Friday morning's arrival of CCL-Carnival Cruise Line's Mardi Gras ship to Port Canaveral Florida US was a symbolic event, signaling that cruising will soon be back, after the industry has been idled since March 2020 due to the COVID crisis.
The new CCL ship which is still awaiting her first paying passengers sailed into Port Canaveral FL shortly after sunrise on June 4, joined later by Carnival Freedom and Carnival Liberty.
Crowds of fans lined the shore at Jetty Park and the Cove area of the port to welcome the liners. Some arrived at Jetty Park as early as 4:00 a.m., waiting for the admission gate to open.
CCL has not yet announced when it will be cruising again with passengers from the Port but hopes to sail soon after it gets the CDC clearance.
When she begins cruises, Mardi Gras will be homeported at Port Canaveral's "Cruise Terminal 3" for 7-day roundtrips to the Caribbean. The USD 155 million terminal was completed in 2020 but has not been used due to the pandemic.