Carnival Cruise Line announced that it has set a new booking record from March 28 to April 3 — the busiest booking week in the company’s history. That week showed a double-digit increase from the previous record seven-day booking total.
“The excitement of the industry’s restart, our successful return of our entire fleet, the guest reaction to Mardi Gras, our loyal guest response to our 50th birthday this year, the support of our travel advisor partners — and of course, the amazing work of our Carnival team — have all contributed to the strong demand we are seeing, and this record-breaking booking week,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.
All of the cruise line’s sales channels, including Carnival.com, travel advisors, the Carnival guest contact center, and personal vacation planners all contributed to the record-breaking results.
Currently, 22 of Carnival Cruise Line’s 23 ships are back in passenger operations across all of its year-round United States homeports. The final ship to resume service is Carnival Splendor, which will set sail from Seattle on May 2.
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This November, Carnival will welcome the newest member of the fleet, Carnival Celebration, in PortMiami.
Carnival Celebration is Carnival Cruise Line’s second Excel-class mega ship, following Mardi Gras which launched in summer 2021. In 2023, a third vessel in the class, Carnival Jubilee, will debut in Galveston, Texas.
Highlights of Carnival’s Excel-class ships thus far include the BOLT roller coaster, Serenity adults-only retreat, Rudi’s Seagrill specialty restaurant, WaterWorks aqua park, the Cloud 9 Spa, and a side-facing atrium with floor-to-ceiling windows (seen in the photo above).
Public areas on the Excel ships are divided into themed zones, such as Summer Landing, the French Quarter, The Ultimate Playground, and the Grand Central atrium area.
By the end of 2022, Carnival will have more capacity sailing (as measured by available lower berth days) than it had in 2019.
On April 11, Royal Caribbean announced that it, too, had its best-ever booking week from March 26 to April 1.
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