Carnival Corporation brands return to the Caribbean

Cruise lines from Carnival Corporation have started to return to San Juan in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands and Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands following the September hurricanes in the Caribbean.

Most of the nearly 100 destinations in the Caribbean have been fully operational since the storms, and the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association has since reported that nearly 90% of the region is open for business.

Carnival Corporation brands have operated normal schedules in the aftermath of the storms, modifying itineraries for only a handful of impacted destinations. Following extensive recovery efforts, Grand Turk, St. Thomas and San Juan have all reopened their cruise ports.

Carnival Cruise Line returned to Grand Turk on 1 November, while Holland America Line, AIDA Cruises, Princess Cruises, Costa Cruises and P&O Cruises will return to Grand Turk on 6 November, 9 November, 15 December, 17 December and 20 December respectively.

St. Thomas welcomed its first call from Seabourn on 3 November and will host calls from Holland America on 8 November, Princess Cruises on 12 November and Carnival on 9 January 2018.

Meanwhile, Carnival will resume sailing from San Juan, Puerto Rico on 30 November and Holland America, Seabourn, Princess and Costa will head back on 7, 18, 20 and 23 December respectively.

“The Caribbean is the world’s most popular region for cruise vacations – and its people and businesses are not only great hosts to our guests, but they also have a strong spirit and resilience,” said Roger Frizzell, chief communications officer for Carnival Corporation. “For those few islands that were impacted, we applaud them for their tireless efforts to recover and rebound, stronger than ever. We are thrilled to have our brands beginning to return to renowned destinations such as Grand Turk, St. Thomas and San Juan, and we know our guests will also be happy to have those ports as part of their cruise vacation.”