Carnival Cruise Line ship Carnival Miracle has departed Seattle to officially start the line’s summer Alaska season.

The line held a ‘Back to Fun’ ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the occasion. The ship is on a week-long cruise with stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway, as well as a full day cruising Tracy Arm Fjord.

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, is due to set sail from Port Canaveral on 31 July. Additional ships will resume service in August and by mid-October 15 Carnival ships – more than half the fleet – will be operating with passengers on board.

Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy said: “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.

“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.”

Carnival Miracle Captain Vito Giacalone added: “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.”