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 all on hand for the fanfare and to officially welcome the first guests onboard.
A second ship, Carnival Paradise, will join Carnival Pride out of Tampa in March 2022.
Carnival Pride set sail Nov. 14 for a seven-day cruise to the Western Caribbean with stops in Costa Maya, Cozumel, Belize and Mahogany Bay. Carnival Pride’s offerings from Tampa include six-, seven- and eight-day Western Caribbean sailings.
Carnival now has more than half of its U.S. fleet in guest operations, and additional ships will resume service in the coming weeks and months. All 22 of Carnival’s U.S.-based ships will be back in guest operations by March 2022.
NORWEGIAN ESCAPE SAILS FROM PORT CANAVERAL
In other cruise news, NCL continued its Great Cruise Comeback celebration on Nov. 13 with the restart of voyages from Port Canaveral on Norwegian Escape.
“We have welcomed back more than 110,000 guests worldwide as part of our global redeployment efforts,” says NCL President and CEO, Harry Sommer. “Our Great Cruise Comeback stems beyond the relaunch of our vessels but also the return of our shipboard team members who have been excited to return to deliver unforgettable vacations experiences to our guests.”
Norwegian Escape is the eighth vessel in the company’s 17-ship fleet to resume operations.
Norwegian Escape will sail from Port Canaveral near Orlando offering seven-day voyages to the Eastern Caribbean visiting major ports including Tortola, St. Thomas and Great Stirrup Cay. On Dec. 23 the ship will embark on an 11-day holiday journey visiting nine destination-rich ports of call where guests can celebrate Christmas Day in Puerto Plata and partake in New Year’s Eve festivities in St. Thomas before continuing their voyage to Bridgetown and St. John’s.
Also sailing from Port Canaveral will be Norwegian Prima, NCL’s newest and most in-demand ship ever launched. From Dec. 11, 2022, to March 19, 2023, Norwegian Prima will homeport in Orlando, sailing 15 roundtrip Western Caribbean voyages featuring five, seven, and nine-day itineraries, visiting destinations including Cozumel, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Great Stirrup Cay.
