From CruiseCritic.com…
With cheers from the decks and along the waterfront, the most anticipated cruise ship of the year – Mardi Gras, from Carnival Cruise Line – set sail from Port Canaveral Saturday, marking the first revenue sailing from the port in 16 months.
The approximately 4,000 passengers onboard – the ship is sailing at 70 percent – waved from their balconies, and took selfies with their phones as the ship left the dock. Many had Mardi Gras inaugural T-shirts made for the occasion.
The enthusiasm on shore came from people in the area who were happy to have Port Canaveral’s Terminal 3, finished during the pandemic, up and going. From hotel workers to restaurant staff to Uber drivers, people said often how happy they were to have ships back in the port, about an hour from Orlando.
For the first day, operations at the port were fairly smooth, as workers went through new protocols.
