Carnival Pride to set sail from Tampa in November
TAMPA, Fla. - Carnival Cruise Line announced Thursday another round of ships and their departure dates, including one out of Tampa.
Starting November 14, Carnival Pride will set sail from Port Tampa Bay. The cruise is one of several Carnival ships that require passengers to be vaccinated, unless they fall under one of the exemptions.
Vaccine exemptions for cruises to the Caribbean will be limited to a very small number of children under 12, and teens and adults with a medical condition who can provide written confirmation from their medical provider that they cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. Our sailings from Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Maryland will operate under these criteria until December 31, 2021 with the assumption that current and evolving restrictions imposed by destinations will remain in place.
In addition, passengers – regardless of vaccination status – must provide a negative COVID-19 test.
RELATED: Port Tampa Bay ready for cruises to sail in October
The decision was made after the Bahamas announced that any ship wanting to stop at one of its ports must confirm that all passengers over the age of 12 are fully vaccinated, aside from any medical exemption.
"Given the number of itineraries that include multiple destinations throughout the Caribbean and, in particular, in The Bahamas, and the need for us from time to time to adjust itineraries due to medical, technical or weather emergencies, we will now operate all sailings under this requirement," Carnival said in response.
Other cruise lines, including Disney, announced similar changes. Port Tampa Bay is preparing for Royal Caribbean to start sailing in October and other lines during fall and winter.
Additional details on Carnival guest protocols can be found here.
MORE: Disney Cruise Line becomes latest to require passengers to be vaccinated on Bahamas sailings
Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration continues to battle in court with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings over whether the company should be able to require passengers to show documentation that they have been vaccinated --- an issue known as requiring "vaccine passports."
DeSantis signed a law this spring to prevent businesses, including cruise lines, from requiring vaccine passports. But Norwegian filed a lawsuit challenging the ban, as it wanted to require passengers to prove they have been vaccinated.
A federal district judge this month sided with Norwegian and granted a preliminary injunction against the ban. The state has challenged that ruling at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Appearing on Yahoo Finance last week, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings President and CEO Frank Del Rio called it "beyond bizarre" and "shameful" that his company has had to fight DeSantis to keep people healthy.
"Here's a state that relies on tourism. It's his number one industry. And the number one priority of any hospitality business is to keep their customers safe. I mean, that's de rigueur," Del Rio said. "You would expect that that government, again, would do everything possible to support that. Instead, we had to go to court."
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report