Diplomacy

Carnival Cruise Line has announced more short cruises to The Bahamas that depart from Florida in 2026-2027.

These new cruises will take place on three cruise ships that homeport in Miami and Port Canaveral. They range from three to five days with most of them visiting Carnival’s new port that is currently under construction in The Bahamas, Celebration Key.

Cruises from Miami

Carnival Conquest will continue to homeport in Miami offering mostly three- and four-day cruises to The Bahamas.

Three-day cruises will visit Celebration Key with the four-night sailings adding in a port stop at either Half Moon Cay or Princess Cays.

The cruise ship will also sail an 11-day Carnival Journeys cruise to the Southern Caribbean in January 2027.

Cruises from Port Canaveral

Carnival Freedom and Carnival Glory will sail shorter cruises to The Bahamas from Port Canaveral.

Carnival Glory will sail three-day weekend cruises that depart every Friday and four-day sailings that depart every Monday.

The three day cruises will visit Celebration Key with the four-night cruises alternating stops in Nassau, Celebration Key, Princess Cays and Half Moon Cay.

Carnival Freedom will offer four- and five-day cruises from the world’s busiest cruise port.

The four-day cruises will visit Celebration Key and Half Moon Cay with the five-day sailings adding a port stop in Nassau or Princess Cays.

Carnival Freedom will also offer two transatlantic Carnival Journeys cruises next year, with a 14-day voyage from Port Canaveral to Barcelona, with stops in Gibraltar as well as Malaga and Alicante in Spain, and a 13-day journey from Barcelona to Port Canaveral.

The ship will also sail an eight-day, round-trip Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona that visits Provence in France as well as Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Civitavecchia (Rome), Naples (Amalfi/Pompeii) in Italy and Valletta, Malta.

Carnival Cruise Line is planning an expansion to Half Moon Cay that will add more features and entertainment to the private island.

Fred Stein, vice president of itinerary planning for Carnival Cruise Line, said the following about these new cruises:

“These itineraries build out a key part of our 2026/27 schedule because they represent that quintessential, quick Carnival getaway from Florida to The Bahamas.

“These sailings give our guests many options to enjoy an escape, with all the vibrant onboard activities they know and love, plus a visit to the picturesque ports of The Bahamas, including our premier new destination Celebration Key.”

Gambling is not permitted on the Cayman Islands.   Historically, this restriction has been extended to cruise ships that pull into port as well.

But now, the territory is considering a proposal that would allow cruise ships to keep their casinos open, with the aim of keeping the vessels in port overnight.

According to news reports, Kenneth Bryan, Minister of Tourism for the Cayman Islands, is pushing forward the proposal in an attempt to allure more cruise traffic to the area.

The initiative would allow cruise ships to keep their casinos open even while the vessels are anchored in Grand Cayman Island at George Town Harbour.

However, this plan will only go into effect if a new cruise pier is also approved.  That vote will take place at the same time as the general election for the Cayman Islands.

The real push here is for overnight stays.  Bryan is hopeful that ship’s staying over night will help spur the territories economy and bring more foot traffic to local businesses.

If the proposal is passed, cruise ships will still have designated times in which casinos would be open to make sure passengers have time to explore the area.

Local residents of the Cayman Islands would still not be allowed to gamble and security measures will control port access.

In the past, Grand Cayman has seen well over one million cruise passengers annually.  But the Tourism Ministry has recently stated that about 750,000 cruise passengers are expected to visit in all of 2024.

This move is an attempt to ramp up cruise traffic once again, and allow passengers to spend more time in port.

Revenue from the cruise industry is expected to drop by at least 4% every year after 2025, and that’s a major reason for this proposal.

“We cannot afford to ignore this reality any longer without consequences,” The Minister of Tourism said.

The general election in the Cayman Islands will take place in the early part of 2025.

When MSC Cruises’ new flagship arrives in Miami in the spring of 2025, it will have 18 bars and lounges.

MSC World America is scheduled to enter service in April 2025 and it will be the cruise line’s largest ship sailing from the U.S. It will sail from MSC’s massive new terminal in Miami, the largest cruise terminal in North America.

Here is a look at a few of the unique bars and lounges that will be on MSC World America.

The All-Stars Sports Bar will be the perfect spot to watch a game and it will also have interactive darts, digital shuffleboard and foosball.

The sports bar will have a large terrace with ocean views.

Masters of the Seas is a British-style pub located in the heart of the Terraces district. It will have live music and a warm atmosphere.

The Coffee Emporium is a modern coffee house offering some of the best coffee beans in the world. French, Italian, Turkish and Moroccan coffees will be available here.

The Loft will be an adults only venue that will be filled with laughs, songs and dance.

Live comedy shows will take place here as well as dueling pianists. Karaoke nights will allow guests to show off their talents.

Sweet Temptations debuted on sister ship, MSC World Europa, and will be added to MSC World America since it was so popular.

Temptations will serve hand-crafted crazy-shakes, Venchi chocolates and gelato, self-serve frozen yogurt, make-your-own ice cream bars, hot crepes and waffles, donuts, and a variety of candies.

Other unique bars and lounges that will be found on MSC World America are the Mixology Bar, The Gin Project and Jean Philippe Chocolat & Café.

Neil Palomba, Executive Vice President of Operations, MSC Cruise s USA, said:

“MSC World America offered us a great opportunity to look at the amazing slate of bars and lounges we developed for her sister ship—MSC World Europa—and update them to make sure we’re delivering everything our guests want in the American market.

“For some venues, we’re overhauling menus with upscale cocktails, more bourbons, gin from craft American distilleries and new American-Style beers to ensure everyone can find what they like.

“Plus, the fan-favorite Sweet Temptations will be even sweeter. Other venues are entirely new, like The Loft, which brings a comedy club to the fleet for the first time, and the All-Stars Sports Bar, which we believe is easily the best place to watch your favorite team at sea. We can’t wait for our guests to see everything we have in store for them.”

MSC World America will sail from PortMiami offering seven-night cruises to The Bahamas and Caribbean.

All cruises on the ship from Miami will visit the cruise line’s award winning private island, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.

Princess Cruises has announced an epic 115-day cruise that will visit more ports than any other sailing in the cruise line’s history. The cruise will visit Hawaii, Australia & New Zealand, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Japan and Alaska.

Princess Cruises’ Circle Pacific 2026 sailing will offer two different options. The first is a 115-day roundtrip cruise from Los Angeles on January 21, 2026. Guests can also choose to get on 16 days earlier in Ft. Lauderdale for a 131-day journey.

This epic cruise from Princess will visit 19 countries and 60 ports, the most ever offered on a Princess cruise.

A few fun facts about this cruise on Coral Princess are:

• 115 or 131 days long
• 19 countries
• Four continents
• 60 ports (Princess record)
• 45 UNESCO World Heritage Sites
• Overnight/late night stays in Tokyo, Sydney, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Halong Bay

While the cruise can be booked in segments, those who book the entire 115-day or 131-day voyage before the end of the year will receive the Princess Premier package for free.

Princess Premier includes unlimited drinks, the fastest WiFi, daily gratuities (crew appreciation), unlimited specialty dining and more.

They will also receive $500 in onboard credit per guest, airfare and transfers.

After Coral Princess departs from Los Angeles on January 21, 2026, the ship will head to Hawaii and Tahiti as it makes its way to New Zealand and Australia.

The cruise will then head north to Asia visiting Singapore, Bali, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Japan.

After a week in Alaska, the ship will visit ports on the West Coast before arriving back in Los Angeles.

This epic new cruise from Princess will open to the general public for bookings on October 28, 2024.

Members of Princess Cruises’ loyalty program will also save up to $1,000 per person if they book by December 31, 2024.

For those who can’t take the entire 115-day cruise, smaller segments ranging from nine to 39 days are available. A total of 12 segments are available for this cruise.

Carnival Cruise Line continues to roll out new cruises that will set sail in 2026-2027 with the addition of new sailings to the Caribbean and Mexico.

Carnival has announced that they are extending the deployments of three cruise ships at their current homeports, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Valor and Carnival Panorama.

Carnival Liberty and Carnival Valor will both continue to homeport in New Orleans offering a variety of cruises to the Eastern, Western and Southern Caribbean.

Carnival Cruise Line has been sailing from New Orleans for 30 years and recently celebrated their 7 millionth guests sailing from the port.

Carnival Valor will sail shorter four- and five-night cruises to the Western Caribbean visiting Cozumel, Mexico. Five-night cruises will add a stop in Progresso.

Carnival Liberty will sail longer week-long cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean. The ship will also visit Carnival’s new port opening in The Bahamas, Celebration Key.

Longer Carnival Journeys cruises will be up to two weeks in length.

Carnival Panorama will continue to sail from Long Beach, California, where the ship has sailed from since its debut in late 2019.

Port stops the ship will visit include Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada, as well as Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and La Paz.

Fred Stein, vice president of itinerary planning for Carnival Cruise Line, said the following about these new cruises:

“The sailings we’re opening today showcase the diverse array of destinations and itineraries available to our guests. We believe variety is essential to allow guests to curate unforgettable cruises as they plan future vacations.

“New Orleans and Long Beach are vital to our homeport strategy, and bring great new options to our guests who sail from each port as we continue to broaden our overall cruise schedule for 2026-27.”

This news comes after Carnival announced expanded cruises from Miami and more sailings from Galveston, Texas.