Anchors Away! Carnival cruises to sail out of Mobile in October

Mobile business owners & resident alike are rejoicing over the news that Carnival Cruises will be setting sail out of the Mobile Port starting on October 21st. The announcement is a long time coming, considering cruise lines have been shut down since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 & considering that Carnival has already launched cruises out of Texas & Florida earlier this month for fully-vaccinated passengers.

The City of Mobile heavily relies on cruises as a backbone to their tourism industry, inspiring hotels, B&Bs, and other rentals to adapt a kind of “Park & Cruise” package, where you can stay at a hotel before you launch and know your car’s safe until you arrive back at Port. This, of course, is just an example of how the cruise industry stokes Mobile’s economy, but the point stands that cruises bring an influx of people to Mobile, many of which will try out a restaurant, stay in a hotel, or drive the Mobile economy in some other way.

Cruising Details

Not only is Mobile re-launching from our Port, we’ve got a new ship at that! The new ship is called the Carnival Sensation, which is replacing the Fantasy and Fascination. The first cruise is set to launch on October 21st and be a 3-night Mexico jaunt.

The cruise will be welcoming unvaccinated guests, which includes all children, aboard. For any unvaccinated guests, an extra $150 fee will be added to cover health screening and other overhead costs associated with having non-vaccinated individuals aboard. Furthermore, all unvaccinated guests are required, without exception, to wear masks indoors in places like the gift shop, spa, casino, and restaurants.

Every guest will be tested prior to boarding the ship and for trips of 4 nights or more, guests will be tested before exiting the ship as well. For more information on cruise safety & COVID-19, check here!

Officials stress that COVID-19 safety precautions will be unchanged until at least October, when an assessment of COVID-19 near their ports can be redone.

Excitingly enough, I personally, found out this morning that I have boarding passes for the first post-lockdown cruise out of Mobile, so stay tuned for the update on my experience in October!

Are you excited about the return of Carnival Cruises to Mobile? Tag us @thebamabuzz & let us know!