School has started and the fall travel shoulder season is upon us, but cruise ship restarts are not slowing down. This week, three cruise ships on three different lines will make their 2021 debut, and more lines are announcing return-to-cruise plans for their remaining ships.
Get all the details about ship launches and simulated voyages with Cruise.blog’s master list of 2021-2022 debut sailings.
Return to Cruise
On Saturday, September 11, Disney Fantasy will become the second Disney cruise ship sailing out of Florida this year. It will offer four-night sailings from Port Canaveral until October 9, when it will return to its planned weeklong cruises.
The following day, Carnival Pride will welcome its first passengers in over a year and mark the reopening of the Baltimore port to cruise ships. Its September 12 and subsequent sailings will be weeklong voyages to the Bahamas. However, Pride’s sojourn in Baltimore will be short-lived. On October 31, it will reposition to Tampa, and Carnival Legend will take its place in Maryland on November 14.
Midweek on September 16, MSC Divina will kick off its three-, four-, and seven-night cruises from Port Canaveral to the Caribbean and Bahamas. Cruises will include a stop at the line’s private island, Ocean Cay. Sister ship Meraviglia is already sailing from Miami, but will add weeklong sailings to its mix of short sailings on September 18.
Policy Updates
Earlier this week, Royal Caribbean began selling take-home Covid test kits to vaccinated passengers booked on its cruises.
The effort is meant to assist travelers who now must show a negative result from a Covid test taken two days before their cruise is to depart.
The tests are the Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card Home Test, and prices start at $69.99 for a two-pack. Royal Caribbean will only accept at-home Covid tests that are supervised by a telehealth representative.
Itinerary Announcements
Carnival: Carnival Glory’s first post-shutdown cruise has been pushed back yet again. Its original September 5 cruise was canceled due to Hurricane Ida, and now its September 12 sailing has been canceled, so Glory can provide housing to first responders assisting with hurricane cleanup.
We hope the third time’s the charm, and Carnival Glory can actually set sail on its new return-to-cruise date of September 19.
Disney: Disney Magic, which has been sailing in the U.K., will return to the U.S. for Bahamas and Mexico cruises beginning October 28, 2021. It will sail four- and five-night cruises from Miami.
In response, Disney Cruise Line has canceled Disney Magic’s scheduled October 21 and October 24 departures. Booked guests who have paid in full will receive their choice of a full refund or a future cruise credit; anyone not paid in full will receive a refund of their deposit and other money paid.
Disney Cruise Line has also modified several Disney Magic itineraries from November through May to replace Key West with Nassau or Castaway Cay, in accordance with the wishes of Key West residents who wish to limit the size of ships and number of cruise visitors.
Holland America: Holland America has announced restart dates for its remaining three ships – Noordam, Oosterdam, and Westerdam – and has canceled their early 2022 scheduled departures. Passengers on canceled cruises will be moved to comparable itineraries or given a full refund.
Noordam will return to cruise on March 14, 2022, sailing round-Japan cruises out of Yokohama (Tokyo). In April, it will reposition to Alaska, where it will sail one-way voyages between Whittier and Vancouver.
Oosterdam will restart on May 1 with Mediterranean cruises out of Rome, Venice, and Barcelona. In November 2022, the ship will head to across the Atlantic and the Panama Canal and sail South America and Antarctica cruises out of Buenos Aires and Santiago.
Finally, Westerdam will make its 2022 debut in Seattle on May 8. It will offer weeklong Alaska sailings before crossing the Pacific in September for two-week cruises in Asia.
Erica Silverstein
Erica Silverstein is a cruise and family travel expert, who has been covering the industry for more than 15 years. Her articles have appeared on Cruise Critic, Porthole, TravelAge West, and USA Today. A staunch advocate of cruising as an ideal family vacation, she has, on occasion, banned her own children from cruising with her.
