As various cruise lines prepare to disembark this summer, ships that are both old and new are departing from ports on trips to the Bahamas and Caribbean.

And, today marks a pretty big even for the cruise line industry as a whole!

Click Orlando News has shared details on the maiden voyage of Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras ship today! The Mardi Gras will be setting sail from Port Canaveral at 6PM this evening to travel to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas.

Along with being the maiden voyage of a brand new ship for Carnival Cruise Line, the Mardi Gras also marks Port Canaveral’s first revenue cruise since the closures. Since the cruise shutdowns, many cruise lines have been conducting test voyages, but not actual departures that were for income.

And, if you’ve been missing cruises, the Mardi Gras is HUGE with the first rollercoaster on a cruise ship (!!!), six different themes, 19 decks, and 8-day itineraries. There are plenty of health and safety measures in place as well. The maiden voyage will only depart with 4,000 passengers, which is about two-thirds capacity of its full passenger capacity of 6,465 passengers. 95% of the guests are vaccinated aboard the cruise, and the 5% who are not (including families with small children) will see more restrictions onboard the ship.

All guests, including those who are vaccinated, are required to wear masks getting onto the ship or disembarking at the various ports. If there is a case of positive COVID-19 testing in a guest or any sort of other sickness, they will be isolated in the ship’s medical center. A public health officer and medical staff will monitor that guest safely. Carnival President Christine Duffy has stated, “I think you’re actually safer on a cruise ship because of all the protocols that we have in place already.”

We’ll keep you up-to-date on the maiden voyage of the Mardi Gras soon! Stay tuned with All Ears for the latest Disney entertainment and news!

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Do you have plans to go on a cruise any time soon? Let us know in the comments below!

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