By
Rebecca Gibson |
Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Pride is to resume year-round departures from the port of Baltimore in March 2015, following her winter 2014 season in Tampa, Florida.
Currently based in Baltimore until October this year, the 2,124-passenger Carnival Pride will return to the US port in March 2015 to offer weekly Sunday departures on two different itineraries. Passengers will be able to sail on either a week-long eastern Caribbean cruise, which calls at Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport in The Bahamas; or a seven-day cruise to Florida’s Port Canaveral, Nassau and Freeport.
“Baltimore is a convenient mid-Atlantic embarkation point for ‘Fun Ship’ cruising and we’re pleased to resume these attractive year-round departures, which offer our guests an opportunity to visit a variety of beautiful, tropical destinations,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s president and CEO. “We would like to extend our thanks to officials from the port and the state of Maryland for their outstanding support in our efforts to resume year-round cruising from Baltimore.”
Prior to her deployment in Baltimore, Carnival Pride will undergo an extensive multi-million dollar renovation as part of the cruise line’s US$500 million Fun Ship 2.0 product enhancement programme. Following her three-week drydock – which will take place from 19 October to 9 November 2014 – the vessel will offer a range of new dining, entertainment and recreational venues such as Bonsai Sushi restaurant, Alchemy Bar, Guy’s Burger Joint and WaterWorks, with the new Green Thunder water slide.
Carnival Pride will also be outfitted with new gas exhaust cleaning systems, which are commonly known as scrubbers. Designed to reduce harmful air emissions from large marine vessels, the scrubbers will enable Carnival Pride to exceed the strict air emission standards established for operation within the North American Emission Control Area.
“We are pleased to welcome Carnival Cruise Lines back to Maryland and the Carnival Pride cruise ship back to the Port of Baltimore,” said Governor Martin O’Malley. “I’m pleased Carnival and the Environmental Protection Agency and Coast Guard have agreed on a plan that will keep family-supporting jobs in Maryland and allow a cleaner and even greener Carnival Pride to return to this thriving cruise market.”