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Live From Celebrity Millennium: A Third-Party Excursion and a Night in Quarantine

Day six has been eventful. We spent it in Curacao, and because it's one of the ports that's allowing passengers to wander around on their own, I booked an independent, third-party shore excursion.

Now, back on the ship, I'm in quarantine (but more about that in a minute).

Carnival announces more cruise ships for vaccinated guests that will restart this summer

Carnival Cruise Line announced more ships that will restart sailings, including its newest cruise ship.

Following up on Carnival's previously announced restart plans from Seattle and Galveston, the cruise line revealed its next phase of restart, including the first cruise for Mardi Gras and the return of additional ships in August.  

Here is a breakdown of which ships will sail and when:

Live From Celebrity Millennium: Exploring on My Own in Port

If you are looking for the live blog for the positive Covid tests, read about my experience here.

I've just finished my fifth day, and I'm happily exhausted. I know vacations are supposed to be relaxing, but I've been busy trying to take in everything I've missed about cruising.

Live From Celebrity Millennium: Squeaky Clean

Day four was another sea day, with activities like educational talks, gameshows, dance classes and rooftop movies. Although the scheduled diversions are fun, you already know what those are like, so I figured that, today, I'd cover something that's on most cruisers' minds these days: cleaning procedures and social distancing.

What is the status of U.S. cruise homeports?

As the U.S. starts its slow return to normal, keeping track of which U.S. homeports are open and hosting cruise ships is getting increasingly difficult. Some ports are technically open, but have no sailings planned; others are provisioning ships and processing crew members for vaccinations, but are not yet welcoming passengers.

To make sense of it all, we compiled a list of the major U.S. cruise homeports and their current cruise status.

Baltimore

Live From Celebrity Millennium: Ship-Sponsored Excursions

Day three has come and gone with the excitement holding steady. It was our first port day, and we called on Barbados, which is the strictest of the three stops we'll be making on this itinerary.

While the other two -- Aruba and Curacao -- are allowing passengers to make their own plans in port, Barbados required all cruisers who wished to go ashore to do so via a tour purchased through the cruise ship.

Carnival confirms summer 2021 cruises from Galveston

Summer 2021 cruises from Galveston are a go, says Carnival Cruise Line. The line today confirmed that Carnival Vista and Carnival Breeze will set sail from the Texas homeport in July.

Carnival Vista will return to cruise on July 3, offering weeklong Western Caribbean cruises. The ship will call on ports in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Mexico, Belize, and Honduras.

Carnival Breeze sets sail on July 15. Its four- and five-night Western Caribbean cruises will visit ports in Mexico.

Live From Celebrity Millennium: The Buffet Is Better; The Wi-Fi Is Not

It's day two onboard Celebrity Millennium, and the good mood continues. As I mentioned yesterday, today was a sea day, and the schedule was packed with live music, health and port seminars, an art auction and tons of trivia.

Celebrity Millennium funnel

Live From Celebrity Millennium: Onboard and Unmasked

It's almost 7 p.m. in St. Maarten, and during my first three hours onboard Celebrity Millennium, the atmosphere has been one of sheer jubilation. Crew have enthusiastically welcomed back passengers, and every cruiser seems to be in genuine awe of the fact that they're onboard again for the first time in more than a year.

Royal Caribbean opens bookings for U.S.-based cruises from Florida and Texas

The cruise industry has reached another milestone in its efforts to resume cruising from U.S. homeports.

Royal Caribbean announced it will start sailing with paying passengers from Florida and Texas homeports in July, and has opened bookings Caribbean and Bahamas cruises for five (soon to be six) ships.

"This is it. Vacationers can finally plan to take their precious time off this summer and truly get away after what has been a challenging time for everyone," Michael Bayley, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International, said in a statement on Facebook.

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