Florida's Carnival Cruise Officially Delays Their New Ship Debut & Cancels Reservations

You'll have to wait a bit longer to ride a roller coaster on the ocean. Carnival Cruise delays Mardi Gras-themed ship until next year in light of COVID-19. The Florida based cruise line is also canceling and moving guest's itineraries.

Carnival announced on Twitter that the Mardi Gras, the company's newest ship, won't set sail out of Port Canaveral until February 6, 2021. The line was initially supposed to debut in September.

Those scheduled to depart between November 14, 2020, to January 30, 2021, will receive a notice that their trip has been canceled.

Once unveiled, Mardi Gras will be the first roller coaster at sea, setting Carnival apart from other cruise lines. The ship is expected to more than 5,000 passengers and feature "themed zones" including the French Quarter and the UltimatePlayground.

Perched on the top deck, the coaster is sure to turn heads and provide dazzling thrills right on the ocean.

To accommodate the Mardi Gras, Port Canaveral is building a two-story terminal, the Cruise Terminal 3, that will be the largest project in the port's history, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

The new terminal will be 188,000-square-feet and will cost up to $163 million to construct.

With the recent delay, other changes were made to the line's sea plans. The delay forced the company to cancel its itineraries for other ships for the rest of the year.

The line's second ship, the Carnival Radiance, won't be ready to set sail until spring of next year.

To accommodate the delay, the Carnival Breeze will move its starting port to Cape Canaveral and "assume the itineraries" for reservations between November 8, 2020, to April 24, 2021.

Carnival and other cruise lines have had a rough time this year. The COVID-19 pandemic has virtually wiped out the industry, and with some plotting ways to bring back travelers, including offering steep discounts.