Cruise industry expert on Carnival's latest suspensions, cancellations

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. - Disney, Celebrity, Norwegian, Princess, and Royal Caribbean are part of a growing list of cruise lines that keep hitting the pause button when it comes to resuming service.

Cruise lines face almost a year without U.S. sailings and on Friday the crown jewel of Port Canaveral, Carnival Cruise Line, announced another delay until the end of April. 

"They canceled April, then May, they thought possibly they could resume in June. Well June was shot, then it was August, then into the fall," said Stewart Chiron, a cruise industry expert. 

Now, the question stands, when can we set sail?

"I don’t think we will see cruising resuming until the summer but I think it is important to understand that these cancellation announcements are in no way indicative of a resumption of service. They are just telling you that we are officially canceling cruises essentially now into the end of April," Chiron said. 

Chiron says there are a number of things keeping cruise lines from getting back to business. Things like meeting CDC requirements, providing COVID tests, and retraining cruise employees. 

"The most sage advice I can offer for 2021 just waits until the cruise lines have provided a succinct and definitive resumption of operations before you make any more plans," said Chiron. 

At this point, Chiron says the earliest we may see a return of cruising is June or July at the earliest.

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