Carnival Cruise Line, the namesake line of cruising giant Carnival Corp.,\u00a0will sail in July from\u00a0Port of Galveston with vaccinated passengers.<\/p>\n
Carnival Vista is scheduled to depart July 3 and Carnival Breeze on July 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To board, passengers will have had to complete\u00a0the final dose of their COVID vaccine 14 days ahead of embarkation, according to a news release from the cruise line.<\/p>\n
Carnival Horizon\u00a0is on track to sail in July from Miami, and\u00a0Carnival said it will announce onboard\u00a0protocols for that ship\u00a0Friday. The cruise line added it is\u00a0working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and with the state of Florida, which has banned businesses from requiring proof of vaccination.<\/p>\n
Don’t get excited about Florida cruises yet: <\/strong>The state’s ‘vaccine passport’ ban creates ocean of confusion<\/span><\/p>\n Celebrity Cruises: <\/strong>is first cruise line to receive CDC approval to sail with paying passengers in June<\/span><\/p>\n It was unclear whether the sailings confirmed by Carnival’s announcement would be test cruises or if they would\u00a0include paying passengers\u00a0\u2013 which are separate tracks on the CDC’s path to resuming regular cruise operations.<\/p>\n According to a CDC list of approved cruises\u00a0provided by CDC spokesperson Caitlin Shockey, Carnival Vista and\u00a0Carnival Horizon were both approved for test cruises with volunteer passengers. The Carnival Breeze has not yet received approval for sailing, according to the list.<\/p>\n In order to bypass test cruises and move straight into sailings with paying passengers,\u00a095% of passengers and 95% of crew must be vaccinated, per the CDC.\u00a0<\/p>\n Test cruises, which will be filled with volunteer\u00a0nonpaying passengers, do not have the same mandate. But volunteer passengers\u00a0are still required to share information about their vaccination status on test cruises,\u00a0creating a murky situation regarding cruising’s restart from the Sunshine State.\u00a0<\/p>\n Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said in a statement that the company has chosen to operate with vaccinated guests during the month of July in U.S. waters because of CDC constraints.<\/p>\n Late last month, Carnival announced its plans to sail from Texas and Florida but did not specify at the time\u00a0whether passengers would be required to have a COVID vaccine.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe current CDC requirements for cruising with a guest base that is unvaccinated will make it very difficult to deliver the experience our guests expect, especially given the large number of families with younger children who sail with us,”\u00a0Duffy said.<\/p>\n USA TODAY has reached out to Carnival for more information.<\/p>\n