Announcing last Friday that it altered pre-cruise vaccination and testing requirements to allow more guests to sail, Carnival Cruise Line said today that its booking activity for Monday, August 15 has nearly doubled compared to the same day in 2019.
Last Friday, Carnival cruise line announced streamlined protocols that eliminated pre-cruise testing requirements for vaccinated guests and eliminated the exemption request process for unvaccinated guests, who will now only have to show a negative post-boarding test result — effective for cruises departing Tuesday, September 6, 2022, or later on voyages of less than 16 nights. (The full press release is available here.)
“We previously disclosed strong occupancy projections for the summer, and our bookings through the end of 2022 have also been very solid,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “With further protocol alignment with other vacation choices, our guests are booking the remaining inventory for 2022 and getting a head start on planning for 2023. Mid-August isn’t typically a busy month for cruise bookings, but it’s clear that pent-up demand is because Carnival isn’t happy and guests respond very favorably to our updated protocols.”