Carnival Mardi Gras vessel delayed until 2021

Cruise operator Carnival said it was delaying delivery of its newest vessel, the Mardi Gras, to next year as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to hit the travel industry.

The company on Tuesday said it expected the Mardi Gras to take its first passengers aboard from Port Canaveral in Florida next February.

Carnival said a nationwide lockdown in Spain also led to the suspension the $200m refit of its Radiance ship and was looking at shipyard options to complete the transformation.

Mardi Gras would now be redeployed to Port Canaveral and assume the itineraries originally scheduled to be run by Radiance between November 8, 2020 and April 24, 2021.

The 18 sailings of the Carnival Breeze, set to leave out of Fort Lauderdale, had now been cancelled, the company added, along with while Carnival Magic's transatlantic and European itineraries from March 13, 2021 to May 3, 2021.

"We continue to assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on global commerce, public health and our cruise operations. In addition to our current pause in service, there have been many other unintended consequences, including shipyard, dry dock and ship delivery delays, and related changes to our deployment plans for our fleet," said Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy.

"While we had hoped to make up construction time on Mardi Gras over the summer, it's clear we will need extra time to complete this magnificent ship. We remain committed to working with government, public health and industry officials to support the response to the pandemic and to return to operations when the time is right."