In another encouraging sign for the cruise industry, Carnival Cruise Line has decided to move its brand new Carnival Mardi Gras to Port Canaveral.

The new LNG-powered ship will leave Barcelona on May 21 and is set to arrive in Florida on June 4, and will now fly the Bahamian flag, according to a press release.

Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, thanked the Panama Maritime Authority for their support during the ship’s construction and registration process but said that the move to the Bahamas Maritime Authority made business sense for a number of reasons. 

“The Bahamas will be a frequent destination for Mardi Gras, and we are pleased to bring this new level of environmental sustainability to the many ports in the Bahamas and the Caribbean that the ship and our guests and crew will be visiting,” she said.

Carnival said there were “more and more hopeful signs of a return to guest operations and constructive discussions between the industry and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),” and thus they were moving the ship to Port Canaveral to get her ready for sailing.