In a year with many milestones – including its 50th birthday – Carnival Cruise Line has reached another major milestone, welcoming three million guests since relaunching in July 2021 amid the busy summer season across its 23-ship fleet.
After posting the biggest booking week in the cruise line’s 50-year history this spring, Carnival Corporation’s latest quarterly business update predicts Carnival Cruise Line’s ships will reach nearly 110% occupancy this summer.
That expectation is realized by increasing guests across the fleet. The total number of carnival guests reached two million in May, and now it has grown to three million in less than 75 days – an average of 95,000 guests per week.
Carnival’s five busiest home ports, Port Miami, Florida, Port Canaveral, Florida, Galveston, Texas, Long Beach, California, and New Orleans, Louisiana, were among the first to reopen to guests and account for 77 percent of all Carnival boardings and a total of 2,324,823 impressive guests. Port Canaveral is also home to Carnival’s new Excel-class flagship and North America’s first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Mardi Gras, which has reached its own milestone, welcoming 250,000 guests on board since its maiden voyage. In terms of sailing, Carnival’s hometown of Port Miami leads the way with more than 215 voyages to date.
Initial ports in Tampa, Fla., Charleston, S.C., Baltimore, Md., Mobile, Ala., Jacksonville, Fla., Norfolk, Va., Seattle, San Francisco, and New York, many of which have resumed operations this year, also have been key to Carnival’s strategy in reaching a total of three million guests since the relaunch. Overall, Carnival has generated a significant economic impact in all 14 of its US home ports, both year-round and seasonal operations, as well as the numerous destinations visited by its ships and guests over the past 13 months.
Carnival Pride is spending the summer in Europe, offering itineraries packed with stops in 40 popular ports in 17 countries, as well as embarking from Barcelona, Spain and Dover, England. The ship will return to Tampa and resume operations there on November 12, 2022.