Cruises resume in Florida, Jacksonville’s Ecstasy set to resume in September

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Cruises are slowly but surely making a comeback in Florida, a local travel expert says. Scott Lara, who runs the cruise news website The Cruise Genius, told Action News Jax that cruise lines like Carnival are starting “slow rollouts”.

“With all of these changes with the CDC, them loosening requirements, Carnival and other cruise lines want to make sure that we cruise safely,” travel expert and “The Cruise Genius” Scott Lara said.

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Action News Jax has learned cruises in Jacksonville are set to resume September 2. It’s been over a year since Carnival’s Ecstasy set sail out of JAXPORT.

Carnival is requiring guests to be vaccinated before they cruise.

The cruise comeback comes after a big win in federal court for Governor Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida. A judge deemed the CDC’s No Sail Orders unconstitutional.

Lara says among the first to set sail is the Carnival Horizon which leaves Miami July 4. Then, Carnival’s Mardi Gras sets sail July 31. But the Ecstasy in Jacksonville — a ship that normally sails 78 times a year — will have to wait until September 2 to set sail.

“Jacksonville is a smaller market, so yes, we are late to the game of cruising again, but this is actually good for us because Carnival will be able to have their protocols set and good to go, the CDC will be happy,” Lara added.

A multi-billion dollar industry for the state of Florida, Lara says cruises coming back will be a good economy boost as well.

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“As soon as we get cruising again, we’ll have people in hotels, Lyft drivers, Uber drivers, all the people that work at JAXPORT,” he said.

Living only 15 minutes away, Lara can’t wait to hop on the Ecstasy once again.

Action News Jax got a hold of Carnival.

“Carnival will continue to ramp up more ships and homeports in September and beyond, bringing hundreds of crew on board each week to be vaccinated, complete CDC-mandated quarantine and then begin work to prepare for guests and the return to guest operations,” Vance Gulliksen said.

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