"We are committed to supporting all public health efforts to manage the COVID-19 situation. We are taking a measured approach, focusing our return to service on a select number of homeports where we have more significant operations that are easily accessible by car for the majority of our guests," Carnival announced.

The company said its Carnival Cruise Line brand intends to restart cruises on eight ships from Miami (Carnival Horizon, Carnival Magic and Carnival Sensation), Port Canaveral (Carnival Breeze and Carnival Elation) and Galveston (Carnival Dream, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Vista) on August 1, while operations in all other North American and Australian markets would remain suspended through August 31.

All Seattle Carnival Spirit Alaskan cruises will be cancelled, as will the Vancouver-Honolulu Carnival Spirit cruise on September 25 and the Honolulu-Brisbane Transpacific cruise on October 6, the company said. All cruises to Australia from Carnival Splendor through August 31 will be cancelled.

The organization is working on new policies and procedures with experts, government authorities and stakeholders to ensure health and safety for travelers.

Carnival is one of the companies most badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as cruise lines around the world have cancelled thousands of journeys over security issues and halted tourism. 

One ship, the Ruby Princess, is part of an Australian homicide investigation as the most deadliest source of infection with coronavirus in the world.

Maritime Business World