Two weeks ago, the governor of Virginia announced that a Carnival Cruise Line ship would begin sailing from the port in Norfolk in 2015. Today, Carnival Cruise Line announced that they will be returning to the Port of Baltimore when the Carnival Pride returns in early 2015 sailing 7 night cruises to the Caribbean and Bahamas.
Before the Pride relocates to Baltimore, the ship will receive the popular Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades. The 2.0 upgrades include Guy’s (Fieri) Burger Joint, Punchliner Comedy Club Presented by George Lopez, BlueIguana Cantina, EA Sports Bar, the Alchemy Bar, and RedFrog Rum Bar.
In addition to the 2.0 upgrades, the Pride will also be outfitted with scrubbers, an exhaust gas cleaning technology that will help reduce air emissions and will be more environmentally friendly.
The ship will sail two different seven night itineraries. The first will have stops in the ports of Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay (private island), and Freeport, Bahamas. The second itinerary will feature stops in Port Canaveral, Florida; Nassau, Bahamas; and Freeport, Bahamas.
Governor Martin O’Malley released a statement that he was very pleased that Carnival was coming back to Baltimore. The combination of high quality jobs in the cruise port and a cleaner and greener cruise ship point to a bright future for the cruise industry in Baltimore.
Before the Pride moves to Baltimore, the ship will offer a truly unique one way re-positioning cruise. This 14 night cruise will leave from Tampa, Florida and have stops in Grand Cayman, Costa Rica, Panama, Aruba, and St. Maarten.
The ship has previously sailed from Long Beach, California; Miami, Florida; and Baltimore, Maryland. The Pride will relocate to Tampa, Florida in October 2014 before returning back to Baltimore.
The Carnival Pride is a 2,100 passenger ship that began service in early 2002. The 88,500 gross ton vessel has 12 decks and a crew of nearly 1,000 workers.
