Carnival Cruise Line has reached another major milestone, welcoming three million guests since the resumption of cruises in July 2021 amid a busy summer season across its 23-ship fleet.
After notching 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. The company has seen a total number of guests reach the two million milestone in May, and has now 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 with 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 aboard since its maiden voyage. In terms of sailings, Carnival's hometown of Port Miami leads the way with more than 215 voyages.
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, they were also key to Carnival's strategy in reaching the three million total guest mark 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 numerous destinations visited by its ships and guests over the past 13 months.
"Carnival set the pace for the industry as the first major cruise line to return to full guests in the US, and we continue to lead the way as we now welcome three million guests who have enjoyed much-needed vacations," said Carnival President Christine Duffy. "The economic benefit to our home ports and destinations is also significant and we look forward to relaunching cruises in Australia this October."
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.