Last month, Carnival Cruise Line announced it would resume their cruises by August. While that might sound a little premature due to the coronavirus pandemic, especially considering how the Diamond Princess became an early hot spot for the virus, TMZ reports that Carnival Cruise Line has received a massive influx of bookings since it announced the tentative August 1 relaunch.
A representative with Cruise Planners explained that bookings in the three days following the announcement shot up by 600 percent from the previous three days. While that's not exactly shocking news, what is surprising is that it is a 200 percent increase over the same period in 2019. Despite the uncertainty over the pandemic, Carnival Cruise Line said it was "not a bit concerned about traveling at this time."
"We are taking a measured approach, focusing on the potential for sailing from a select number of homeports where we have more significant operations that are easily accessible by car for the majority of our guests," Carnival said in a press release last week. It should be noted that Carnival said there are no guarantee services will resume on August 1, although it's expected only to be a partial relaunch if it does happen. "We continue to work with various government agencies, including the CDC, as we introduce new onboard protocols, but there is no assurance of a return on August 1," the company added.
Cruise ships became a big focal point at the onset of the virus, with several ships being hit particularly hard. The Diamond Princess experienced a peak of 712 confirmed cases and 14 deaths. As recently as April Carnival still had several ships at sea, despite the CDC recommending to "defer all cruise ship travel worldwide." Last month, a Carnival spokesperson said that "the advisory is not an edict."
