CCL-Carnival Cruise Line restarted passenger operations on Sunday (November 14) from Tampa (Florida USA) with Carnival Pride.
A 2nd boat, Carnival Paradise, is joining Pride in March 2022.
To commemorate the restart of cruise shipping, CCL held a “Back to Fun” event at Port Tampa Bay. Sarah Beth Reno (CCL’s Vice President Guest Operations), Rino Costanzo (Carnival Pride's Captain) and Raul Alfonso (Port Tampa Bay Executive VP & CCO) cut a ribbon and officially welcomed the first passengers onboard.
Carnival Pride set sail on a 7-day Western Caribbean roundtrip visiting Mexico's Cozumel and Costa Maya, as well as Belize City and Mahogany Bay (Roatan Island, Honduras).
CCL launched its first year-round program from Tampa in 1994 on MS Tropicale (1982-built/2021-scrapped), carrying 28,000 guests per year. The company has since increased passenger capacity 9-fold, making it one of the biggest cruise operators in the area. Cruises from Tampa are part of the close-to-home ship deployment strategy of CCL which positions liners close to large population centers along the USA's East & West Coasts and the Mexican Gulf to make cruising convenient.
Carnival Pride from Tampa offers 6-, 7-, and 8-day long Western Caribbean itineraries.
With more than 50% of its American fleet already operational, additional liners will restart service in the coming months as CCL’s successful restart continues. All 22 of its USA-homeported boats will be back in operations by March 2022.