 2005, they will receive a shipboard credit if they re-book by the end of 2005 on any future Carnival voyage. For more information or to speak with an experienced Cruise Specialist, call 888-267-1232.
Sources:
www.carnival.com
