Carnival Cruise Lines today announced new ship deployments taking effect in 2014 in several key markets resulting in new product offerings from Port Canaveral in Florida and New Orleans. Carnival will now feature a wide selection of seagoing vacation choices in these markets aboard some of the most innovative ships in cruising.
Carnival Sunshine, which recently completed a massive $155 million transformation, will be repositioned from New Orleans to Port Canaveral beginning in April 2014. This move will allow Carnival to continue to offer attractive new options from Port Canaveral and marks the first time the line will have a ship in Central Florida featuring all of the fantastic Fun Ship 2.0 bar, dining and entertainment innovations.
In turn, Carnival Dream will reposition from Port Canaveral to New Orleans to operate year-round seven-day Caribbean cruises beginning in April 2014, representing a 22 percent capacity increase on week-long sailings from the Big Easy. The 130,000-ton Carnival Dream is from the line’s newest and largest class of ships and offers an array of on-board facilities and features. Carnival is the only cruise line to operate two year-round ships from New Orleans and will carry more than 400,000 guests annually from this important Gulf Coast homeport.
Carnival will also increase capacity in Port Canaveral by 30 percent when Carnival Liberty launches year-round five- to eight-day Caribbean cruises in May 2014, adding a second Fun Ship 2.0-equipped vessel to the Space Coast. Guests will now have the widest variety of cruise vacations available from Port Canaveral including five cruise durations — from three to eight days — offering seven different itinerary options and the chance to visit 14 exciting destinations throughout The Bahamas and Caribbean. Carnival will be the only cruise line to offer three year-round ships from Port Canaveral to over 600,000 guests annually.
“These deployment changes will enable us to offer our guests even more exciting Carnival cruise vacation choices from Central Florida and the Gulf region,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival president and CEO.
Other Florida-Based Ship Deployments
Carnival Pride will reposition from Baltimore to Tampa to launch seven-day cruises from that port from December 2014 through April 2015, joining Carnival Paradise which offers value-packed four- and five-day cruises from Florida’s West Coast. On its new Tampa-based program, Carnival Pride will visit four magnificent western Caribbean destinations: Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Mahogany Bay (Roatan) and Belize. A special five-day cruise will be available on Carnival Pride departing Dec. 16, 2014, visiting Grand Cayman and Cozumel. There will also be unique eight-day one-way cruises available from Baltimore to San Juan on Nov. 30, 2014, and from San Juan to Tampa on Dec. 8, 2014. These voyages include visits to Grand Turk, St. Kitts, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.
Carnival Pride replaces Carnival Legend which will remain in Tampa through Aug. 17, 2014, and then reposition to Australia to operate a previously announced seasonal schedule of voyages from Sydney, joining Carnival Spirit which launched year-round departures from Down Under in October 2012.
Carnival also announced that Carnival Glory will remain in Miami year-round beginning in November 2013, operating seven-day voyages that alternate weekly to the eastern and western Caribbean with a convenient new Saturday departure. Eastern Caribbean cruises visit St. Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk and Nassau or Half Moon Cay, while western Caribbean departures feature Cozumel, Mahogany Bay (Roatan), Belize and Grand Cayman.
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