All Carnival cruise brands have re-imposed mandatory mask-wearing on Australia cruses. The company said it is ‘out of an abundance of caution’ after a recent sailing led to hundreds of infections. There has been an uptick in community infections across New South Wales and Victoria. Cases in the states have than doubled in only two weeks “Mask wearing is being applied on board all Carnival Corporation brand ships operating in Australia as an additional safeguard,” Carnival Australia said. Masks were scrapped for passengers in February. Carnival requires masks to be worn in indoor public spaces, and when boarding and disembarking the ship Masks are also required for outdoors events when social distancing is difficult. "At a time when Australia is faced with a rapid rise of cases, it's critical everyone plays their part," Carnival Australia added.

Marking World Space Week, Carnival Cruise Line is partnering with Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to launch a children's space program inspired by NASA science. It will debut on Carnival Celebration this November. As part of Camp Ocean's science and discovery programming, the Space Cruisers curriculum supported by NASA is designed to be educational and fun and will enable children of all ages to explore the universe in hands-on learning experiences. Children will be able to complete ‘missions’ (activities) to earn a special, themed mission patch. The Space Cruisers programming includes: Optimal Orbit (ages 2-8) – learn about gravity and how planets, satellites and other objects move through space in a hands-on experience with a giant trampoline. Design Your Own Mission Patch (ages 6-11) – a long-standing tradition among astronauts to design a mission patch. Space Cruisers Rocket Workshop (ages 6-11) – following in the footsteps of NASA's engineers and build a paper rocket. Mars Base Connect (family-friendly) – exploring the steps it takes to build a Mars base. ASTRO! (family-friendly) – call out constellations as they're displayed on a unique star projector in a space-themed BINGO game with special giveaways. "Space Cruisers will truly take our offerings to the next level with the perfect balance of fun and education to give both our younger guests and their families something to be excited about," said Melissa Mahaffey, director of youth experience for Carnival Cruise Line. An area of Camp Ocean will feature an illuminated space wall that showcases the planets as well as a display of light-up constellations on the ceiling. The program debuts on Carnival Celebration when it sails on its inaugural voyage from Miami this November, and will then be rolled out to the Space Coast with Mardi Gras in Port Canaveral in time for the holiday season.

Carnival Cruise Line is lifting some pre-embarkation testing requirements. From August 4, it will waive pre-cruise testing for fully vaccinated guests for cruises no longer than five days. Pre-cruise testing remains for longer voyages and for all unvaccinated guests. Tests can be taken up to three days before departure. Carnival states ‘all adjustments are subject to any destinations on the itinerary.’ Royal Caribbean recently announced that it would no longer require testing for vaccinated guests on short cruises.

Carnival Corp is sending two ships in Costa Cruises’ fleet to America. Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze will shift to the North American market, creating a new sub-brand within Carnival Cruise Line. They will become ‘Costa by Carnival’ ships, offering Costa’s Italian style to American guests Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze will be deployed in the US in 2023 and 2024 respectively. “We are excited to see these iconic Costa ships make their debut in the US under the leadership and operation of our sister brand,” said Mario Zanetti, president of Costa Cruises. “Given the slow restart of the Asian operations and the strong restart of cruises in the US, we decided to seize this opportunity.” It is a unique opportunity for guests who ‘love the culture, food and vibe of Italy,’ said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

Carnival Corp is shifting a ship between sister brands. Costa Luminosa will move from Costa Cruises to the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in September. The ship will then be known as Carnival Luminosa Luminosa’s move to CCL replaces earlier plans for Carnival to take Costa Magica, which have been shelved. Luminosa starts life as a Carnival ship in October with a season sailing from Brisbane, Australia until April 2023. The ship has a guest capacity of 2,826 Itineraries out of Brisbane will be announced soon. They will likely include the Great Barrier Reef and Airlie Beach, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. After Brisbane, the ship will reposition to Seattle for an Alaska season before returning again to Brisbane. “Our Spirit-class ships are very popular with our guests, and Luminosa will be a great addition. This will allow Carnival to finally start our itineraries from Brisbane, so we’ll have two ships operating in Australia for the high season Down Under,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. Carnival Splendor arrives in Sydney to restart sailing year-round in October.

Carnival Cruise Line is pulling out of Charleston in 2024.It will mark the end of homeporting in the city. Union Pier Terminal is being redeveloped and will only host ships as a port of call in the future. Carnival ships have been hosted in Charleston since 2010. The line will ‘explore future opportunities in Charleston ’beyond 2024, it said. The redevelopment will ‘realign the whole city of Charleston with its historic waterfront,’ South Carolina Ports Authority said.  

Carnival Freedom’s next cruise scheduled for Saturday from Port Canaveral, has been canceled, due to yesterday’s ship fire in the Turks and Caicos. Passengers will be transhipped to the Carnival Conquest, which is on the way to Grand Turk to bring them back to Port Canaveral. Carnival said Freedom will go to Freeport, Bahamas, for repairs, even though ‘all other ship, hotel, and guest services, along with safety equipment are fully functioning.’ Guests are remaining on the ship until Carnival Conquest arrives.  

Carnival Corporation has completed the installation of nearly 600 food waste biodigesters across its fleet in support of ongoing food waste management. The innovative technology has been added to ships from the company’s nine cruise line brands. The biodigester technology uses a natural aerobic digestion process inside each machine to efficiently break down food waste. Able to perform automated digestion 24 hours per day, the biodigesters are strategically placed in key areas of the ship where food is processed. Additionally, the machines capture non-food items or other materials accidentally mixed with food waste, providing an additional layer of protection for environmental compliance on each ship. Since first piloting the technology in 2019, Carnival has continued to expand the use of these systems. Most recently, the company’s namesake brand, Carnival Cruise Line, announced it is the first major cruise line to employ biodigesters across its entire fleet as the brand returned all 23 total ships to guest operations.

Carnival Splendor departed the Port of Seattle on its first voyage in the pandemic era, marking a return of service for the line’s entire fleet. With the resumption of its entire fleet of 23 ships, Carnival Cruise Line is the first US major cruise line to fully restart operations. Splendor departed on a week-long Alaska cruise. “With Carnival Splendor beginning operations we are thrilled to have our entire fleet back in service,” said Christine Duffy, President of Carnival Cruise Line. “We are especially excited to expand our Alaska program with three ships bringing more than 100,000 guests from Seattle and San Francisco.” It has taken 10 months to get the full fleet back in the water. Its operational return began on July 3, 2021 with Carnival Vista sailing from Galveston. It has phased ships back into service at a gradual pace and now offers departures from up to a dozen ports. The fleet is smaller than prior to the pandemic with several older ships sold or scrapped.

Carnival Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Arnold Donald is stepping down from the top job. Effective August 1, Donald becomes Vice Chair and member of the Boards of Directors. Josh Weinstein currently Chief Operations Officer, will assume the role of President and CEO. Weinstein is a 20-year veteran of Carnival. As COO, Weinstein oversaw all major operational functions including global maritime, ports and destinations, global sourcing, IT and auditing. He also oversaw Carnival UK. Prior to his role with Carnival UK, Weinstein was treasurer for Carnival Corp for 10 years from 2007 to 2017, overseeing the treasury, tax, insurance and financial planning functions. "I am truly humbled to take up the role of CEO and am honoured to lead such a talented team who do such an incredible job,” Weinstein said.“