Carnival Cruise Line Withdraws New Policies

Only days after Carnival Cruise Line posted the new Covid measures for when ships will be sailing, those guidelines have been removed again.

In a response to Cruise Hive about why these policies have been removed from the website, the cruise line states that in their haste to keep guests and travel agents informed, they posted some information that was not finalized.

Which information had not been finalized yet remains to be seen. However, we can expect to see masks, testing, social distancing, and other protocols implemented according to the same statement in full below:

“In our haste to keep guests and travel agents informed, we posted some information that was not finalized. As we have said previously, guests should expect mask, testing, distancing and other protocols. We intend to provide more details over the coming weeks as we work to resume operations.”

What Will the Carnival Cruise Line Health Protocols Be?

Carnival’s fans have been eagerly awaiting to see the measures from the cruise line and how these would be implemented during cruise vacations. There is no surprise then that the Miami-based cruise line would be eager to share these measures with guests and travel agents.

The cruise line currently has in place details to make sure guests will remain safe during a cruise vacation. These are different to the policies and procedures released recently as they have been retracted. You can check the current details right here.

Carnival updated its website with new policy procedures and as part of this change, new health procedures were detailed, which gave us an idea of what’s ahead for when cruises resume. The health policies have been developed with guidance from authorities in the United States and worldwide, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC).

Worth Reading: How Important a Vaccine Could Be for Cruises in 2021

Measures that the cruise line detailed coming into effect, but which have now again been retracted can be viewed briefly in our original post.

Many more measures were announced on the page, which is now offline. Whether or not Carnival will be keeping most of these measures or which measures may be adjusted remains to be seen. It is likely though that this will be the case. As John Heald said on his Facebook page:

“We are complying with an industry-wide disclosure process that is part of the CDC’s Conditional Sailing Order. This disclosure includes core elements of our return to service plan which will continue to evolve once we receive additional guidance from the CDC. When we have a final plan, we will of course let you know.”

These measures have likely been retracted again by Carnival Cruise Line because the line is still very much working with the CDC on implementing all measures. The situation remains fluid, and plans could change at any time as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. It would make sense that the cruise line would not want to create expectations which later need to be changed again.

Also Read: Six Former Carnival Cruise Ships Currently Being Scrapped

Carnival Has a Lot of Data to Work With

Of course, the fact remains that Carnival Cruise Line is in no rush to finalize any onboard procedures. The company has a large amount of data and knowing how to operate safely during a pandemic—this information coming from Carnival’s sister company, Costa Cruises.

In July last year, Neil Palomba moved from Costa Cruises to Carnival Cruise Line to help set up and commencing cruising from U.S. ports. The former Costa President was involved in the Italian brand’s restart; he is currently responsible for restarting Carnival’s operations in North America.

When we will finally see Carnival’s plan and what it will entail remains unknown. Although cruises are currently scheduled for May this year, we’ve all come to expect this to change again. We should not expect any definitive answers before the ships are fully crewed, prepared, and ready to set sail. Before that time, anything and everything can and may very well change.