Carnival Cruise Line reveals ship restart dates - as more cruises cancelled

Carnival Cruise Line revealed that more of its fleet will be back to cruising next year - but some cruises will be cancelled.

The popular branch is working towards the return of its full fleet sailing from US homeports in the spring of 2022.

In the latest Carnival cruise news, it was announced today that Carnival Sunshine will restart from Charleston on January 13 and Carnival Liberty from Port Canaveral on February 11.

This will bring operations to 90 percent of Carnival’s US-based capacity.

Carnival’s US-based operations will cover the following homeports and ships by February:

• Galveston: Carnival Breeze, Carnival Dream and Carnival Vista
• Miami: Carnival Freedom, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Sunrise and Carnival Conquest
• Port Canaveral: Mardi Gras, Carnival Elation, Carnival Magic and Carnival Liberty (effective Feb. 11)
• New Orleans: Carnival Glory and Carnival Valor
• Long Beach: Carnival Panorama, Carnival Radiance and Carnival Miracle
• Baltimore: Carnival Legend
• Tampa: Carnival Pride
• Charleston: Carnival Sunshine (effective Jan. 13)

“Our restart plan continues to excel across all metrics, and we are looking forward to completing the restart of the fleet in the new year,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

“We appreciate the support and patience of our guests, travel agents and port and destination partners who have been key to this successful restart.”

- READ MORE: Complete guide to all cruise lines' start dates -

However, today Carnival Cruise Line revealed a number of cruises would have to be cancelled.

The news affects certain US and Australia cruises.

Cruises on Carnival’s three remaining US-based ships – Carnival Ecstasy from Jacksonville, Carnival Paradise from Tampa, and Carnival Sensation from Mobile – have been axed through February.

Meanwhile, Carnival Splendor from Sydney, Australia is cancelled through February 7, and Carnival Spirit from Brisbane, Australia is cancelled through February 20.

- READ MORE: Your essential post-Covid guide to Caribbean cruising -

This follows the news last month that Carnival was cancelling a selection of cruises out of America and Australia.

As for its stance on Covid, Carnival continues to carefully monitor the status of public health and adjust its operating protocols accordingly.

“We are optimistic that vaccines will be approved for children between the ages of five to 11 before the end of the year and we look forward to welcoming more families back on board,” said Duffy.

As it relates to ships operating in January and February, Carnival will continue to operate vaccinated cruises under its current protocols.

- READ MORE: Which cruise lines require a Covid vaccine? -

In more positive news for Carnival, in Travel + Leisure's annual World's Best Awards the cruise line came ninth in The Top 10 Mega-ship Ocean Cruise Lines category.

In first place was Disney Cruise Line, followed by Cunard and Holland America Line.