Carnival Cruise Line Announces Plan to Resume Cruises in August, Unleashing Confusion on Twitter

Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Carnival Cruise Line has announced that they will resume cruises again on August 1, but their plan has prompted anger and confusion among Twitter users wondering why.
“We are taking a measured approach, focusing our return to service on a select number of homeports where we have more significant operations that are easily accessible by car for the majority of our guests,” the company said in a statement. “We will use this additional time to continue to engage experts, government officials and stakeholders on additional protocols and procedures to protect the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we serve.”
The cruise line has scheduled for eight ships to leave from Miami, Port Canaveral, and Galveston, continuing operations that were canceled in June because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The CDC had also announced a “no sail” order to all cruise ships due to outbreaks that quarantined passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise in Japan. Several cruise lines faced similarly bad outbreaks during the pandemic, prompting Twitter users to question Carnival Cruise’s quick reopening:
First ship to leave port has been rechristened the “HMS Beagle.” Darwin sails again, theory and all. https://t.co/v7Qk4lm4o5
— David Simon (@AoDespair) May 4, 2020
A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again https://t.co/C69e4MnuVK
— David Gardner (@byDavidGardner) May 4, 2020
If you’re contemplating going on this cruise I’d like to know what’s going through your mind. DMs are open. https://t.co/DCcB36J0yS
— Sam Stein (@samstein) May 4, 2020
Seriously though, it’s going to be pretty hard to have as much sympathy for someone who goes on a cruise this summer as someone who was caught on a COVID cruise in say late February/early March.
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) May 4, 2020
LMAO what? They’re starting them in August when cruise workers are still stranded on the ships in quarantine?
— Sam Sharma (@s3rioussam) May 4, 2020
To recap, cruise liners will continue to operate b/c:
– Little to no government oversight
– Hard to prove passenger got CV19 on the ship
– Favorable century-old maritime laws
– Short window to sue (maybe up to 1 year)
– Local govt support for capitalismSail at your own risk!?
— Your Huckleberry (@AdrienneLaw) May 4, 2020
Titanic II: Cruise Control
— Jamie Lendino (@jlendino) May 4, 2020
Is it still a cruise if no one is on it? https://t.co/iIq5NE8106
— Dave Schilling (@dave_schilling) May 4, 2020
I don’t have a lot of convictions, but I absolutely believe that cruises can fck all the way off https://t.co/T5lUTqItOf
— Jessica Smetana (@jessica_smetana) May 4, 2020
I would like someone to interview the first person who signed up for a CRUISE. In AUGUST which is THREE months away. https://t.co/KYrCrQdyYa
— Charlotte Greensit (@cgreensit) May 4, 2020
Imagine going on a cruise after everything that’s happened this year. https://t.co/OVcQzIsYSA
— Tim Fullerton (@TimFullerton) May 4, 2020