Carnival Salutes America’s 250th on 10 Sailings

Carnival Salutes America’s 250th on 10 Sailings

Carnival Cruise Line has unveiled details about 10 sailings for 2026 that will commemorate America’s 250th birthday.

The sailings comprise ship meetups and unique patriotic experiences, the line announced in a press release.

The cruises include itineraries ranging from three to eight days. They will sail from six homeports: Miami, Port Canaveral, Jacksonville, New York City, Long Beach, and San Francisco.

On July 4, 2026, America’s 250th birthday, seven ships sailing from east coast homeports will meet up near Celebration Key for a celebration at sea, while three ships will unite off the west coast near Ensenada.

During the meetups, each ship will host patriotic birthday-themed deck parties. The cruises will also feature patriotic entertainment and food and drink offerings.

“We’re America’s cruise line, and we’re commemorating this milestone in a big way! Uniting our ships will multiply the fun and make America’s 250th birthday even more memorable for guests who celebrate at sea,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

From the East Coast, guests can choose from short getaways that include sailings on the Carnival Conquest or the Carnival Glory, both departing on July 3, 2026. These will offer three-day escapes to Celebration Key at Grand Bahama from Miami and Port Canaveral respectively.

Departing July 2, 2026, the Carnival Sunrise will sail a four-day Bahamas cruise from Miami, and the Carnival Elation will sail to the Bahamas on a four-day cruise from Jacksonville.

Guests looking for a longer sailing can select a seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard the Carnival Celebration from Miami, departing on June 28, 2026. They will visit Celebration Key, Nassau, Amber Cove and Grand Turk.

An eight-day Eastern Caribbean sailing on Carnival Vista from Port Canaveral, departing on June 27, 2026 – calling at San Juan and St. Thomas – is also available.

For northeastern guests, the Carnival Venezia will leave New York City on July 1, 2026, for an eight-day cruise that visits Celebration Key, Nassau, and Half Moon Cay.

Guests can join the celebration from the West Coast with three cruise options departing from California.

On July 3, 2026, the Carnival Firenze will sail a three-day Baja Mexico cruise from Long Beach over the July 4th weekend, while the Carnival Luminosa sails a four-day option, departing July 2, 2026, from San Francisco. Each feature stops in Ensenada.

On June 30, 2026, the Carnival Radiance will sail a five-day Mexican Riviera cruise from Long Beach, visiting Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada. The three ships will also unite at sea on July 4, 2026.

Milton: Carnival Paradise to Dock in Miami; Elation Schedule Change

Milton: Carnival Paradise to Dock in Miami; Elation Schedule Change

In a statement on its website, Carnival Cruise Line updated the status of vessels that have been affected by Hurricane Milton.

“Our Fleet Operations Center in Miami continues to monitor Milton, which has now downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone as it moves eastward in the Atlantic,” Carnival said.

“The safety of our guests and crew remains our priority, and our ships are sailing a safe distance from the storm,” the company added.

After sailing from Tampa on Oct. 6, 2024, the Carnival Paradise is now ending its current cruise in Miami on Friday, Oct. 11.

“Guests will have the option to return to the Tampa cruise terminal via complimentary shuttle or reboard the ship and remain onboard until Monday, Oct. 14,” Carnival explained.

Oct. 14, Carnival may dock the ship in either Port Canaveral or Tampa.

If the ship heads to Port Canaveral, a complimentary shuttle service to Tampa would be provided.

While the ship’s Oct. 10 sailing was recently cancelled, the Oct. 14 cruise may depart from Central Florida instead of Tampa.

“This voyage will be embarking in either Port Canaveral (complimentary shuttle service would be provided between Tampa and Port Canaveral) or Tampa (provided the port reopens by then),” Carnival explained.

Passengers will be informed of a decision via email and text alerts ahead of their departure, the company added.

Carnival also confirmed plans to operate a shortened cruise from Jacksonville onboard the Carnival Elation.

“The ship is now sailing a safe distance from the storm while we wait for clearance to return to Jacksonville. Due to strong winds and rough seas on Florida’s east coast, we will not be able to return before sometime Saturday, Oct. 12,” Carnival explained.

As a result, the cruise onboard the ship that was scheduled to depart on Oct. 10 is now expected to sail two days later.

While the sailing was initially set to visit destinations in the Bahamas, it will now feature no port visit, the company added.

Carnival previously confirmed delayed arrivals for additional ships in its fleet, including the Carnival Glory and the Carnival Sunrise.

Carnival Elation Resumes Service After Drydock

Carnival Elation Resumes Service After Drydock

The Carnival Elation is welcoming guests back today following a routine drydock at the Grand Bahama Shipyard.

After two weeks out of service, the 1998-built cruise ship is departing on a short cruise to the Bahamas.

Sailing from Jacksonville, the five-night itinerary features visits to Nassau and Princess Cays, as well as two full days at sea.

Now one of the oldest ships in the Carnival Cruise Line fleet, the Elation underwent routine maintenance during the shipyard visit.

Work carried out in the period included class inspections, technical overhauls and upgrades, as well as hotel upkeep and minor updates to public areas and cabins.

The vessel also became the latest to receive the Carnival’s new hull livery, which includes a stately navy-blue hull along with vibrant red and white accents running the entire length of the entire ship. First introduced by the Mardi Gras, the new colours are being added to the entire fleet.

In 2020, during its previous drydock, the Elation received several new venues, such as Bonsai Sushi Express, JavaBlue Café and Alchemy Bar.

A few years before, in 2017, the 70,367-ton vessel had also seen the addition of other signature venues and experiences of Carnival Cruise Line, including the company’s WaterWorks aquapark and new dining options like Guy’s Burger Joint, RedFrog Rum Bar, BlueIguana Cantina and BlueIguana Tequila Bar.

The Elation also received new cabins during both refits, with 38 extra cabins added in 2017 and 30 more added in 2020. Private balconies were also added to a total of 98 existing staterooms during the first refurbishment.

Sailing year-round from its homeport in Jacksonville, the 2,040-guest vessel offers a series of four- and five-night cruises to the Bahamas.

In addition to Nassau and Freeport, the itineraries feature visits to Bimini and Princess Cays – a private island destination owned by Princess Cruises.

Along with the Carnival Paradise, the Elation is one of the original eight Fantasy-Class ships that remains in service.

Carnival Cruise Line to sell two more ships

Carnival Cruise Line to sell two more ships

Carnival Cruise Line has announced the sale of two more ships from its fleet.

Carnival Fascination and Carnival Imagination, which had previously been put on long-term lay-up status and removed from published itineraries, will leave the fleet.

Fascination launched in 1994 and Imagination in 1995. Carnival said their sales were in line with the corporation’s plan to ‘accelerate the removal of less efficient ships’ from its fleet.

This follows the sale of Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Inspiration in July.

When it returns to operations, Carnival will operate four upgraded Fantasy-class ships – Carnival Ecstasy, Carnival Sensation, Carnival Elation and Carnival Paradise – which are part of the line’s Fun Ship 2.0 enhancement program.

“While we are sad to see Carnival Fascination and Carnival Imagination leave our fleet, it is a necessary move as it allows us to focus on ships that offer the greatest variety of features and stateroom accommodations for our guests,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

Carnival is also to delay the return to the sailing of four ships until after dry dock enhancements are completed in the first half of 2021.

The impacted ships and itineraries are:

Carnival Magic: itineraries operating from Miami will be cancelled until March 13, 2021

Carnival Paradise: itineraries operating from Tampa will be cancelled until March 19, 2021

Carnival Valor: itineraries operating from New Orleans will be cancelled until April 29, 2021 (including a transatlantic cruise from New Orleans on January 25, 2021, and the return from Barcelona on February 26, 2021)

Carnival Spirit: itineraries operating from Brisbane will be cancelled through May 16, 2021, with the first sailing being the Singapore to Brisbane voyage embarking on June 12, 2021.

“This extended pause in our operations has also impacted shipyard availability, and we’ve had to reschedule required dry docks. As we continue to work through issues related to our eventual return to operations, we are committed to providing our guests and travel agent partners with certainty where we can, although we regret disappointing our guests.  We appreciate the continued support and understanding of our guests and hope to welcome them back on board soon,” Duffy said.

Carnival Triumph headed to New Orleans in 2016

Carnival Triumph

Carnival Cruise Line will increase New Orleans capacity when the 3,143-passenger Triumph is transferred from Galveston to replace the 2,052-passenger Elation in the spring of 2016.

The Triumph will sail four- and five-day Mexico cruises from Galveston, starting April 4, 2016. The other ship in New Orleans, the 3,652-passenger Dream, sails seven-day cruises.

The Elation will shift from New Orleans to Jacksonville, Fla., and the Fascination will move from Jacksonville to San Juan. The Elation will sail year-round four- and five-day Bahamas cruises, and the Fascination will sail seven-day Caribbean voyages.

As previously reported, Below is the 12th Feb. article.

Carnival Breeze and Liberty will sail from Galveston

To make way for the new Carnival Vista when it is deployed in Miami in November 2016, Carnival Cruise Line will shift the Carnival Breeze to Galveston, Texas.

Also, Carnival will position the Carnival Liberty in Galveston in 2016. It has just repositioned Carnival Freedom to Galveston, where it is aggressively courting new business.

“Miami and Galveston are among our most popular points of embarkation, and deploying our newest, most innovative ships to these home ports speaks volumes about our confidence in growing these markets,” said Christine Duffy, Carnival’s president.

The Carnival Triumph and Magic, currently sailing from Galveston, will be redeployed with details to be announced at a later date. 

Prior to the start-up of year-round service from Miami, Carnival Vista will operate a pair of voyages roundtrip from New York, beginning with a three-day cruise Nov. 4-7, 2016, followed by an 11-day voyage departing Nov. 7 and visiting Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua and St. Maarten.  

Carnival Vista will then offer an 11-day transit cruise from New York to Miami from Nov. 18-29, with calls at Grand Turk, Bonaire, Aruba and St. Maarten.

Its first cruise from Miami will be a four-day cruise to Grand Turk, departing Nov. 29. Thereafter it will do alternating six- and eight-day Caribbean itineraries, mixed with a few one-time, one-off voyages, Carnival said.

Beyond the marketing pitches

By Tom Stieghorst

Sometimes the reasons people cruise can’t be found in any catalog or sales brochure. The passenger who took 33 consecutive cruises aboard the Carnival Elation earlier this year is an extreme example.

Mark Fosselman found himself on the same itinerary over and over again following the loss of his wife, Becky. She had been in ill health, and the two had shared numerous cruises on the Elation before she passed away in April.

Fosselman told Carnival that the ship held special memories for him and that cruising was very therapeutic in helping him mourn his wife and come to terms with her death.

There are many conventional selling points to a cruise. But often it isn’t the size of the cabin, or the itinerary or the food that people care most about when they’re on a cruise.

When I asked a man on a recent cruise why he was on the ship, there was no hesitation: “I wanted to spend time with my brother,” he said. The passenger lived in Tennessee, his brother in Michigan. They didn’t see each other regularly, and a weeklong cruise was a chance to catch up.

More than marketing slogans or ad campaigns, the human need for connection and recognition often drives the choice of a cruise vacation. One passenger on another cruise I took recently was astonished to be the center of attention after his family surprised him with a cruise for his 90th birthday.

Another person on the cruise was aboard with someone who had started to show signs of memory loss. She said she took the cruise because she wasn’t sure in a year or two if her traveling companion would even be the same person.

So it is fine to have the latest and greatest technology on a ship, hot new entertainers or interesting new shore excursions. Onboard spending credits or free gratuities may be the way to seal the deal if someone is close to making a purchase.

But just as often it is the soft things, the human things, that start passengers thinking about taking a cruise. Cruise lines have started to pick up on this in their advertising, for example in Carnival Cruise Lines’ “Moments That Matter” spots or the Princess Cruises “Come Back New” campaign. They’re definitely not hard sell, but effective in the long run, it seems to me.

Man takes same Carnival cruise 33 times in a row

By Tom Stieghorst

A Mississippi man has departed the Carnival Elation after setting a record by taking the same four- and five-night itinerary to Mexico 33 times.

Mark Fosselman of Diamond Head, Miss., has been sailing on Elation since April. His five-month odyssey began after his wife Becky passed away. They had sailed together on the New Orleans-based Elation in the past, and the ship evoked good memories, Carnival said in a statement.

Fosselman said his wife loved sailing with Carnival and believed that the cruises contributed greatly to her quality of life despite her declining health. According to Carnival, Fosselman said he considered the voyages therapeutic following his wife’s death.

Carnival said Fosselman is notable because no one else is believed to have sailed as many consecutive Carnival cruises in the line’s 42-year history.

The Carnival Elation staff warmly greeted Fosselman him in the ship’s atrium and held a special farewell reception that included a banner created especially for the occasion when he finally left the ship.

Carnival Sunshine Comes to New Homeport

After a major renovation, Carnival Sunshine is welcomed in New OrleansBy: Chere Coen

The renewed Carnival Sunshine will homeport in New Orleans. // © 2013 Carnival Cruise Lines

It seemed appropriate that Carnival’s massive restoration project — the newly rebuilt Sunshine, transformed from the former Carnival Destiny — should have its renaming ceremony in New Orleans. Not only is Louisiana’s state song “You Are My Sunshine,” but winter in the Bayou State remains balmy for the most part, and Carnival Sunshine will host seven-night Caribbean cruises from New Orleans until the spring, while Carnival Elation continues to sail four- and five-night cruises.

The ship, which received an extensive $155 million makeover earlier this year, arrived in New Orleans following a 16-day transatlantic crossing. The 3,006-passenger Carnival Sunshine was renamed on Nov. 17 with a ceremony featuring Gerry Cahill, Carnival president and CEO, and Lin Arison, wife of the late Ted Arison, founder of Carnival Cruise Lines and godmother to the Sunshine.

“We did something in the cruise ship industry that no one has ever done before,” Cahill said of the renovation. “We rebuilt virtually every guestroom on the ship. This was more difficult than building a new ship.”

“It was an amazing thing to see what can be done on a ship,” said Arison, whose association with Carnival Cruise Lines dates back to the company’s inception in 1972 when she named Mardi Gras, the line’s first ship.

The naming ceremony included a performance by the Destrehan High School Band, chosen from the New Orleans area in a competition, and members of the National YoungArts Foundation. Along with her late husband, Arison founded the program as well as the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. Carnival donated $25,000 to each.

“Carnival has taken it further with these gifts for young artists,” Arison said, just before pulling the symbolic ribbon while the audience watched a video of a champagne bottle hitting the ship’s exterior.

Most of those in attendance were travel agents, media and corporate guests, all getting a first-hand look at the newly designed ship before it embarked the following day on a special six-day cruise. Carnival Sunshine remains in New Orleans until April 2014, when it heads to Port Canaveral, Fla., for year-round, five- to eight-day Caribbean departures.

“I am extremely picky, and I was very pleased,” said Terri Howell, owner of Dream Cruises, which has offices in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La.

Howell had already begun booking cruises for her clients on the Sunshine but she was even more “revved up and ready to sell” after the ceremony.

“I am 100 percent satisfied and am extremely happy to be selling the Sunshine, even though it’s only here for a few months,” she said.

Kathy Lavalla, owner of Vacation Makers Travel in New Orleans, was impressed by the ship’s varied restaurant choices and the hallways, which sport teak doorways, bright colors and beach photos on the walls.

“I love how many dining venues there are,” Lavalla said. “There are so many options.”

Having a ship docked in downtown New Orleans with a massive waterpark on the top deck makes it easy to sell. Lavalla added that children will see the ship and demand that their parents to take them on a cruise.

“Cruises in general are an easy sell in New Orleans,” Lavalla said. “The city is a great port location because visitors can stay a night in New Orleans and see quite a bit in town before sailing. If you come even one day early to New Orleans, you find so many things to do — for families as well as couples.”

The only drawback, both agents agreed, was that Carnival Sunshine would only stay in New Orleans for the winter.

“I wish it could stay longer,” Lavalla said.