Carnival Cruise Line's Fred Stein shares why the newbuild will be debuting in Miami and the Caribbean
By
Alex Smith |
In November 2022, Carnival Cruise Line’s newest ship Carnival Celebration will set sail from PortMiami in Florida. Sharing a name with one of the line’s early ships, the vessel features a number of nods to the past, including tributes to previous godmothers and venues decorated with artifacts from some of its first vessels. The Excel-class ship is a sister to Mardi Gras, and features some of the same attractions, including the BOLT roller coaster. Celebration will also include six themed zones, including the new travel-inspired The Gateway, Miami-themed 820 Biscayne and Celebration Central, alongside the returning Summer Landing, Lido and The Ultimate Playground zones.
The arrival of Carnival Celebration in Miami will fittingly mark the culmination of Carnival’s 50th anniversary celebrations and coincide with the inauguration of the expanded Terminal F, which will be the home of the ship during its time at the port. The addition of the new vessel will also maintain PortMiami’s position as the top embarkation port for Carnival Cruise Line.
“Carnival Celebration is an extraordinary addition to the fleet, bringing an exciting, new option for guests,” says Fred Stein, vice president of revenue planning and deployment at Carnival Cruise Line. “It also adds another option for cruisers in Miami, in addition to three-, four-, five-, six- and eight-day cruises already sailing from the port. Carnival Cruise Line currently has four other ships sailing from Miami, including Carnival Conquest, Carnival Sunrise, Carnival Horizon, and Carnival Spirit, which will be replaced in the winter of 2023-2024 with Carnival Magic. The addition of Carnival Celebration brings an Excel-class ship to the cruise line’s flagship homeport, allowing more guests to board our ‘Fun Ships’.”
According to Stein, the decision to homeport the ship in Miami was motivated by a desire to place the new ship in the spotlight.
“We wanted to showcase the innovative Carnival Celebration to a large audience, and six-, seven- and eight-day cruises from Miami tend to attract guests from all over the USA,” says Stein. “With our newest flagship sailing from Miami, one of our most popular and strategic homeports, we can offer exciting itineraries for our guests.”
However, to reach its home in South Florida, Carnival Celebration will first be making a transatlantic crossing from the Port of Southampton, UK, an itinerary that Stein is particularly excited by.
“The transatlantic voyage has some incredible ports of call,” he says. “Carnival Celebration will visit Vigo, La Coruña and Tenerife in Spain, as well as Funchal in Portugal.”
Carnival Celebration will alternate between three different itineraries around the Caribbean when she begins sailing from Miami. A six-day ‘Exotic Western and Eastern Caribbean’ itinerary will visit destinations including Costa Maya and Cozumel in Mexico, Mahogany Bay in Honduras, Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, Grand Turk of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Nassau, the capital of The Bahamas. A seven-day version of the voyage will call at San Juan in Puerto Rico and St Maarten or St. Thomas instead of Grand Turk and Nassau. Meanwhile, an eight-day ‘Exotic Eastern Caribbean and Southern Caribbean’ voyage will visit Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao alongside Amber Cove, Grand Turk, San Juan and St. Thomas.
“Our guests love all our ports of call,” says Stein. “We wanted to combine Carnival Cruise Line’s most popular ports with our brand new flagship, and the destinations that Carnival Celebration will visit consistently deliver high satisfaction scores and are in high demand with our guests.”
This article was first published in the 2023 issue of Cruise & Ferry Itinerary Planning. All information was correct at the time of printing, but may since have changed. Subscribe to Cruise & Ferry Itinerary Planning for FREE here to get the next issue delivered directly to your inbox or your door.