- Mardi Gras, Carnival Cruise Lines’s largest “Fun Ship” ever, is ready to set sail. Of course, it will be months before even the first traveler steps on board.
- Questions abound as to when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will lift its no-sail orders and allow ships to resume operations.
- Carnival is planning an April debut, with weeklong itineraries throughout the Caribbean.
- Given that the CDC will require all ships to apply for as-yet-undetermined certifications and carry out test cruises to prove pandemic readiness.
According to a recent news article published in the Bloomberg Quint, carnival’s massive new cruise ship braves covid with a roller coaster.
Border closures remain a challenge
There’s also the issue of persistent border closures and the fact that virtually no ship that has left its port slip has made it back without a confirmed case of Covid-19 on board— or at least a good scare.
Superspreader early in the pandemic
Regardless of when it makes its maiden voyage—and whether Carnival Corp. can shake its reputation of being a superspreader early in the pandemic.
It’s sure to be the craziest, most tricked-out new cruise ship for 2021.
Carnival’s next largest ship
Besides the top deck roller coaster, the $950 million, 180,000-ton vessel—which is 1.5 times the size of Carnival’s next-largest ship—has two theaters, five waterslides, a zipline.
It will also be the first cruise ship in North America to run on liquified natural gas, which reduces particular matter by more than 95% and eliminates up to 20% of carbon emissions, compared to marine diesel fuel.
That gives Mardi Gras bragging rights as the “greenest” megaship (eco-bona fides being relative in this segment) sailing from the U.S. to the Caribbean and Mexico.
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Source: Bloomberg Quint
