CCL-Carnival Cruise Line announced plans to resume passenger shipping in August in spite of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement on Monday, May 4, CCL said 8 cruise ships would resume operations from August 1, with departures from 3 homeports in the USA - Galveston TX, Miami FL and Port Canaveral FL, once the CDC's no-sail order had expired.
The CDC issued several warnings that cruise ship travel spreads the outbreak globally. On Friday, the US Congress announced an investigation of Carnival Corporation over why it didn't act sooner to protect cruise tourists and crew.
In response to the announcement, the CDC said it had not discussed timelines for resuming travel with any of the major cruise companies, adding they did not have enough information to say when it would be "safe for cruise ships to resume sailing”.
CCL announced it was “committed to supporting all public health efforts to manage the COVID-19 situation.” The statement added that the company was "taking a measured approach," focusing on a select number of homeports which are easily accessible by car for the majority of the US travelers.
The CDC's no-sail order was issued on March 14 amid rising concerns about how “cruise ship travel may continue to introduce, transmit, or spread COVID-19”. On April 15, it was extended for 100 days until July 24, prohibiting travel until the Coronavirus is no longer a public health emergency or the Centers modifies the order based on specific public health advice.
Along with the announcement to resume operations, CCL said it had canceled all sailings in July and extended the “pause” in operations in all other North American and Australian markets through the end of August 2020.