Carnival Cruise Line is set to start its weekly Alaska cruises from Seattle today and the company held a “Back to Fun” ribbon-cutting ceremony officially welcoming guests back onboard, according to a press release. 

Carnival Miracle will set sail this afternoon at 4 p.m. from the Port of Seattle for a weeklong cruise with stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway, as well as a full day cruising Tracy Arm Fjord.

“We are delighted to resume our Alaska sailings and offer guests an opportunity to experience all the beauty of the Alaskan coast while providing a much-needed boost to the local economy,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

“The restart of cruising in Alaska has such a dramatic, wide-reaching impact on the state and on behalf of Carnival I would like to personally thank our partners at the Port of Seattle, and Senator Lisa Murkowski, Senator Dan Sullivan and Representative Don Young for their tremendous efforts in making our resumption of service a reality. Likewise, thank you to Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell and the entire Washington state congressional delegation for working so closely with the Alaska delegation and demonstrating first-hand that promoting travel and tourism is truly a bipartisan issue.”

Added Carnival Miracle Captain Vito Giacalone, “To say that these past 16 months have been challenging would be an understatement and we’re so excited to welcome our guests on board again and provide them with the incredible Carnival vacation they’ve been waiting for.”

The Carnival Miracle is the line’s fourth ship to return to guest operations following the resumption of service of Carnival Vista and Carnival Breeze from Galveston and Carnival Horizon from Miami. Mardi Gras, the line’s newest ship, sets sail from Port Canaveral July 31. Additional ships will resume service in August and by mid-October 15 Carnival ships – more than half its fleet – will be operating.