MIAMI, July 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise
Line kicked off its first cruise from in almost 16 months from
PortMiami, The Cruise Capital of the World, today with the
departure of Carnival Horizon, providing a significant boost to the
local economy and the tens of thousands of jobs in South Florida that are supported by the cruise
industry.
Carnival's resumption of service in Miami provides guests with a much-anticipated
vacation and is a further boost to the economy both locally and
throughout the state. Florida is number one in the nation in cruise
embarkations with the cruise industry contributing more than
$9 billion in direct purchases and
responsible for over 159,000 jobs. In Miami-Dade alone,
cruise activity generates approximately $7
billion of spend and 40,000 jobs annually. Of the
437,000 cruise industry-supported jobs in the USA, nearly 37% are in Florida.
Carnival Cruise Line President Christine
Duffy, Carnival Corporation President and CEO Arnold Donald and Carnival Brand Ambassador
John Heald kicked off the
festivities with a ribbon-cutting ceremony officially welcoming
guests on board. Prior to Duffy's remarks, a moment of
silence was held to honor those affected by the tragedy in
Surfside.
"PortMiami is our number one homeport in terms of ships and
passenger embarkations and today's return to cruising with Carnival
Horizon represents an important first step in getting our company
back to business while infusing much-needed capital to the
thousands of workers who rely on the cruise industry for their
livelihood," said Duffy. "The past year has been challenging
to say the least and I wish to thank our state and local officials,
PortMiami, and our business partners and suppliers for their
incredible support and patience during this time."
"The restart of cruise ships from Miami is an exciting day for Miami's longshoremen. We have
approximately 800 members at PortMiami and their wages dropped as
much as 80% during the nearly 16-month cruise suspension.
Today with Carnival Horizon's first sailing, we get back to work
and look forward to supporting our families again," said
Torin Ragin, president,
International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) Local 1416.
Carnival Horizon will set sail today at 4
p.m. for a six-day cruise with stops in Amber Cove (Dominican
Republic) and the private Bahamian island of Half Moon
Cay.
In addition to Carnival Horizon's departure this afternoon,
Carnival Vista departed Galveston yesterday, with Carnival Breeze
departing from Galveston July 15 and
Carnival Miracle kicking off the line's Alaska season from Seattle July 27.
Mardi Gras, the line's newest
ship, sets sail from Port Canaveral July 31. Other ships in
the Carnival fleet will begin service in August.
Hi- and low-res images of today's event are available here.
A video broll package is available here.
For additional information on Carnival Cruise Line and to book a
cruise vacation, call 1-800-CARNIVAL, visit www.carnival.com, or
contact your favorite travel advisor or online travel site.
About Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival Cruise Line is
proud to be known as America's Cruise Line with a total of 24
ships, sailing from 14 U.S. homeports and employing more than
40,000 team members from 120 nationalities. The line's newest
and most innovative ship, Mardi
Gras, featuring the first roller coaster at sea and the
first in the Americas powered by eco-friendly Liquefied Natural Gas
(LNG) starts sailing from Port Canaveral, Fla., on July 31, 2021. As part of its
50th Birthday festivities, Carnival Celebration, sister
ship to Mardi Gras, is
scheduled to debut in late 2022 from PortMiami.
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SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line