Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International resumed sailing out of Baltimore this weekend, after crews cleared debris from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, which had blocked access to the port.
Royal Caribbean was first to return and sailed the Vision of the Seas from the port on Saturday, cruising roundtrip to Bermuda over five days. The ship also sails 9-day cruises to Bermuda and Perfect Day at Coco Cay.
"We've been working through this process for the last two months," Port of Baltimore director Jonathan Daniels said from the cruise terminal as guests checked in for their Royal Caribbean cruise. "Just a week ago, this terminal was being utilized as an incident command post. In one week, it's been transformed back to starting out that guest experience."
The next day, the Carnival Pride sailed from the port on a roundtrip 14-day journey to Greenland, to be followed by a string of seven-day Caribbean itineraries.
Both lines had shifted operations to Norfolk, Virginia, after a shipping vessel crashed into a key support column of the bridge on March 26, causing the structure to collapse and killing six constructor workers. The collapse left the port unavailable until the debris could be cleared.