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13 Former Carnival Ships – Where Are They Now?

Sarah Bretz, Contributor

• November 17, 2020
• 2.8K shares

Carnival Cruise Line, formed in 1972, is known today as the most popular cruise line in the world.

Since its conception, the cruise line has had eleven ships that are no longer sailing with them, five of them added to the list after the cruise industry shut down in 2020.

Some have been scrapped, and some continue to sail under other cruise lines today.

Check out a bit of history behind the twelve former ships and see where they are now.

1. Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras was sold to Carnival from Canadian Pacific in 1972 and was just over 18,000 gross registered tons. She sailed under the Carnival flag until 1993 and was then sold to Epirotiki.

Many names and a few cruise lines later, the ship was laid up and ultimately sold for scrap in 2003. She was in service for a total of 42 years.

In 2021, Carnival will debut the new Mardi Gras , the largest ship in the fleet. It will feature BOLT, the first roller coaster at sea, as well as a variety of new dining and bar venues.

2. Carnivale

Before being sold to Carnival in 1976, Carnivale was called Queen Ann Maria for the operator Greek Line. In 1993, Carnival transferred her over to a subsidiary cruise line, Fiesta Marina Cruises.

After a few other cruise lines and the ultimate name of Topaz sailing under the Peace Boat Organization, she was retired and laid up in April 2008.

The ship was beached in India to be scrapped that summer, and the process was completed in 2009.

3. Festivale

Carnival acquired Festivale in 1977 from the South African Marine Corporation. She was originally a mail service ocean liner, but when Carnival bought her, they refit her into a cruise ship in Japan for $30 million.

A few cruise lines later, she ended up with Premier Cruise Line, sailing under the name Big Red Boat III . When Premier went bankrupt in 2000, the ship was seized, and Big Red Boat III was ultimately scrapped in 2003.

4. Tropicale

Tropicale was a monumental ship for Carnival, as she was their very first new build. She began sailing in 1982, mainly in the Caribbean.

The ship was then transferred to Costa as Costa Tropicale , then to P&O Australia as the Pacific Star.

After that, she was sold to Pullmantur Cruises, refurbished, and sailed as Ocean Dream . As of 2012, Ocean Dream left Pullmantur and was chartered to Peace Boat.

In January 2021, the ship was scrapped.

Holiday was Carnival’s second purpose-built cruise ship. Constructed in Denmark, Holiday entered service in 1985. In 2003, she was refurbished, and in 2005, during Hurricane Katrina, she was used as temporary housing for victims of the storm.

She sailed from Alabama to the western Caribbean until 2009, when she was transferred to the fleet of Iberocruceros, another cruise line owned by Carnival Corp. and renamed Grand Holiday .

After that, she was transferred to the Ibero Cruises fleet and was transformed into a floating hotel for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. In 2014, she was sold to the British cruise line Cruise & Maritime Voyages and sailed for them under the name Magellan .

After CMV ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy in July 2020, Greek ferry operator SeaJets purchased Magellan at auction in October 2020 for $3.4 million.

Seajets is planning to turn the ship into a floating hotel in Liverpool for the 2021 Grand National, but she was resold for scrap due to high operating costs. She was renamed Mages and sailed to Alang, India, for scrapping in January 2021.

6. Celebration

Celebration was built for Carnival in 1986 in Sweden. She sailed for them until 2008, when she underwent a refurbishment and began sailing for Iberocruceros as the Grand Celebration .

In May 2014, she was transferred to Costa, and after a very short-lived run (she was actually sold the day before her first Costa cruise), she was acquired by the newly formed Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line to begin sailing in February 2015.

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line sold the ship in November 2020 , and she was beached in Alang, Turkey, on January 14, 2021, for scrapping.

Jubilee was built in Sweden in 1986 for Carnival Cruise Line, and Celebration and Holiday were her near-sister ships. In 2004, she was transferred to P&O Cruises Australia and renamed Pacific Sun .

In 2012, Pacific Sun left P&O and was sold to HNA Cruises, who named her Henna . She sailed for them until November 2015, when HNA shut down operations after three years of losing money.

The ship was sold and scrapped at the Alang, India yard in 2017.

Read More: Former Carnival Cruise Ship Getting Scrapped

8. Carnival Fantasy

Fantasy was the first ship in Carnival’s new Fantasy class when she entered service in March 1990. Built at Kavaerner Masa-Yards in Helsinki, Finland, the ship initially sailed Caribbean cruises from Miami.

In 2007, the ship was re-christened Carnival Fantasy and refurbished in 2008, 2016, and 2019. She sailed for Carnival for 30 years until the cruise industry shutdown in March 2020.

In July 2020, Carnival sold the ship, and it was scrapped in Aliaga, Turkey.

LAST LOOK: Remembering Carnival Fantasy [PHOTOS]

9. Carnival Ecstasy

Carnival Ecstasy debuted in 1991, and it is the second ship in the Fantasy Class.

As one of the most versatile and popular vessels in the “Fun Ship” fleet, her over-the-top Joe Farcus-designed interiors became a fan-favorite, including the iconic 1934 Rolls-Royce Saloon, which was later relocated to the Gateway on Carnival Celebration.

In February 2022, Carnival announced the retirement of Carnival Ecstasy and Carnival Sensation from the fleet. Unlike Sensation, Ecstasy resumed its regular service in Mobile, Alabama, from March to October 2022.

It is the only ship out of the six other retired Fantasy-class ships that offered a farewell cruise season to its guests.

The last voyage happened from October 10 to 15, 2022. In November 2022, the ship arrived at the Aliağa scrapyards in Turkey for scrapping.

10. Carnival Sensation

Launched in 1993, the Carnival Sensation was one of the early stars of Carnival Cruise Line’s Fantasy-class ships. Built in Finland, she joined her sisters Fantasy, Ecstasy, and Imagination in bringing a more casual and fun-focused approach to cruising.

Back then, she was considered quite the modern marvel, boasting features like the seven-deck-high neon-splashed atrium, a tiered lido deck, and even a 24-hour pizzeria. Her inaugural season saw her setting sail from Miami, whisking passengers away to the Bahamas and the Caribbean on sunny escapes.

Over the years, the Sensation saw several renovations and updates, adding balconies to cabins and sprucing up public spaces. She also switched home ports a few times, spending stints in Tampa and Port Canaveral before returning to Miami.

In 2022, the Sensation’s time came to an end. After nearly 30 years of service, she was sold for scrap.

11. Carnival Fascination

Fascination entered service in 1994 as the fourth member of Carnival Cruise Line’s Fantasy class. The ship was built, like her sisters, in the Kavaerner Masa-Yards in Helsinki, Finland. She was re-christened Carnival Fascination in 2007.

In her 26 years of operating for Carnival, she received refurbishments and upgrades in 2006, 2010, and 2013. Fascination cruised from New York, San Juan, and Jacksonville.

In July 2020, Fascination entered long-term layup status and was sold to a disclosed buyer, later revealed to be an Asian company, for use as a floating hotel. In November, she underwent a name change from Carnival Fascination to Century Harmony .

However, due to strict Chinese policy, the ship wasn’t able to sail. In October 2021, she was sold for scrap and arrived at Gadani, Pakistan, in February 2022 as Y Harmony .

12. Carnival Imagination

Like her Fantasy-class sisters, Imagination was built at Kavaerner Masa-Yards in Helsinki, Finland. The ship entered service in 1995 and most recently sailed Mexican Riviera itineraries from Long Beach, California.

The ship was renamed Carnival Imagination in 2007 and was refurbished most recently in 2016.

The vessel entered long-term layup status in July 2020; Carnival announced the ship had been sold for scrap in August 2020 and was sent to the scrapyard in Aliaga, Turkey.

Last Look: Remembering Carnival Imagination [PHOTOS]

13. Carnival Inspiration

Built in 1996 at the Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Helsinki, Finland, Inspiration was the fifth entry in the Fantasy class. Renamed Carnival Inspiration in 2007, the ship was most recently refurbished in 2010.

The ship sailed Mexican Riviera cruises from Long Beach, California. After the cruise industry shut down in March 2020, Carnival announced in July that the ship and Carnival Fantasy had been sold for scrap and sent to the shipbreakers in Aliaga, Turkey.

Last Look: Remembering Carnival Inspiration [PHOTOS]

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Complete Map of Carnival Fleet by Homeport & List of Ships

No cruise line is as large and well-represented in cruising as Carnival. The line is the largest in the North American market, with roughly two dozen ships sailing from ports across the United States, from Long Beach to Galveston to Miami to Baltimore to San Juan.

From smaller, older ships like the Carnival Fantasy (in service since 1990) to huge, brand-new ships like the Carnival Horizon (in service since 2018), the cruise line has a ton of variety in the ships that it sails. One common theme, however, is the distinctive red funnel that is a trademark of Carnival’s ships.

And if you are looking for that funnel, we have just the map for you. With more than 20 ships in service, it can be tough to keep trap of which ships call which port home. In addition, the line regularly moves ships to ports around the country, making it even more difficult to know which ship is cruising from where.

Below, we’ve put together a map to help you see visually which ships sail from which port. Simply click on the markers to see the ships. For busy ports such as Miami, zoom in to see each individual marker.

Keep in mind that this map shows only home ports for ships currently sailing from the United States.

Map of Carnival Ships

In addition, we’ve also put together a list of all of these ships where you can see exactly where each ship is ported and more information. The table is fully sortable, so you can order them by which port they sail from, from newest to oldest, or from largest to smallest.

Keep in mind that this table and map will change regularly. As the seasons change, so do the cruise ship locations. For example, Seattle sees an influx of ships in the summer for the Alaskan cruising season, but those ships depart in September for other trips.

As well, Carnival continues to add to its fleet. The next ship from the cruise line, Carnival Panorama , is set to debut in late 2019 and sail from the Port of Long Beach.

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Here Are The Carnival Ships Currently Cruising

• August 27, 2021

After resuming service on August 21, the Carnival Panorama became the latest vessel to join  Carnival Cruise Line’s active lineup.

In August, a total of three vessels restarted operations bringing the company’s number of cruise ships in revenue operations to eight.

Here are the ships currently in operation:

Ship:  Carnival Vista Capacity (at 100% Occupancy): 4,000 Built:  2016 Homeport:  Galveston, Texas Itinerary: Seven-night Western Caribbean In Service Since:   July 3, 2021 Ship:  Carnival Horizon   Capacity (at 100% Occupancy): 4,000 Built:  2018 Homeport: Miami, Florida Itinerary: Six-night Eastern Caribbean and Eight-night Southern Caribbean In Service Since:   July 4, 2021

Ship:  Carnival Breeze Capacity (at 100% Occupancy): 3,650 Built:  2012 Homeport:  Galveston, Texas Itinerary: Short Cruises to Mexico In Service Since:   July 15, 2021

Ship:  Carnival Miracle   Capacity (at 100% Occupancy): 2,100 Built:  2004 Homeport:  Seattle, Washington Itinerary: Seven-night Alaska In Service Since:   July 27, 2021

Ship:  Mardi Gras    Capacity (at 100% Occupancy): 5,200 Built:  2020 Homeport:  Port Canaveral, Florida Itinerary: Seven-night Western and Eastern Caribbean   In Service Since:   July 31, 2021

Ship:  Carnival Magic   Capacity (at 100% Occupancy): 3,650 Built:  2011 Homeport: Port Canaveral, Florida Itinerary: Short Cruises to Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean  In Service Since:  August 7, 2021

Ship:  Carnival Sunrise   Capacity (at 100% Occupancy): 2,984 Built:  1999 Homeport: Miami, Florida Itinerary: Short Cruises to Bahamas and Western Caribbean  In Service Since:   August 14, 2021

Ship:  Carnival Panorama Capacity (at 100% Occupancy): 4,000 Built:  2019 Homeport: Long Beach, California Itinerary: Seven-night Mexican Riviera In Service Since:   August 21, 2021

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Carnival Vista

Cruise line Carnival Cruise Line

• Port Canaveral (Orlando, Florida)

Carnival Vista current position

Carnival Vista current location is at North West Atlantic Ocean (coordinates 19.05182 N / -66.87398 W) cruising at speed of 19.7 kn (36 km/h | 23 mph) en route to USSJU>TCGDT. The AIS position was reported 20 minutes ago.

Current itinerary of Carnival Vista

Carnival Vista current cruise is 8 days, round-trip Eastern Caribbean . Prices start from USD 909 (double occupancy rates). The itinerary starts on 06 Apr, 2024 and ends on 14 Apr, 2024 .

Specifications of Carnival Vista

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Carnival Vista Itineraries

Carnival vista review, review of carnival vista.

The 2016-built Carnival Vista cruise ship is the first Vista-class (modified Dream-class) CCL liner. Vista is Carnival's "the most family-friendly ship" with the company's newest kids- and family-dedicated staterooms, facilities and amenities. Vista is Carnival's 25th vessel.

From the same series (Vista-Class sisterships) are the fleetmates Carnival Horizon (2018) and Carnival Panorama (2019), as well as the former Costa 's liners Carnival Venezia (2019 as Costa Venezia) and Carnival Firenze (2020 as Costa Firenze) and Adora 's ships Adora Magic City (2023) and Adora TBN (2024).

The vessel (IMO number 9692569) is currently Panama- flagged (MMSI 356883000) and registered in Colon .

History - construction and ownership

Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) is a US shipping company, trademarked brand and subsidiary of Carnival Corporation (shipowner). CCL was founded in 1972 as an independent company by Ted Arison (1924-1999, co-founder of NCL Norwegian ). 

CCL has the Corporation's largest fleet as number of vessels and GT-tonnage (ship sizes/volumes and passenger capacities). In 2023, CCL had ~9% (by revenue) and ~19% (passengers) share of the cruise industry's worldwide market. In 2024, the parent company (Carnival Corporation) had ~51% stake in the US$64+ billion industry.

The 4000-passenger ship Carnival Vista was delivered on April 28, 2016. The ship has all the "Carnival Fun Ship 2.0" facilities and amenities/programs. Among the many first-at-sea features are the Multiplex (the first at sea IMAX theater with a 3-deck high LED screen), Skyride (peddled roller coaster bike ride), Havana cabins complex (with exclusive pool, lounge and bar), Family Harbor staterooms (new cabin grades), fleet's biggest SportsSquare (sports complex).

With the 3x Vista-class liners (Vista/2016, Horizon/2018, Panorama/2019) were introduced the fleet-firsts "IMAX Theater at Sea" (87-seats cinema/part of Carnival Multiplex), "SkyRide" (outdoor/aerial bicycle ride/suspended 2-track bike course), Havana Staterooms (cabin complex with a swimming pool, sundeck, lounge, lanai balconies).

Decks and Cabins

Carnival Vista staterooms (1965 total, in 34 categories) include 74 Suites, 912 Balcony, 264 Oceanview and 749 Inside, including 42 wheelchair-accessible and 104 "Cloud 9 Spa" cabins. Most cabins are sized 170-185 (16-17 m2). Most cabin balconies are sized 35 ft2 (3 m2). The largest are Grand Suites (345 ft2 / 32 m2 plus 85 ft2 / 8 m2 terrace). All Spa staterooms receive exclusive access to Spa facilities (Panorama Deck) and the following amenities: Spa reservations, complimentary use of Thalassotherapy Pool and Thermal Suite, fitness classes, deluxe bath amenities.

Carnival Vista, like all Vista-class sisterships, has the new cabin types/categories Havana Cabana, Family Harbor, Deluxe Oceanview. CCL Panorama ship has 18 Havana Cabana and 86 Family Harbor staterooms - nautically-themed, with exclusive access to private facilities (Cafe-Bar-Lounge, Sundeck with a swimming pool).

The boat has 14 passenger-accessible decks of which 13 are with cabins.

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

Carnival Vista offers two main dining rooms, Horizons, and Reflections. Horizons hosts a small bar suited for pre-dinner drinks. The main dining rooms feature select items from the onboard steakhouse, available for an additional fee. Vista also has a Lido buffet. Seafood lovers are pampered with the Seafood Shack - brand new to Carnival fleet, New England-inspired casual eatery located on top deck. It offers both indoor and outdoor seating and the menu includes steamed lobster, lobster rolls, fried shrimp, fried clams, crab cakes, and other seafood surprises. Seafood Shack serves lunch and dinner and is priced a la carte starting at $4.

The available on all Fun ships Chef's Table is a dining experience that affords a dozen guests to experience multicourse dinner with the master chef, private cocktail reception and a tour of the galley. This dining option usually takes place in a non-traditional venue, like the library or the galley, and can be booked onboard for US$75 per person.

In May 2017, CCL created a tropical-flavored draft beer via a partnership with the Miami-based Concrete Beach Brewery. The special beer is served exclusively at the "RedFrog Pub and Brewery" on Carnival Vista - the first brewery found on a North America-based cruise liner. The new Miami Guava Wheat Beer was hand-crafted by Colin Presby (brewmaster on the shipboard brewery) and made with best ingredients.

• The Miami Guava beer has a light body and its primary ingredient is pink guava, also used in Miami's popular guava pastries. The new beer is available on a limited basis, and joins the other original draft beers brewed on the ship - ThirstyFrog Red (clean and light), ThirstyFrog Port Hoppin' IPA (floral flavor, with passion fruit and citrus overtones), ThirstyFrog Caribbean Wheat (unfiltered lager with banana aroma and spices), FriskyFrog Java Stout (with hints of coffee), ParchedPig West Coast IPA (West Coast IPA/India Pale Ale, citrus and pine aroma), ParchedPig Toasted Amber Ale (toasted caramel/biscuit flavored), Carnival Birthday Beer (golden ale introduced in 2022 for the company's 50th Anniversary).
• Concrete Beach Brewery is an "Alchemy and Science" beer brand, operating as an independent subsidiary of "The Boston Beer Company". Other "Alchemy and Science" breweries in the USA include Angel City Brewery (Los Angeles) and Coney Island Brewing Co (Brooklyn, NYC New York). Their most popular draft beers are named "Tropic of Passion" (Miami), Angel City IPA (LA), and Coney Island Mermaid Pilsner (NYC).
• US-homeported Carnival ships serve the Concrete Beach Brewery’s Rica Wheat IPA, Angel City Brewery’s Pilsner, Coney Island’s Hard Root Beer, and 1609 Amber. On a regional basis, Carnival ships leaving from Miami offer Concrete Beach Brewery's Stiltsville Pilsner, ships from Long Beach (Los Angeles) offer Angel City Brewery IPA, and ships departing from NYC offer Coney Island Mermaid Pilsner.

Carnival Cruise Line also offers draft beers brewed either locally (in homeports) or within the homeport state. Such beers are offered on liners leaving from NOLA New Orleans, Galveston TX, Baltimore MD, and Tampa FL, as well as on boats visiting Alaska and Hawaii.

The current list of draft beers brewed on the ship includes ThirstyFrog Red (clean and light), ThirstyFrog Port Hoppin' IPA (floral flavor, with passion fruit and citrus overtones), ThirstyFrog Caribbean Wheat (unfiltered lager with banana aroma and spices), FriskyFrog Java Stout (with hints of coffee), ParchedPig West Coast IPA (West Coast IPA/India Pale Ale, citrus and pine aroma), ParchedPig Toasted Amber Ale (toasted caramel/biscuit flavored), Miami Guava (primary ingredient is pink guava), ParchedPig Farmhouse Ale (dry beer), ParchedPig Smoked Porter (in-house smoked malt, hickory smoke, molasses), ParchedPig Beach Lager (golden ale available both on tap and in cans/when served in bars/dining venues), Carnival Birthday Beer (golden ale introduced in 2022 for the company's 50th Anniversary).

Follows the complete list of Carnival Vista restaurants and food bars.

• Reflections Restaurant (1474-seat, complimentary MDR; the bigger of ship’s two main dining rooms; offers two fixed dinner seatings and open seating Breakfast and Lunch; “Seuss At Sea” themed breakfasts costs $5 cover charge)
• Horizon’s Restaurant (702-seat; offers formal dining with two fixed dinner seatings and “Anytime Dining” between 5:45-9:30 p.m.)
• Bonsai Sushi Bar (Japanese restaurant)
• (new) Guy's Pig and Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse / Brewhouse is a complimentary open-air restaurant for a variety of BBQ favorites (with shipboard-smoked meats) and house-made craft beers. The menu features pork butt, blue ribbon chicken, sliced smoked beef, Guy Fieri's traditional sides, and gourmet burgers, a variety of BBQ sauces, hot sauce bar. Signature menu items are named Mac Daddy Mac'n Cheese, Old Skool Potato Salad, Scratch-Made Slaw, Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey, Molasses Baked Beans with Bacon and Burnt Ends. The new complimentary eatery is via a partnership with celebrity chef Guy Fieri. The other Fun Ship with a brewery is Carnival Horizon .
• Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse (specialty restaurant, with “Chef’s Table” dining)
• Guy’s Burger Joint (poolside burger bar)
• Guy’s Pig and Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse
• Bluelguana Cantina (poolside Mexican fast food bar)
• Alchemy Bar
• Lido Marketplace (825-seat self-service buffet restaurant)
• Pizzeria del Capitano (24-hour pizzeria restaurant)
• Seafood Shack (offers indoor and outdoor seating, lobster and shrimp; a la carte priced)
• Cucina del Capitano (Italian Trattoria)
• Ji Ji Asian Kitchen (specialty Asian restaurant)

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

Long-known for an abundance of entertainment, Carnival is not sitting on its laurels with Vista. The fun onboard starts with SkyRide, the industry's first open-air, pedal-powered aerial ride. Riders have to climb onboard a hanging bike and "cycle" their way around the 800ft suspended track, 150 feet above sea level.

If you consider that SkyRide does not provide the needed adrenaline-pumping action, SkyCourse ropes circuit will do. Both SkyCourse and SkyRide are part of the SportSquare, which also features an indoor hangout, mini-bowling, The Clubhouse, Ping-Pong, sports video gaming, arcade basketball and more.

Vista also boasts the biggest Carnival WaterWorks park, including the enclosed Kaleid-O-Slide water tube, on which riders enjoy 455 ft (139 m) of turns, twists and unique kaleidoscopic visual effects. Traditionally, the WaterWorks park also includes the Carnival's signature Twister waterslide, kids splash zone, and the 300-gallon tipping bucket PowerDrencher.

The following official YouTube video reviews Carnival's Vista-class vessels (Vista and Horizon) as facilities and onboard amenities.

Follows the complete list of Carnival Vista lounges, clubs and other entertainment venues for kids, teens, and adults.

• Family Harbor Lounge (a new, dedicated to families space with 24-hour complimentary dining, concierge and babysitting service, movies, video games, board games by Hasbro)
• Liquid Lounge (1400-seat, 2-level show lounge, with “Playlist Productions” and “Hasbro Game Shows”)
• Vista Atrium (3-deck high midship lounge area with LED screens, live performances, visual displays; served by 100-seat Vista Lobby Bar)
• Shopping Arcade (with two Boutique Shops and two Fun Shops); Pixels Photo Gallery and Shop; Dream Photo Studio; Cherry on Top (candy shop)
• Vista Casino (484-seat)
• Limelight Lounge
• Lanai promenade (with 60 outdoor seats, served by Lanai Bar-BQ Bar)
• FunHub (Internet room)
• Shake Spot; Taste Bar; Havana Bar; Clubhouse and Bar; JavaBlue Café
• Ocean Plaza (270-seat lounge served by 50-seat Plaza Cafe)
• Havana Outside (Havana pool area with one swimming pool, two whirlpools, palm trees)
• Carnival Multiplex (includes IMAX and Thrill cinemas)
• Thrill Theatre (5D cinema room)
• IMAX Theater (the first IMAX at sea, with 3-deck high screen)
• Circle C (kids club lounge); Club O2 (teens club lounge)
• Warehouse (Video Arcade)
• BlueIguana Tequila Bar (poolside Mexican bar)
• RedFrog Rum Bar (also serves the ThirstyFrog Red draught beer)
• Tides Pool (with one swimming pool, two Whirlpools, sunbathing area; served by Tides Bar)
• Camp Ocean (formerly known as "Camp Carnival" - youth activities program)
• Dr. Seuss Bookville (family-themed kids room with all Dr. Seuss books available to read; offers games and themed activities)
• Carnival Cloud 9 Spa (wellness complex)
• Carnival WaterWorks (water-play outdoor area with AquaPark, Twister waterslide, Kaleid-O-Slide)
• Seaside Theatre (with huge LED screen)
• SportSquare (outdoor sporting area); SkyGreens (mini golf); Jogging Track
• SkyFitness (outdoors)
• SkyRide (“bicycle ride in the sky”)
• SkyCourse (suspended ropes course)
• Serenity Retreat (adults relaxation area served by Serenity Bar, with 2 cantilevered Whirlpools and sunbathing area).

Itineraries

During the 2016 inaugural season in Europe, the liner operated on 8- to 13-day Mediterranean itineraries out of homeports Athens Greece and Barcelona Spain . In November, the ship was repositioned to New York for two 11-day cruises and later that month started year-round Caribbean service from Miami .

The 2017-2018 program was based on departures from PortMiami Florida . On its roundtrips from Florida, the liner visited popular islands and ports in Eastern, Western and Southern Caribbean, including Dominicana, Puerto Rico, Cozumel, Jamaica, Grand Turk, St Kitts, St Maarten, Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao.

On September 23, 2018, Carnival Vista arrived in its new homeport Galveston Texas , where joined the fleet mates Carnival Valor and Carnival Freedom for year-round departures from the port. Together, the three liners operate over 200 voyages and carrying over 600,000 passengers annually.

From Galveston TX, Carnival Vista cruises on 7-day Western Caribbean itineraries visiting Jamaica (Montego Bay), Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize City, Mexico (Cozumel).

Carnival Vista - user reviews and comments

Photos of carnival vista.

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Other Carnival Cruise Line cruise ships

• Carnival Breeze
• Carnival Celebration
• Carnival Conquest
• Carnival Dream
• Carnival Elation
• Carnival Firenze
• Carnival Freedom
• Carnival Glory
• Carnival Horizon
• Carnival Jubilee
• Carnival Legend
• Carnival Liberty
• Carnival Luminosa
• Carnival Magic
• Carnival Mardi Gras
• Carnival Miracle
• Carnival Panorama
• Carnival Paradise
• Carnival Pride
• Carnival Radiance
• Carnival Spirit
• Carnival Splendor
• Carnival Sunrise
• Carnival Sunshine
• Carnival Valor
• Carnival Venezia

Carnival Vista Wiki

The vessel (Fincantieri Monfalcone yard/hull number 6242) has volume 133596 GT-tons, DWT-deadweight tonnage 13415 tons, max draught 8,6 m. The powerplant is based on 5x MAN marine diesel engines (4-stroke, common-rail injection/2x 14V48/60CR plus 3x 8L48/60CR) with combined output 62,4 MW (83680 hp). The propulsion is diesel-electric and based on two ABB Azipod thrusters with combined output 33 MW (44250 hp). The registered shipowner is CARNIVAL CORPORATION while the registered manager is CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE (both companies are Florida USA-based).

The vessel's steel-cutting ceremony was in February 2014, and its keel was laid in October. By gross tonnage, Vista-class are currently the largest Carnival liners. They also have new for the fleet features, like Multiplex media entertainment complex (IMAX theater - 3-deck high LED screen for first-run movies, plus 3D Thrill cinema), SkyRide (roller coaster with multiple riding bicycles on 2 paralleled tracks), larger SportsSquare complex, Havana Outside complex (pool, jacuzzies, bar, new Havana cruise accommodations), Family Harbor staterooms (with its own family-themed lounge /24-hour dining, concierge, babysitting, entertainment).

On April 28, 2016, the ship was officially delivered to Carnival Corporation by Fincantieri Monfalcone . After the repositioning from shipyard Monfalcone to Trieste started the "Inaugural Cruise" (May 1). The 13-day maiden voyage itinerary (Trieste to Barcelona, May 1 - 14) visited Dubrovnik, Athens, Izmir, Iraklion, Valletta, Palermo, Rome, Livorno, and Marseille.

On June 25, 2015, was the vessel's launch (float-out from drydock) at Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard. The ceremony was preceded by the traditional “coin ceremony”, during which a silver dollar was welded on the ship's last deck. Godmothers of the launching were Heidi Heald and Kye Heald - respectively, wife and daughter of John Heald (Carnival Corporation's Brand Ambassador). The ceremony was also attended by Benoit Clement (Carnival's VP New Builds & Refurbishment), Gabriele Cocco (Fincantieri's Merchant Ships Business Unit's SE and VP) and Attilio Dapelo (Monfalcone shipyard's Director).

On November 4, 2016, was the vessel's christening ceremony held in NYC New York . Ship's official godmother is Mrs Deshauna Barber ("Miss USA 2016"). She is the first US military-serving woman who won the 65th Miss USA pageant (held on June 5, 2016, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada). The cruise ship's naming ceremony was part of an overnight onboard event honoring "Operation Homefront" (nonprofit supporting US military families). This special event featured an exclusive (invitation-only) concert performances by the US country music star Carrie Underwood. Being an overnight ceremony, the invited nearly 2000 guests (Carnival executives, travel agents, media, hundreds of military families) also enjoyed free accommodations, food, drinks, and all the themed activities and onboard entertainment.

Carnival Vista's Inaugural season was in Europe. Mediterranean itineraries were scheduled for the whole 2016 summer, visiting ports in Greece and Greek Isles (Athens, Corfu, Rhodes, Crete /Heraklion), Turkey (Izmir), Spain (Barcelona, Palma), Croatia (Dubrovnik), Italy/Sicily (Livorno, Messina, Sardinia, Trieste, Naples, Rome), Malta (La Valetta) and France (Marseille). Ship's Inaugural Cruise/Maiden Voyage started on May 1, 2016, from Trieste Italy . The 13-day itinerary ended in Barcelona Spain . The maiden voyage was followed by a total of 18x Mediterranean cruises (in Europe). After the summer European season (May through October 2016) followed the 13-day Inaugural Transatlantic cruise crossing to NYC.

Ship's first US homeport was Miami Florida . Out of Miami were operated year-round roundtrip 7-day Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries (starting November 2016).

Carnival Vista refurbishment 2024 review

On January 8th, 2024, the ship left Port Canaveral Florida USA for an 8-day Transatlantic crossing to Europe, arriving in Cadiz Spain (Jan 16th, at 15:36 UTC) for a scheduled drydock.

The two-week drydocking project was conducted at Navantia Shipyard. It was for general maintenance works (technical overhaul, classification inspections, indoor renovation works), as well as hull cleaning/painting, including the addition of CCL’s new hull livery (red-white-blue).

All public areas (facilities and venues) as well as all passenger staterooms were refurbished.

Bahamas 2019 drydocking by Boskalis Vanguard

In July 2019, Carnival contracted the Dutch dredging and heavy-lift company Royal Boskalis Westminster NV (headquartered in Papendrecht, Holland) to lift Carnival Vista out of the water and onto the vessel BOKA Vanguard (IMO 9618783) and transport the cruise ship to Grand Bahama Shipyard ( Freeport Bahamas ) for repairs.

This floating drydock operation (world's first for a passenger ship) was required due to technical issues with liner’s azipods (propulsion units positioned under waterline). For the operation, Boskalis deployed the heavy-load carrier BOKA Vanguard - currently world’s largest heavy-lifting vessel (semi-submersible platform).

The carrier arrived in The Bahamas on July 5 to prepare for liner’s arrival (July 12). The loading and lifting operation was planned for July 12-14. Carnival Vista's repairs took place whilst the ship was on BOKA Vanguard. Due to the needed repairs , the ship was out of service for 3 weeks and three 7-day Western Caribbean cruises from homeport Galveston TX were canceled (departures July 6, 13, 20). Note: Grand Bahama Shipyard's drydock facility sustained damages when a crane collapsed onto Oasis Of The Seas (April 1, 2019).

BOKA Vanguard vessel is usually used to lift and transport large-sized offshore structures (oil and gas platforms), also to carry other vessels and as an offshore floating drydock. The ship has an open and flat stern and bow deck (275x70 m / 902x230 ft) allowing it to handle cargoes that are longer and wider. The deck is submerged by controlled filling vessel's ballast tanks with seawater. As drydocking facility, BOKA Vanguard allows under waterline inspections and hull/propulsion repairs to be conducted at sea.

Finding what to do in Cozumel for a day is now easy, a wide set of options to help you plan for your Shore Excursion in Cozumel

11 Former Carnival Ships – Where Are They Now?

Carnival Cruise Line, formed in 1972, is known today as the most popular cruise line in the world. Since its conception, the cruise line has had eleven ships that are no longer sailing with them, four of them added to the list after the cruise industry shutdown in 2020. Some have  been scrapped, and some continue to sail under other cruise lines today.  Check out a bit of history behind eleven former ships, and see where they are now.

Carnivale | Celebration | Carnival Fantasy | Carnival Fascination | Festivale | Holiday | Carnival Imagination | Carnival Inspiration | Jubilee | Mardi Gras | Tropicale

photo: Wikipedia

Before being sold to Carnival in 1976, Carnivale was called Queen Ann Maria for the operator Greek Line.  In 1993, Carnival transferred her over to a subsidiary cruise line, Fiesta Marina Cruises.  After a few other cruise lines and the ultimate name of Topaz sailing under the Peace Boat Organization, she was retired and laid up in April 2008.  That summer, the ship was beached in India to be scrapped, and the process was completed in 2009.

Celebration

Celebration as Grand Celebration – photo: Wikipedia

Celebration was built for Carnival in 1986 in Sweden.  She sailed for them until 2008, when she underwent a refurbishment and began sailing for Iberocruceros as the Grand Celebration .  In May 2014, she was transferred to Costa, and after a very short-lived run, was sold to the newly formed Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line to begin sailing in February 2015.  Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line reportedly sold the ship in November 2020 and it is enroute to Alang, India to be scrapped.

Carnival Fantasy

F antasy was the first ship in Carnival’s new Fantasy-class when she entered service in March 1990. Built at Kavaerner Masa-Yards in Helsinki, Finland, the ship initially sailed Caribbean cruises from Miami, In 2007, the ship was re-christened Carnival Fantasy , and she was refurbished in 2008, 2016 and 2019. She sailed for Carnival for 30 years, until the cruise industry shutdown in March 2020. In July 2020, Carnival sold the ship and it was scrapped in Aliaga, Turkey.

Carnival Fascination

Photo:  Carnival Cruise Line

Fascination entered service in 1994 as the fourth member of Carnival Cruise Line’s Fantasy-class. The ship was built, like her sisters, in the Kavaerner Masa-Yards in Helsinki, Finland. She was re-christened Carnival Fascination in 2007. In her 26 years operating for Carnival, and received refurbishments and upgrades in 2006, 2010 and 2013. Fascination cruised from New York, San Juan and Jacksonville. In July 2020, Fascination entered long-term layup status and was sold to an disclosed buyer, later revealed to be an Asian company, for use as an “accommodation ship.” At last report, the vessel was enroute to Singapore for a technical stop. Of the four Fantasy-class ships sold by Carnival in 2020, she is the only vessel not to meet an ultimate fate at the scrapyard.

Carnival acquired Festivale in 1977 from the South African Marine Corporation.  She was originally a mail service ocean liner, but when Carnival bought her, they refit her into a cruise ship in Japan for $30 million.  A few cruise lines later, she ended up with Premier Cruise Line sailing under the name Big Red Boat III .  When Premier went bankrupt in 2000, the ship was seized, and Big Red Boat III was ultimately scrapped in 2003.

Holiday was Carnival’s second purpose-built cruise ship. Constructed in Denmark, Holiday entered service in 1985.  In 2003, she was refurbished, and in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina, she was used as temporary housing for victims of the storm.  She sailed from Alabama to the western Caribbean until 2009, when she was transferred to the fleet of Iberocruceros, another cruise line owned by Carnival Corp and renamed Grand Holiday . After that, she was transferred to the Ibero Cruises fleet, and was transformed into a floating hotel for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.  In 2014, she was sold to the British cruise line Cruise & Maritime Voyages and sailed for them under the name Magellan . After CMV ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy in July 2020, Greek ferry operator SeaJets purchased Magellan at auction in November 2020 for $3 million.

Carnival Imagination

photo: Carnival Cruise Line

Like her Fantasy-class sisters, Imagination was built at Kavaerner Masa-Yards in Helsinki, Finland. The ship entered service in 1995, and most-recently sailed Mexican Riviera itineraries from Long Beach, California. The ship was renamed Carnival Imagination in 2007 and refurbished most recently in 2016. The vessel entered long-term layup status in July 2020; Carnival announced the ship has been sold for scrap in August 2020, and the ship was sent to the scrapyard in Aliaga, Turkey.

Carnival Inspiration

Carnival Inspiration departing Long Beach as seen from the decks of the Queen Mary . Photo by Tom Nicolai.

Built in 1996 at the Kavaerner Masa-Yards in Helsinki, Finland, Inspiration was the fifth entry in the Fantasy-class. Renamed Carnival Inspiration in 2007, the ship was most recently refurbished in 2010. The ship sailed Mexican Riviera cruises from Long Beach, California. After the cruise industry shutdown in March 2020, Carnival announced in July that the ship, along with Carnival Fantasy had been so sold for scrap and were sent to the shipbreakers in Aliaga, Turkey.

Jubilee as Pacific Sun for P&O – photo: Wikipedia

Jubilee was built in Sweden in 1986 for Carnival Cruise Line, and Celebration and Holiday were her near-sister ships.  In 2004, she was transferred to P&O Cruises Australia and renamed Pacific Sun .  In 2012, Pacific Sun left P&O and was sold to HNA Cruises, who named her Henna .  She sailed for them until November 2015, when HNA shut down operations after three years of losing money.  The ship was sold and scrapped at the yard in Alang, India in 2017.

Read More: Former Carnival Cruise Ship Getting Scrapped

photo: shipnostalgia.com

Mardi Gras was sold to Carnival from Canadian Pacific in 1972, and was just over 18,000 gross registered tons.  She sailed under the Carnival flag until 1993, and was then sold to Epirotiki.  Many names and a few cruise lines later, the ship was laid up and ultimately sold for scrap in 2003.  She was in service for a total of 42 years. In 2021, Carnival will debut the new Mardi Gras , the largest ship in the fleet, featuring BOLT, the first roller coaster at sea.

Tropicale as Ocean Dream for Pullmantur – photo: Wikipedia

Tropicale was a monumental ship for Carnival, as she was their very first new build.  She began sailing in 1982 mainly in the Caribbean.  The ship was then transferred to Costa as Costa Tropicale , then P&O Australia as the Pacific Star.  After that, she was sold to Pullmantur Cruises, refurbished, and sailed as Ocean Dream .  As of 2012, Ocean Dream left Pullmantur, and is chartered to Peace Boat.

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The ultimate guide to Carnival Cruise Line ships and itineraries

If the United States has a national cruise line, it's Carnival .

The self-described "fun ship" line is the king of short, affordable, fun-focused cruises from U.S. ports to the Caribbean, Bahamas, Mexico and other nearby destinations. No matter where you live in the U.S., you're probably within a few hours of a Carnival ship.

Where you won't find Carnival ships, notably, is in Asia, South America or, for the most part, Europe. Unlike other big cruise brands such as Royal Caribbean , Norwegian Cruise Line and Princess Cruises , Carnival doesn't spread its vessels around the world to draw a fly-in crowd. Aimed squarely at Americans, its trips are all about cruising close to home at a reasonable price.

For more cruise guides, news and tips, sign up for TPG's cruise newsletter .

Indeed, if you're going on a Carnival cruise , the odds are you're driving to the ship, not flying, and you're probably not paying much more than you would for a trip to a local beach town.

You're also not going for anything too highbrow. Carnival ships are all about fun in a very laid-back, unpretentious, nothing-too-fancy sort of way.

Entertainment, at times, is as lowbrow as the line is low-cost. This is, after all, the brand that for many years held a Hairy Chest Contest around the pool deck on every voyage, to a standing-room-only, hooting and hollering crowd.

The fun comes in many ways, though. While Carnival's ships for the most part aren't quite as big as the giant ships operated by Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, they're packed with a wide range of fun features, from waterparks with multiple waterslides to cooking classrooms where you can learn how to make the line's signature chocolate melting cake.

Related: A beginner's guide to picking a cruise line

3 things TPG loves about Carnival

• The "fun" focus that oozes into everything.
• The food (really — see below).
• The kids' programs.

What we could do without

• The smoke in the casino.

The Carnival Cruise Line fleet

Carnival is one of the world's biggest cruise lines by passenger capacity, with 25 ships that together offer nearly 80,000 berths.

In general, these are big ships. However, with two exceptions, they're not giants by today's standards.

Carnival has just begun operating its first truly giant ships in years, the 181,808-ton, 5,282-passenger Mardi Gras and the 183,521-ton, 5,374-passenger Carnival Celebration . However, the line's next-biggest vessel, the 4,090-passenger Carnival Venezia , measures just 135,225 tons. That's about 40% smaller than the biggest ships operated by Royal Caribbean .

Seven of the line's 25 vessels measure less than 100,000 tons, which makes them almost midsize by today's cruise ship standards.

Related: Every Carnival ship ranked from biggest to smallest

This is a notable change for the brand from just a couple of decades ago. There was a time when Carnival operated some of the biggest cruise ships in the world.

However, for many years it chose not to follow rivals such as Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises in building ever-bigger ships . Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration are now the only Carnival ship on the list of the 50 biggest cruise ships.

The arrival of Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration over the past two years has marked a major turning point for the line. At around 180,000 tons, they rank at No. 15 and No. 13, respectively, among the world's largest cruise ships — the only Carnival ships to crack the Top 20. They are roughly 35% bigger than the line's next-biggest ship. One more ship in the series — Carnival Jubilee — will arrive in December 2023.

The 25 Carnival ships currently in operation can be broken down into eight classes: Fantasy, Spirit, Conquest, Splendor, Dream, Sunshine, Vista/Venezia and Excel. Many of those classes have a lot in common. Unlike Royal Caribbean, Carnival doesn't always drastically change the design of its ships from class to class.

Note that the Carnival fleet is scheduled to grow over the next year with two more new vessels. As noted above, the line has ordered another sister vessel to Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration that will be ready to sail in late 2023.

In addition, the line in 2024 will begin operating a ship in the fleet of its sister line Costa Cruises : Costa Firenze. It'll sail from Los Angeles.

Related: The 8 classes of Carnival ships, explained

Destinations and itineraries

Carnival is all about cruises from U.S. ports. You'll find at least one of its ships sailing out of pretty much every major port city around the country. It's rare to find them based anywhere else.

Carnival's biggest operations are out of PortMiami and Port Canaveral in Florida; Galveston, Texas; Long Beach, California; and New Orleans — all major cruise hubs. You'll also find Carnival ships in such secondary cruise ship ports as Baltimore; Charleston, South Carolina; Mobile, Alabama; and Jacksonville, Florida.

The overarching idea for Carnival's ship deployments is that a large percentage of the U.S. population can reach one of the line's ships by car, saving the cost of flights.

For the most part, Carnival ships sail relatively short voyages of three to eight nights.

Carnival vessels based on the East Coast and along the Gulf of Mexico mostly sail to the Caribbean and Bahamas. Some East Coast ships also head to Bermuda, New England and Canada. On the West Coast, sailings to Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska are the norm.

Carnival also offers some Panama Canal voyages.

Occasionally, Carnival will deploy a ship to Europe for a few weeks or months. This often takes place when a vessel needs to go to a European shipyard for an overhaul.

In recent years, Carnival also has deployed two of its vessels to Australia to operate voyages from Sydney and Brisbane. In a departure from Carnival's American-focused business model, the Australia sailings are aimed mostly at the local Australian market, though they are open to American travelers.

Related: The 5 best destinations you can visit on a Carnival cruise

Who sails Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival is the undisputed leader among North America-based cruise brands when it comes to affordability, which makes it popular with vacationers on a budget.

It's also popular with a fun-seeking crowd. Carnival trips are all about letting loose and having a good time. Maybe you'll drink a little too much, eat a little too much, play a little too much — but in the end, you'll say it was your best trip ever.

At one level, Carnival can best be described as a working man's or working woman's vacation. The typical Carnival customer is a teacher, a nurse, a firefighter, a contractor or the like, either still working or retired. This isn't a line for Wall Street bankers or white-shoe lawyers.

Carnival also is huge with families. The "fun" is for all ages, from 2-year-olds to retirees.

Still, it's just as much psychographics as demographics that define the typical Carnival customer. Carnival executives have often used the word "spirited" to describe the people who are drawn to the line, and that's as good a word as any.

Carnival draws a lively, outgoing crowd looking to be part of the action. The typical Carnival customer is the sort of person who shoots up a hand when an entertainer asks for a volunteer to come on stage or jumps up to dance during midmeal music shows in the dining room starring the waiters (yes, on Carnival, this is a thing).

Cabins and suites

Unlike some of its biggest competitors, Carnival isn't known for a huge range of cabin categories on its vessels. The vast majority of the accommodations on Carnival ships fall into one of three broad buckets: windowless inside cabins, oceanview cabins and balcony cabins.

You'll find relatively few suites on Carnival ships. Each of the vessels in Carnival's recent Vista Class series, for instance, offers fewer than 75 suites. Each of the line's earlier Conquest Class ships has around 50 suites. The oldest Fantasy Class vessels have 28 suites and 26 junior suites.

This is in part due to Carnival's focus on affordability. The typical Carnival customer isn't in the market for a super fancy, high-priced suite.

That said, Carnival has seen the success that some of its competitors have had with a bigger range of upscale accommodations, and it's eyeing more suites for future vessels. The new Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration each have 180 suites — more than twice the number of Carnival's other recent ships.

Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration have 11 different categories of suites in all, four of which are part of a new premium Excel category of suites that come with extra amenities and access to a new-for-the-line, resort-style enclave at the top of the ship called Loft 19.

Design-wise, Carnival's cabins and suites are fairly basic and comfortable, if not super stylish. Cabins on recently unveiled or overhauled vessels have a soothing palette of creams and blues. Cabinetry in these rooms is a crisp and clean faux wood, and cabin bathrooms are neutral.

Note that Carnival's two oldest ships — those that are part of the 1990s-built Fantasy Class — have relatively few balcony cabins by today's standards. (After retrofitting, several have around 150 balcony cabins, out of a total of more than 1,000 cabins in all.) In part because of this, Carnival has been phasing these ships out of its fleet in recent years.

Related: Everything you want to know about cabins and suites on Carnival ships

Restaurants and dining

Like other big-ship operators, Carnival packs a lot of dining options onto its vessels — some included in the price, some at an extra charge.

Every vessel has two main dining rooms and a casual buffet eatery where meals are included in the fare. The buffet is called the Lido. For dinner in the main dining room, you must sign up for either Your Time dining (you go whenever you want) or Traditional Dining (you have a fixed table and time for dinner).

Other included-in-the-fare options found on most ships include what may be the two best quick-serve poolside dining venues at sea: BlueIguana Cantina and Guy's Burger Joint.

Related: 7 secret Carnival cruise breakfast spots that let you skip the buffet crowds

BlueIguana is a Chipotle-style restaurant, with yummy made-to-order burritos and tacos. Created in partnership with Food Network's Guy Fieri, Guy's Burger Joint offers burgers that beat anything you'll find around the pool on other mass-market ships and even most luxury vessels.

In addition, every ship has at least one — and usually several — extra-charge eateries. The most common ones found across the fleet are Fahrenheit 555, the line's signature steakhouse, and Italian cuisine-serving Cucina del Capitano (if you're a Carnival fan, you know this as the place where waiters sing and dance between courses). The two venues have flat fees of $49 and $24 per person, respectively.

Other extra-charge eateries often found on Carnival vessels include Bonsai, an a la carte sushi restaurant (now on 14 ships), and JiJi Asian Kitchen, which costs $24 per person (now on four ships).

Six of Carnival's newest ships — Carnival Jubilee, Carnival Celebration, Mardi Gras, Carnival Venezia, Carnival Panorama and Carnival Horizon — also have teppanyaki eateries called Bonsai Teppanyaki (priced at a flat $42 per person for dinner; $38 at lunchtime). Most of these six ships (all but Carnival Venezia) have an a la carte barbecue-and-beer joint called Guy's Pig & Anchor Smokehouse Brewhouse, too.

The latter venue was created in partnership with Food Network's Guy Fieri and serves a free lunch on embarkation and sea days, with all items smoked on board.

Guy's Pig & Anchor Smokehouse Brewhouse, notably, has its very own in-house brewery you can see behind glass walls — something still relatively rare on cruise ships. It makes house beers including Parched Pig West Coast IPA and Parched Pig Toasted Amber which you'll find on many Carnival vessels in kegs and cans. Carnival is the only cruise line to keg and can its own beer.

The quality of the food (and drink) on Carnival ships always surprises us, given the budget pricing of the brand. Despite being one of the industry's lowest-cost operators, Carnival manages to pull off one of the best steakhouses at sea in Fahrenheit 555, and even the no-extra-charge main restaurants get the basics right.

In general, the food isn't gourmet. For the price point of the line, it's quite impressive.

Related: The best meals you can have at sea

Entertainment and activities

For the most part, Carnival ships don't have quite as many features on board as Royal Caribbean or Norwegian vessels, in part because they're not as big. They're still packed with a variety of attractions, including multiple entertainment venues, casinos, spas and lots of deck-top fun zones such as water parks and ropes courses.

Theaters and shows

There's seemingly always something playing on a Carnival ship, whether it be a glitzy singing-and-dancing production in the main theater, a comedy show in a secondary lounge, a magical act or a call-you-up-on-stage interactive game show.

Every Carnival ship has one big theater where you'll often find flashy, fast-paced production shows that string together a medley of loosely related tunes. Designed to be quick and digestible, they typically last around 30 minutes and have relatively small casts (just eight on some ships).

In general, the production shows aren't nearly as sophisticated — or as long — as what you'll find on Royal Caribbean or Norwegian ships. But they're lively.

Carnival also uses its big theaters for lots of interactive shows that involve you, the passenger, getting a little silly. They include Lip Sync Battle Carnival — a shipboard adaptation of the Paramount Network TV series — and Hasbro, the Game Show.

With the latter, you can team up with your friends and family to play giant versions of Connect 4 Basketball or Simon Flash in front of a live audience.

Carnival is also well known for the Punchliner Comedy Clubs on its ships, which draw quality comedians and can get a little raucous late at night with adult-only performances.

When it comes to raucous, though, nothing on Carnival ships quite compares to the frequent karaoke nights on board. On Carnival, it's a thing. Sometimes held in a secondary lounge or a shipboard pub, karaoke on Carnival draws a big crowd. Passengers come prepared with rehearsed songs and sometimes even their own guitars.

Insider tip: Get to the comedy shows early to snag a good seat — or any seat at all. These shows on Carnival ships are hugely popular.

Other interior attractions and activities

In addition to entertainment spaces, the interiors of Carnival ships are loaded with other venues where passengers can kick back and let loose day and night, including a wide range of bars, lounges and nightspots.

Every Carnival ship has a casino, usually smack in the middle of the main entertainment deck.

Also, there are always several music venues where you'll find live performers in the afternoons and evenings, including — on some ships — the Atrium Bar and a secondary hub area called Ocean Plaza. There's almost always a piano bar that's home to lively singalongs.

Other popular venues found on some Carnival ships include RedFrog Pub, which serves up Carnival's tasty housemade beers on tap, as well as plenty of other choices.

On one of Carnival's newest ships, Carnival Panorama, there's no RedFrog Pub, but the Smokehouse Brewhouse has a stage that's home to live music nightly and some of the ship's karaoke sessions.

Carnival Panorama also houses Carnival's first cooking classroom. Dubbed Carnival Kitchen, it's located near the ship's main restaurants and is a seriously tricked-out venue complete with nine state-of-the-art, marbled granite cooking stations for two and a dedicated dining area.

Passengers can learn to cook everything from Carnival's classic warm chocolate melting cake to its popular saffron risotto during one- to two-hour classes that cost $30 to $59 per person.

One other new-for-Carnival attraction on Carnival Panorama is the first Sky Zone trampoline park at sea.

Near the ship's tween and teen clubrooms, it has two padded trampoline areas where you can jump around and take part in games like jousting on a balance beam or shooting baskets while bouncing. There's even trampoline dodgeball and, at one end of the room, a climbing wall augmented with interactive game elements.

Deck-top attractions

The top decks of Carnival vessels are covered in family-focused attractions – pools, waterslide areas and bustling fun zones with such draws as ropes courses and miniature golf.

Waterslides, in particular, are a big thing. In fact, when it comes to waterslides on ships, Carnival is the cruise world's king. The line began adding them to vessels way back in 1978. There's now at least one waterslide on all but one ship in the Carnival fleet (Carnival Luminosa) — something no other line can say.

On the vast majority of Carnival ships, there's not just a single waterslide but a whole water park area. Dubbed WaterWorks, these areas vary in size and features from vessel to vessel. They typically have one or two big waterslides (sometimes three!), a play zone with interactive water features and a large, continuously filling dump bucket that periodically soaks everybody within range.

On some Carnival ships, there's also a SportSquare area with such gee-whiz attractions as the high-flying, pedal-powered SkyRide (something that first debuted in 2016 on Carnival Vista and is now on four ships), a suspended-in-the-air ropes course, a basketball court, miniature golf, miniature bowling, ping-pong tables and other outdoor games.

It's a fun-at-sea focus that has gone to new levels over the past two years with the debut of Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration, each of which has — get this — a roller coaster on the top deck . Really. We're not making that up. At 800 feet in length, these aren't the biggest roller coasters ever. However, they're real ones — the first ever on a cruise ship.

Meanwhile, for passengers hoping for quiet time away from the kids, many Carnival ships also have an adults-only Serenity retreat area on their top decks with padded loungers, daybeds, hot tubs and often a bar.

In short, there's a ton to do up top on Carnival vessels — and it's almost all available to every passenger on board the vessels at no extra charge (the roller coaster is the only exception).

Unlike some lines, Carnival has resisted the trend of big-ship operators carving out whole sections of deck-top areas for the exclusive use of passengers staying in suites or willing to pay hefty access fees.

Related: The 12 cruise ships with the most spectacular attractions at sea

Children's programs

Carnival claims to draw more children than any other cruise line. So perhaps it makes sense that it has one of the most extensive children's programs at sea. The line has formal children's programming and activities for children as young as 2 years old through the age of 17.

The heart of the program, called Camp Ocean, brings free, supervised activities daily for children aged 2 to 11. The line splits children here into three age groups — Penguins (aged 2-5 years), Stingrays (aged 6-8 years) and Sharks (aged 9-11 years).

Each group has its own age-appropriate activities ranging from face painting to pirate adventures. On many ships there are extensive dedicated spaces for the different groups.

While the free programming ends at 10 p.m., you can pay extra to leave your kids at Camp Ocean until 1 a.m. During those hours, Camp Ocean transforms into a supervised slumber party-type environment with games, movies, crafts and snacks, along with late-night parties called Night Owls.

Carnival also offers dedicated tween and teen programs on ships for children aged 12 to 17. The younger children in this age range (12-14) are grouped into what's known as Circle C and have their own dedicated lounge on ships. It's a place to get together to talk, watch movies, play video games and take part in other activities.

Older kids (aged 15-17) are grouped into what's known as Club O2 and have their own lounge for meeting up, listening to music, dancing, singing karaoke and other activities.

What to know before you go

Required documents.

If you're a U.S. citizen on a cruise that starts and ends in a U.S. port, you'll need a current passport or an official copy of your birth certificate and a driver's license or other government-issued photo identification to sail. A few other forms of identification, such as a passport card, also are acceptable.

Passports must be valid for at least six more months. For cruises from international ports, you'll need a passport. Note that it is important that the name on your reservation be exactly as it is stated on your passport or other official proof of nationality. All this said, we recommend checking Carnival's website before sailing for the very latest on requirements.

Carnival adds an automatic service gratuity of $16 to $18 per person, per day to final bills, depending on the cabin category (children under the age of 2 are exempt). If you are unhappy with the service you receive, you can adjust this amount at the Guest Services desk before disembarking. Also, an 18% gratuity is added to bar bills and the cover charge of the Chef's Table.

Related: Everything you need to know about tipping on cruise ships

Carnival has been rolling out faster Wi-Fi systems across its fleet in the last couple of years, such that you can now stream video on some ships. Pricing changes over time, but the fastest "premium" service on Carnival vessels was recently priced at $21.25 per day when bought in advance ($25 per day when bought onboard).

Carnival also offers a less expensive "social" plan that only allows access to key social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and messaging services such as WhatsApp for $15.30 a day when bought in advance. A slightly more expensive "value" plan, at $19.55 per day when bought in advance, adds access to email and most websites.

The social and value plans cost $18 and $23 per day, respectively, when bought onboard a ship.

Related: Wi-Fi on ships really is getting better

Carry-on drinks policy

Carnival allows you to bring one bottle of wine or Champagne per person onto ships at boarding plus up to a dozen standard cans or cartons of nonalcoholic drinks such as sodas.

Nonalcoholic drinks in glass or plastic bottles are not allowed. Note that you'll be charged a $15 corkage fee if you want to bring the wine or Champagne to an onboard restaurant or bar to drink. Drinks brought on board must be carried in your carry-on luggage.

Smoking policy

On most ships, smoking (including electronic cigarettes) is only allowed in designated outdoor areas and in casinos and nightclubs. It's forbidden in cabins and on cabin balconies. In casinos and nightclubs, only cigarette smoking is allowed. On Carnival ships in Australia, smoking is only allowed in designated outdoor areas.

Most Carnival ships have self-serve launderettes on cabin decks with washing machines, dryers, irons and ironing boards. There's a $3.25-per-load charge to use a washer or dryer. The launderettes also have vending machines that dispense small boxes of detergent and water softener at $1.50 per box.

In addition, vessels offer extra-charge laundry and, on select ships, dry cleaning services.

Note that three of the line's newest ships — Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration and Carnival Venezia — do not have launderettes. Carnival fans are quite peeved about this, and you should be, too. Write the line a letter.

Electrical outlets

Most vessels have standard North American-style, 110-volt outlets in rooms, as well as European-style, 220-volt outlets. A growing number of vessels also have USB ports in cabins.

The exceptions are the two Carnival ships that traditionally have sailed in Australia (Carnival Luminosa and Carnival Splendor), which are fitted with a standard Australian three-point plug or adapter providing 220/240 volt 60Hz. Adapters are available on these ships for purchase if needed.

The currency used on most Carnival ships is U.S. dollars. The exceptions are any Carnival ship based in Australia, where pricing is listed in Australian dollars.

All vessels operate on a "cashless system," with any onboard purchases you make posting automatically to your onboard account. You'll receive a Sail & Sign card that you can use to make charges. This same card also gets you into your cabin.

Drinking age

You must be 21 to consume alcohol on most Carnival ships. The drinking age on sailings on Carnival ships in Australia is 18.

During the day, there is no specific dress code, and people dress casually. If it's a sea day in a warm-weather destination, and you're bound for the top deck, that means looking like you're going to the beach — T-shirts, shorts and bathing suits (with a cover-up to go inside) are just fine.

During the evenings, there is an official dress code, but it's pretty laid-back. Most nights are designated "cruise casual," which means just that — khakis or jeans, polo shirts, sundresses, etc. Super casual items such as cutoff jeans, men's sleeveless shirts, T-shirts and gym shorts aren't permitted.

One or two nights a cruise, there will be a more formal "cruise elegant" night where men are expected to turn out in dress slacks and a dress shirt, preferably with a sports coat, or even in a suit. The suggested attire for women on such nights is cocktail dresses, pantsuits, elegant skirts and blouses.

Related: What to pack for your first cruise

Carnival Cruise Line loyalty program

Carnival has a point-based frequent cruiser program, the VIFP Club, that has five tiers, ranging from Blue (requiring no points) to Diamond (200 points).

Members earn one point for every night they sail on one of the line's ships. To hit the second tier, Red, takes one cruise. Reaching the third tier, Gold, requires 25 points.

There is one twist to the earning structure, and it's in your favor: If you're going to hit a tier cutoff during a voyage, you will receive the benefits of that tier from the beginning of that cruise.

In other words, if you are sailing seven-night cruises, you will be Gold level on your fourth sailing, as you will be passing the 25-day mark on that sailing.

As is typical with cruise line loyalty programs, lower tiers don't bring all that much in terms of truly valuable benefits.

In fact, the lower tiers of the Carnival program are among the most stingy in the entire cruise universe. You'll receive things like a single complimentary bottle of water (at the Red tier) and a single free drink that only can be ordered on the last night of a cruise (at the Gold tier). Higher levels of the program are more enticing.

Related: Everything you need to know about Carnival's loyalty program

The second-to-highest tier, Platinum (75 points), brings such perks as priority check-in and boarding, priority debarkation, priority dinner reservations, priority spa reservations and priority water shuttle boarding. Platinums also get complimentary wash-and-fold laundry service (with a limit of two to five bags, depending on the length of the cruise).

The top Diamond level (200 points) brings such added perks as unlimited free wash-and-fold laundry service, a guaranteed seating time in the main restaurant, a dedicated toll-free number for sales and service and a one-time room upgrade.

Note that, in contrast to airline frequent flyer programs, cruise line loyalty programs do not require you to requalify for status every year. So, yes, the perks with lower tiers aren't great. However, it's not as difficult as it might at first seem to hit the more rewarding higher-level tiers in just a few years if you're cruising a lot.

A Carnival passenger taking seven-night cruises will hit the Platinum level during their 11th sailing. Sail a few longer voyages, like a transatlantic sailing, and you could reach it even sooner.

In case you're curious, VIFP stands for Very Important Fun Person.

Related: The TPG guide to cruise line loyalty programs

How much does a Carnival cruise cost?

In general, Carnival ships are among the most affordable at sea. It's not uncommon to find Carnival voyages to the Caribbean, Bahamas or Mexico starting well under $100 per person, per night including all taxes and fees — at least in the offseason.

As of this story's posting, six-night Eastern Caribbean sailings from Miami in 2024 were starting at $339 per person, not including taxes and fees of $170.19. That works out to just $85 per night, per person, with taxes and fees for a package that includes your lodging, transportation and meals.

As you might expect, pricing for ships will generally be lower during offseason periods such as September, October and parts of November.

The timing of when you book can also matter. Cruises book up much further in advance than airplanes or hotels, and many cruisers will tell you that the best pricing for any given sailing is often available when cruises first go on sale (which can be a good two years before a departure). Booking far in advance gives you the best chance of getting your preferred cabin type and location on a ship.

Once on board a Carnival ship, you'll pay extra for most drinks, extra-charge restaurants, spa services, shore excursions, internet service and a few other things — unless you've bought a package for some of these items in advance. Most onboard activities such as shows and deck-top attractions are included in the fare.

Related: 15 ways that first-time cruisers waste money on a cruise

How to book

If you're sure you know what sort of cabin you want, on which ship, on which itinerary — and about a dozen other things — you can head over to Carnival.com to book directly.

That said, given the complexity of booking a cruise — there are a lot of decisions to make during the booking process; trust us — we recommend you use a seasoned travel agent who specializes in cruises.

A good travel agent will quiz you about your particular interests, travel style and preferences, and steer you to the perfect cruise line, ship, itinerary and cabin for you. They can also help you if something goes wrong just before, during or after your voyage.

If you're sure Carnival is your line, look for a travel agent who specializes in trips with the brand. You want someone who understands all the little quirks that are unique to Carnival's cabin categories and, preferably, has done ship inspections to see the cabins firsthand.

Related: How to book a cruise with points and miles

Whether you use a travel agent or not, make sure to maximize your credit card points when paying for the cruise by using a credit card that offers extra points for travel purchases . This could be the Chase Sapphire Reserve , which offers 3 Ultimate Rewards points on travel and dining (excluding the annual $300 travel credit). There's also the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card , which brings 2 Ultimate Rewards points on travel and 3 Ultimate Rewards points on dining.

Bottom line

Carnival ships are all about fun, in a lively, let's-not-take-this-too-seriously sort of way. They're also incredibly affordable. Just don't expect anything too fancy or highbrow.

This is a budget vacation, not a luxury product, and one that is sometimes a bit over the top in its keep-the-party-going formula.

If the idea of crew members dancing during your meal in dining rooms or rowdy karaoke parties makes you cringe, this isn't the line for you. However, if you're ready to let loose and be a little goofy, it may be a perfect choice.

Planning a cruise? Start with these stories:

• The 5 most desirable cabin locations on any cruise ship
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• A quick guide to the most popular cruise lines
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Carnival Cruise Line makes controversial boarding policy clear

C ruise ship passengers have to pay more attention than people taking land-based vacations. You might, for example, stay at Disney World past park closure or even after transportation stops running.

When that happens, you may need to take an Uber or a Lyft back to your hotel, but there's no fear that the hotel will not be there when you find your way back. Cruise ships. however, have set departure times and they generally leave exactly when they're scheduled to leave.

Related: Carnival Cruise Line forced to make beverage package change

That can be tricky for passengers as sometimes ship time and local time might be different. Back when people wore traditional watches, it was easy enough to simply set your watch to ship time and leave it at that.

Local time only mattered if you booked a reservation or excursion and needed to be there at the right time. Smartphones and watches, however, generally automatically update to local time (although you can set them not to). 

That can lead to situations where a passenger knows they need to be back on the ship 5 p.m. but may not know when 5 p.m. is. Sometimes, of course, passengers simply cut it to close (or maybe have too much to drink) and end up being what's known as pier runners — passengers running on the dock to board the ship before it leaves.

A recent situation where Norwegian Cruise Line NCLH left some passengers behind led to Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald commenting on the issue. 

Carnival will leave you behind 

Carnival, and all cruise lines, pay for the time they are docked in port. In most cases, they will wait for passengers who are late that booked a cruise-line sponsored excursion (technically, Carnival and other cruise lines promise to get those passengers back to the ship, which could mean at a later port).

People who book their own excursions or simply visit the port on their own have no special protections. The cruise lines, can (and will) leave them behind. That's what happened to some Norwegian Cruise Line passengers recently and Heald commented on it on his Facebook page. 

"I had to check to see if I was actually also the Brand Ambassador of NCL. I am not," he wrote. "Now I say that because I was asked, questioned, and indeed bollocked by various people about a news story that went virus or whatever it's called about some NCL guests that had missed the ship and had been 'left in Africa.'"

Heald shared that Carnival likely would have left at the appointed time as it is the passengers' responsibility to be back on the ship on time.

"Anyway, I explained that all the cruise companies make it very clear that they will wait if you’re on one of their excursions but not otherwise. These guests were told what time they had to be on board and they weren’t. It really is that simple," he added.

Carnival gets some passenger pushback

Heald shared a response from one of his followers:

"That was the basis of my reply and wow 'P' did not like that and went full Glitterknickers on me. Brilliantly though she wrote this: 'You have no heart John Heald. The passengers have been punished for having time blindness and accommodations should have been made. The ship should have waited!'" he shared.

Heald made it clear that he was not overly sympathetic to the passengers in this case.

"Can I say again that I do not work for NCL? It’s not my sodding fault. However, time blindness...ummmmm, OK. And as far as 'accommodations' being made, NCL had indeed made some. They are called 'clocks,' he wrote.

Cruise lines do sometimes stay docked past their planned time. Sometimes weather can force a longer stay while medical emergencies may also delay departure.

Heald's post garnered over 350 comments and most agreed with the cruise line.

"Time blindness is a thing, yes, but you just have to be extra aware. My husband is vigilant with the time. I with ADHD who struggle also always am mindful of the time. I hate being late so always try to be early. At what point does a ship stop waiting, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, you make an exception for one you open the floodgates," wrote Stacey Lanigan.

In addition to accruing additional costs for a longer port stay, a cruise ship may not be able to make its next stop if it is delayed too long.

"John it wouldn’t matter what time people had to be back there’s always those who are late. It’s part of the fun having a balcony, and watching them run! Just follow the rules and there won’t be a problem," Cindy Lane Sells added. 

Passengers furious about how Carnival cruise ship fire was handled

FLORIDA — Midway through a five-day cruise in March, the tail of the Carnival Freedom cruise ship caught fire.

Passengers chronicled the drama that played out on board in hundreds of social media posts. They showed flames shooting from the tail, water leaking from the 5th-floor interior, and shuttered areas like pools, sports venues, and restaurants.

For 9-year-old Katherine Drey and her family, it marked the beginning of the end of what had been a great getaway.

“We couldn't swim, we couldn't eat, we couldn't do water slides, we couldn't go to the sports area,” Katherine recalled.

Katherine's mom, Kelly Booth, said many of the venues on the back half of the ship, including the pool and restaurants, shut down for the day. Some closed for the remainder of the cruise. The main dining room opened that same night, but several on board described waiting in line for up to four hours for dinner.

Passenger Gemma Phillips is one of several who told ABC Action News that Carnival brushed them off when her family asked for cruise credit or some sort of compensation for the trip’s interruption.

“The second that happened, like, vacation was no longer a vacation,” she said.

Phillips created a Facebook page for Carnival Freedom passengers. It has more than 280 members from the nearly 3,000 that were on board the full-capacity ship.

Many of the people posting in the group are outraged that Carnival isn't offering a partial cruise credit or anything else to make up for the stress and inconvenience.

A Carnival spokesperson said in a statement:

Any venues that were temporarily closed because of lightning in the area, or from the brief cleanup after the fire was extinguished, were reopened by the late afternoon/early evening.

Veteran travel agent Tammy Levent, owner of Elite Travel, said there is no bill of rights for cruise passengers and no regulatory agency to advocate on their behalf when things go south on board. She recommended cruisers purchase travel interruption insurance, which could apply in cases where part of a trip is interrupted.

Gemma Phillips said this was her tenth cruise on Carnival and likely her last.

“I don't want to break up with Carnival," she said. "But I feel I have no choice by the way they are handling this.”

And Kelly Booth, a three-time Carnival cruiser, said she's already canceled a future Carnival trip and booked with one of their competitors.

“The way Carnival has handled this and the way Carnival has treated the guests that were on board has ruined what I think of them as a company,” she said.

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Subscriber only, travel | cruise demand leaves pandemic in rearview with record passengers, more construction on tap.

MIAMI BEACH — The COVID pandemic drove the cruise industry to a standstill, but numbers released Tuesday signal the years of comeback are officially over with more expansion on tap.

More than 31.7 million passengers took cruises worldwide in 2023, said Kelly Craighead, Cruise Line International Association president and CEO, speaking at the annual Seatrade Cruise Global conference at Miami Beach Convention Center.

CLIA is the lobbying group for member cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Disney Cruise Line, Carnival, Norwegian, MSC and most other major brands.

The pandemic shut down sailing from March 2020 with only a small number of ships coming back online 18 months later in summer 2021. Cruise lines didn’t return to full strength until partially through 2022, so it wasn’t until a full year of sailing in 2023 that the industry could get a real handle on just what the demand had grown to as people returned to vacation travel.

“We are an industry that’s resilient and thriving all around the world, breaking records in ways we might never have imagined,” she said.

The 2023 total is 2 million more than the industry had in 2019. CLIA projects 34.1 million in 2024 growing to 34.6 million in 2025. It’s still a miniscule chunk of the overall travel pie of more than 1.3 billion, but cruise’s share is growing.

She noted that surveys of travelers who would consider a cruise for a vacation are at an all-time high, noting that 82% who had previously cruised said they would cruise again, but more importantly, among those who had never sailed, 71% would consider it.

The youngest generations — Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z — are the biggest drivers.

The fleet for the growing demand continues as well, including the introduction this year of the world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas.

She said CLIA member lines had more than 300 ships sailing globally for the first time in 2023, with 14 new ships that began sailing in 2023 and another eight expected before the end of the year. They have 88 new ships on order through 2028.

Already this year, both Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Corp. announced major new ship construction deals, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings added to that this week with its order of eight more vessels across its three brands.

The heads of those groups were on stage to discuss where the industry is headed and enjoy their recent success.

Carnival Corp.’s president and CEO Josh Weinstein put it in a way that gained plaudits from fellow panelists and others at the conference.

“The concept of pent-up demand for cruising is gone,” he said. “We have been cruising for three years, right? It’s over. This is natural demand because we all provide amazing experiences. We delivered happiness to literally 31 million guests last year. And people see it, they feel it.”

A big part of what cruising missed during the pandemic he said was that word-of-mouth promotion that is needed to convince people to try their product.

“We now have 31 million people getting off our ships and going home and telling their friends and family who have never cruised before, ‘You don’t know what you’re missing.’ ‘This is amazing.'”

All of the leaders echoed the industry line that they offer a much better value than land-based vacations, but that the experience gap between the two has now shifted in their favor coming out of the pandemic.

“The appreciation for building memories with your friends and family coming out of COVID is at extraordinarily high levels,” said Jason Liberty, president & CEO at Royal Caribbean Group. “Also wealth transfer, right? Grandparents wanting to see that wealth transfer live, watching their kids and their grandkids experience that is also at an all-time high. … We have the secular trends of people buying less stuff, they want experiences. We’re in the experience business.”

Another bright aspect to the industry has been the spillover effect of all of the new ships since the pandemic, said Harry Sommer, president & CEO at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

“Their new products are so extraordinary, and so much better than what was delivered back in ’15, ’16 and ’17, that it’s driving additional excitement for the entire industry,” Somer said. “When any new ship is delivered, no matter whether it’s part of our portfolio or the other portfolios, demand improves for all of us because it adds excitement to the industry.”

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You won’t believe these 10 incredible cruise ship features for 2024.

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There’s a clear trend in cruise ship design that “bigger is better”, with ships like Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas setting new passenger records and redefining the idea of a cruise vacation.

Major cruise lines are also competing with each other by introducing innovative activities and features to the high seas.

From racing around multi-level karting courses to taking your pick of the latest blockbusters inside multiscreen movie theaters, these are some of the most impressive activities available on cruise ships right now.

Karting on ships has been around for a while, but the latest ‘Prima class’ of cruise ships introduced by Norwegian Cruise Line takes things up a notch.

Go-karting track on the Norwegian Prima cruise ship.

The track on the Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva now spans three levels, offering guests a longer, more intense karting experience than on the line’s older ships.

Described as “a perfect way to spend a day at sea” by CN Traveler’s Meena Thiruvengadam , the 1,400-foot track hosts various competitions throughout a cruise, with a podium to reward winners and a fastest lap scoreboard continually updated.

The activity isn’t included in the cruise fare. Typically, $15 buys you entry into a race. For additional fees, it’s possible to rent the track for yourself in order to drive faster, or even buy a pass for unlimited use of the track.

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Aew dynamite results winners and grades as cm punk destroys jack perry, o j simpson dies of cancer at 76, robot bartenders.

Royal Caribbean's ‘Quantum class’ and some of its ‘Oasis class’ ships feature robotic bartenders. These robots mix themed drinks like the signature Bionic Tea.

While an innovative feature and a fun experience as a one-off, the bars aren't necessarily somewhere you’ll want to hang around for hours.

Moving Bars

Found on Royal Caribbean’s biggest cruise ships, the Rising Tide Bar provides guests the opportunity to enjoy their preferred drinks while moving vertically between the ship's decks.

Magic Carpet is an orange glass-sheltered platform suspended from the starboard side of the cruise ... [+] ship Celebrity Edge.

But moving bars aren't restricted to inside a cruise ship. Each of Celebrity’s newest ‘Edge class’ vessels are equipped with the Magic Carpet .

This orange exterior apparatus can move up and down the starboard side of the ship, serving various functions throughout the cruise. It’s used as a tender platform, but most notably it turns into an open-air dining venue and bar, accompanied by spectacular views and an ocean breeze.

Zip lines on cruise ships offer an exhilarating adventure on board, allowing passengers to soar across the deck and take in stunning ocean views, if they can keep their eyes open!

Found mainly on modern, larger vessels, these attractions can stretch over 600 feet in length. Although not widespread, Royal Caribbean's ‘Oasis class’ ships, together with some ships from MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line feature zip lines.

Rollercoasters

Another option to feel the sea breeze while enjoying an exhilarating experience can be found on Carnival’s ‘Bolt’, the world’s first rollercoaster at sea.

Three ships operated by Carnival Cruise Line feature a rollercoaster known as 'Bolt'.

Capable of reaching speeds of up to 40 mph, the attraction is available on Carnival’s Mardi Gras , Celebration and Jubilee ships.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Disney Cruise Line also features theme park style attractions on some of its ships. Guests in the two-person rafts on the serpentine water coaster ‘Aqua Duck’ reach speeds of up to 14 mph.

Planetariums

A facility designed to simulate the night sky for educational and entertainment purposes, a planetarium is an immersive environment that allows people to explore the universe from the comfort of their seats.

While lacking the adrenaline-fueled fun of zip-lines or karting, planetariums are nevertheless an exciting feature on a handful of cruise ships. Cunard’s ocean liner Queen Mary 2 and Viking Orion are among the few ships with this intriguing feature.

Multiscreen Cinemas

Princess Cruises was the first cruise line to introduce giant outdoor movie screens, but other lines are now pushing hard into the world of the silver screen.

The foyer of the multiscreen cinema onboard P&O cruise ship 'Arvia'.

Carnival was the first—and still only—cruise line to offer a full IMAX experience at sea. If choice matters more, P&O Arvia features a three-screen cinema showing multiple different pictures throughout the day.

Skydiving Simulators

The ‘Quantum class’ ships in Royal Carribean's fleet feature Ripcord by iFLY , a skydiving simulator that offers guests the opportunity to experience the thrill of skydiving including the feel of weightlessness in a safe environment.

Although a pricey activity, the cruise line does usually release a limited number of complimentary spaces, allowing everyone the chance to try it out if you’re flexible on time.

Surfing Simulators

On a Royal Caribbean cruise, adventure-seekers can surf the waves without setting foot off the ship.

The FlowRider surfing simulator is a signature feature of Royal Caribbean cruise ships.

Whether you're just starting out or you've surfed before, you can dive into the fun with either boogie boarding or standup surfing on one of the 19 FlowRider surf simulators spread across the fleet.

Arcades on cruise ships are nothing new, but in recent years new virtual reality technology has transformed these spaces into immersive VR arcades, elevating the gaming experience to a new level.

These cutting-edge attractions blend the nostalgic charm of traditional arcades with the thrilling experiences of virtual reality. However, be aware that the experiences might trigger seasickness in susceptible cruisers.

Unlimited passes for Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Galaxy Pavilion provide good value for teenagers and big kids alike.

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Former Carnival Cruise Ships, Where Are They Now?

Carnival is one of the largest and most popular cruise lines in the world. More than 20 ships in its fleet sail 365 days a year all over the world, with new ships always being developed and new itineraries being explored.

Yet even while Carnival Cruise Line adds newer, larger, and more advanced ships to its fleet, older ships are quietly transferred, sold, or scrapped when they can no longer be sufficiently upgraded or updated for today’s Fun Ship experience. So which vessels are the former Carnival Cruise ships, and where are they now?

In This Article…

Carnival’s very first ship was originally built in 1961 as RMS Empress of Canada for Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd. In 1972, she was purchased by Carnival Cruise Line and renamed Mardi Gras , serving loyally until 1993. At that time, the ship was sold to Eprotiki Line and renamed Olympic .

Over the years, she was renovated and renamed repeatedly, being called Star of Texas , Lucky Star , and Apollon at different times in her career. In 2000 she was laid up in Greece, and in 2001 reentered service for 3-4 night sailings throughout the Greek Isles. In 2003, the ship was finally sold for scrap.

The name of the ship does live on with Carnival’s first Excel-class LNG-powered Mardi Gras cruise ship, which was delivered to the cruise line at the end of 2020.

Built in 1956, this ship was originally RMS Empress of Britain for Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd. In 1964, she became SS Queen Anna Maria of the Greek Line, and in 1976 she was sold to Carnival and rebranded as the second Fun Ship.

In 1993, as newer ships were being built exclusively for Carnival Cruise Line, Carnivale was transferred to Fiesta Marina Cruises, then a subsidiary line of Carnival Cruise Line intended to service a Spanish-speaking market.

She served as the line’s only ship under the name SS Fiesta Marina , but was sold in 1994 to Epirotiki Line when Fiesta Marina Cruises was discontinued. When she joined Epirotiki Line, she was renamed Olympic , and in 1996, she was transferred to Royal Olympic Cruises.

In 1997, the ship was sold to Thomson Holidays and renamed The Topaz , then in 2008 it became the Peace Boat of Topaz International. In 2008 the ship was laid up, and while it was at anchor it suffered significant damage and was eventually scrapped in India.

Originally built as RMS Transvaal Castle in 1961, this ship had several names with sales and transfers to different lines until it was eventually sold to Carnival Cruise Line in 1977. She was rebranded, updated, and entered service as Festivale in 1978, after being converted from serving primarily as a cargo vessel with only very limited passenger capacity.

In 1998, Festivale was purchased by Premier Cruise Line and became Big Red Boat III . The line, however, went bankrupt in 2000, and the ship had become dilapidated and was not considered worth additional upgrades or renovations. She was sold for scrap in 2003.

The first ship ordered specifically for Carnival Cruise Line, Tropicale was under construction in 1981 and entered service with the fleet in 1982, the first vessel to bear the line’s distinctive “whale tale” funnel.

In 2001, the ship was transferred to Costa Cruises and renamed Costa Tropicale until 2005, when she was transferred again, this time to P&O Cruises and renamed yet again to become Pacific Star .

In 2008 the ship was sold to Pullmantur Cruises to become Ocean Dream , and in 2012 she was chartered by Peace Boat for their mission of raising awareness internationally for human rights, sustainability, environmental protection, and other global causes.

In late 2020, it was announced that the ship, along with another vessel in the Peace Boat fleet, was to be replaced with a larger ship, and Ocean Dream was sold for scrap in early 2021 .

Built in 1985, Holiday underwent several major renovations during her service in the Carnival fleet. One of the largest was in 2003 and again in 2005, after she was used as temporary housing for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

In November 2009 the ship was officially retired from Carnival Cruise Line and transferred to Ibero Cruises as MS Grand Holiday , receiving a new paint job and entering service with her new parent line in 2010.

In 2014 the ship was sold to Cruise & Maritime Voyages and renamed Magellan , entering her new family in spring 2015 as the line’s flagship.

Though she was replaced as flagship in 2017, she served the line proudly until the global shutdown of operations in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In early 2021, the ship was auctioned off and scrapped at the Alang Ship Breaking Yard in India .

This ship debuted for Carnival Cruise Line in 1986 and served well until 2004, when she was transferred to P&O Cruises Australia and renamed Pacific Sun . At that time, the wings were removed from her iconic funnel and she was repainted.

In the summer of 2012 the ship was sold to the Asian line HNA Cruises and renamed Henna . That line shut down in November 2015, and the former Jubilee was laid up as a buyer was sought. None was found, however, and the ship was scrapped in the spring of 2017 .

Celebration

Built in 2015, this ship was part of the Carnival fleet until 2008 when she was retired to Ibero Cruises and renamed Grand Celebration . In 2014 she was transferred again, this time moving to Costa Cruises to become Costa Celebration .

Before her inaugural voyage with that line, however, she was purchased by Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line and instead retained her name of Grand Celebration . She kept her iconic funnel, but was repainted.

She debuted with that line in early 2015 and sailed two-night cruises to the Bahamas year-round, until the cruise line suspended operations in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the cruise line struggled with debt during the shutdown, Grand Celebration was sold for scrap , and she was officially broken up in March 2021.

Carnival Destiny

Carnival Destiny is relatively unique among Carnival’s former fleet. The ship was launched as Carnival Destiny in 1996. In 2013, she underwent the line’s largest ever refit that renewed nearly every guest area onboard, for a cost of $155 million.

Decks were expanded, more than 150 additional cabins were added and much of the ship’s layout was altered to incorporate new lounges, bars, and dining venues. Because of the scope of the redesign and renovations, the decision was made to completely rename the ship to Carnival Sunshine . Today, the ship still sails with the Carnival fleet, but as Carnival Sunshine rather than Carnival Destiny .

Carnival Triumph

Similar to Carnival Destiny , Carnival Triumph has ceased to exist as an original ship after being refit to join the Sunshine class of vessels. Carnival Triumph was originally in the Destiny class, and first set sail in October 1999.

Her most notorious moment in the spotlight was in February 2013, when an engine room fire resulted in power and propulsion losses, and the ship was adrift for several days before being towed to Mobile, Alabama. Despite that incident, the ship served the cruise line well until her renovation and rebirth in 2019.

That $200 refurbishment included the addition of new dining, bars, and entertainment options, the adults-only Serenity area, the WaterWorks aqua park, and the energetic SportSquare facilities. Because the renovation was so extensive, the ship was renamed Carnival Sunrise , and continues to sail today under that new name and identity.

Carnival Victory

The third and final vessel to undergo the Sunshine-class upgrade, Carnival Victory first entered the fleet in October 2000. Like Carnival Destiny and Carnival Triumph before her, Carnival Victory was treated to an extensive upgrade and refurbishment .

The renovations had initially been scheduled for April 2020, but work was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic that not only ceased worldwide cruise operations, but also paused shipyard work. The $200 million upgrade was finally completed in Cadiz, Spain, in December 2021.

While the ship was out of service, there were unfounded rumors that she was to be scrapped, but instead the renovated ship – now Carnival Radiance – was the first of her class to receive the updated red, white, and blue livery that debuted with Mardi Gras in June 2021. Today, Carnival Radiance continues to delight guests as part of the Fun Ship fleet, though Carnival Victory has passed into history.

Carnival Fantasy

The first of the new class built exclusively for Carnival Cruise Line, Carnival Fantasy debuted in 1990 and would spend 30 years happily sailing for the Fun Ship fleet. During her three decades of sailing, the ship was updated and renovated several times, bringing new features to eager passengers, and always offering amazing voyages for passengers who grew to love all the Fantasy-class vessels.

In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced a pause on global cruise operations, Carnival Fantasy was removed from service, and in July 2020 it was announced that the ship would be sold as part of fleet modernization plans.

Worth Reading: Looking Back at the Carnival Fantasy Cruise Ship

Those plans had already been in place before the pandemic, but the operational shutdown accelerated the timeline for retiring older, less efficient ships. At that time, Carnival Fantasy was the oldest ship in the Carnival fleet. She was sold for scrap in August 2020, and eventually taken to the Aliaga Ship Breaking Facility in Turkey for dismantling.

Carnival Fascination

The fourth of the Fantasy-class vessels, Carnival Fascination – originally named simply Fascination before all ships had the Carnival prefix added to their names in 2007 – joined the fleet in July 1994. She underwent multiple upgrades and refurbishments during her time with Carnival.

Her most notable achievement was in 2017, when Carnival Fantasy housed relief workers offering aid in the U.S. Virgin Islands after the region was devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. After that service, Carnival Fantasy received what would be her final upgrade with Carnival in early 2018.

During the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, it was announced that the ship would be retired and would not return to service. Unlike other Fantasy-class vessels, however, Carnival Fascination was sold to another cruise line when Century Cruises acquired the ship in November 2020.

At first it was rumored that she might be converted to a floating hotel, but it was later announced that she would be renamed Century Harmony to set sail in the Asian market.

The ship entered dry dock for refurbishment, but that renovation was incomplete as the local cruise industry restart continued to be delayed in 2021. Eventually, the ship was sold for scrap, and was beached in February 2022 to be dismantled .

Carnival Imagination

Another Fantasy-class vessel, Carnival Imagination first sparked the imagination of guests when she debuted in 1995. She was the fifth of the sister ships in the class, and served the crise line well throughout the years.

In July 2011, Carnival Imagination had a minor incident with her sister ship, Carnival Fantasy , when the two ships collided in Key West while Carnival Imagination was berthed, resulting in stern damage but no injuries.

During her service life, the ship typically sailed short itineraries to Mexico, Catalina, Ensenada, and The Bahamas, depending on where she was homeported at the time, and she was upgraded several times with new and popular features. In August 2020, the ship was sold as part of the fleet’s modernization plans, and she was scrapped in Aliaga, Turkey .

Carnival Inspiration

Carnival Inspiration inspired many cruisers to love the Fun Ship fleet when she first set sail in 1996. She served the fleet well, offering a wide range of itineraries through the years, but ultimately the Fantasy-class vessel was part of the cruise line’s modernization plans during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.

She was listed for sale and became the second of the line’s vessels to be sold for scrap in July 2020, after Carnival Fantasy . Like her sister ships undergoing the same sudden retirement, Carnival Inspiration was first stripped of valuable materials while in Curacao in early July 2020, then sent along to be sustainably recycled and scrapped in Aliaga, Turkey .

When each of the ships is scrapped, materials may be reused in new ships – such as the new designs in Carnival Celebration – used for repairs to other vessels, or refined to be used in other projects.

Carnival Sensation

The third of the Fantasy-class vessels, Carnival Sensation debuted in 1993, serving well over the years from a variety of homeports, sailing to the Caribbean, The Bahamas, and Cuba.

In late August 2005, the ship was chartered to house residents impacted by Hurricane Katrina, as well as relief workers in the region devastated by the Category 5 hurricane.

During the global COVID-19 pandemic pause and even after some Carnival ships began to sail again, Carnival Sensation remained out of passenger service and instead served as housing for crew members transitioning in and out of isolation periods and quarantine.

It was planned that she would return to service in Mobile, Alabama, but in February 2022 it was decided that the ship would be retired instead, and she was likely quickly sold for scrap .

Carnival Ecstasy

From her debut in her 1991, Carnival Ecstasy , another of the Fantasy-class vessels, delighted millions of passengers, and will continue to do so until she is retired in October 2022, an announcement that was made in February as different Carnival ships were redeployed to cover different itineraries as other ships were scrapped

At the time of her retirement she will be the oldest in the Carnival fleet, and enjoyed various refits and updates throughout her lifespan, the most recent of which was in October 2019.

She is the only Fantasy-class vessel to have the honor of a final sailing season, offering guests the opportunity to revisit the ship if they have fond memories of her, or to sail on her for the first time and make memories before she leaves the fleet.

Carnival Ecstasy ’s final voyage is planned to be a 5-day sailing departing from Mobile, Alabama on October 10, visiting Cozumel and Progreso in Mexico, with one day at sea to begin the voyage and another to end the trip. While Carnival Ecstasy is not yet a “former” ship, her end is confirmed and she will undoubtedly be given good treatment in her final days before her retirement.

What Ships May Become Former Ships Next?

Today, the oldest ships still happily sailing in the Carnival fleet with no retirement plans are the remaining Fantasy -class vessels, two of the original eight sister ships that were built for the line from 1990-1998.

Both Carnival Paradise and Carnival Elation have been updated and feature the line’s new Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades, and they sail a variety of itineraries in different seasons.

With the extensive renovations these ships have undergone in recent years, plus their unique position capitalizing on shorter itineraries, it is unlikely that they may will be retired or transferred in the near future, though any changes or redeployments are always possible.

Read Also: All Carnival Cruise Ships by Age – Newest to Oldest

The cruise market continues to evolve into a post-pandemic structure, and Carnival Cruise Line is at the forefront of that evolution as it debuts new itineraries, new features, and new ships for passengers to enjoy.

Undoubtedly more ships will be retired in the years to come, but they will always sail merrily on in the memories of the millions of passengers who have enjoyed their long service.

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‘She had cookies in the bottom of her bag’: Carnival Cruise dogs are now everywhere, expert warns. They’re even better than you think

‘carnival is still not playing.’.

Grace Rampaul

Posted on Apr 10, 2024   Updated on Apr 10, 2024, 12:40 am CDT

As marijuana consumption has increased once again to its peaking usage rates of the ’70s, Carnival Cruise line is cracking down on regulating both medical and recreational drugs to ensure that all cruise-goers can satisfy their desire of “All for Fun. Fun for All.”

In a TikTok posted on Monday, cruise enthusiast and influencer Melissa ( @professormelissa ) warns voyagers of Carnival Cruise’s newest apparent tactic to combat on-ship drug usage, more prevalent drug dogs. Receiving 1,716 likes and more than 130,600 views, Melissa briefly walks viewers through the embarkment process, which includes a K-9 narcotic detection team. 

“Y’all Carnival is still not playing when it comes to the drug-sniffing dogs,” Melissa forewarns. “Here’s what you can expect.” 

Dressed to the nines, Melissa stands in the doorway of her Carnival stateroom after making it safely on-board and continues her caveat via voice-over. 

At this point, the TikTok flashes to a security notice posted by Carnival, directly outside the maritime passenger terminal doors, presumably giving voyagers a chance to prepare prior to entering the way station. 

“Canine dogs on duty, drug free zone,” the sign reads in large lettering, accompanied by finer print directly below. 

“As per federal law, marijuana including maijuana for medical purposes and any other illegal drugs, are not allowed on board. Anyone in possession of illegal drugs will be disembarked at the guest’s expense and is subject to prosecution by the authorities,” the sign explains. 

Once again Melissa emphasizes just how strongly Carnival has been cracking down in recent years. 

With Tory Lanez’s song “ Hurts me (Alone At Prom) ,” echoing in the background, Melissa pans to her series of seemingly infinite bags on the floor, each being individually sniffed by a drug dog. 

“UH OH!” titles the short clip, but based on the introduction to the TikTok, it’s apparent Melissa had nothing to worry about.

Now a dog’s sense of smell is 10,000 times stronger than humans , and it’s proven that virtually no machine can compare to a dog’s nose. For example, when sniffing dogs search for explosives, they are accurate 90% of the time in comparison to their mechanical counterparts who only reach rates of 14% success. 

Similar accuracy rates for narcotic detection canines have been found as well. 

So, it’s clear why some Carnival passengers may be a little extra nervous when boarding their vacation at sea. 

“Bags down for the dogs,” another sign reads, showing how clear Carnival is with its expectations. 

And according to the website, Carnival reserves the right to do this as well, and states this explicitly:

“ Under U.S. federal law, all cruise terminals in the U.S. are federal facilities and, along with our ships, are drug-free zones. Customs and law enforcement authorities in U.S. homeports and foreign destinations are present and have the right to conduct routine and random inspections with the assistance of narcotics-sniffing dogs. There is zero tolerance for possession of narcotics (which includes marijuana, even in those states where marijuana has been decriminalized). All guests and their personal items may be subject to screening by law enforcement and any guest found in possession of illegal drugs and other prohibited items may be subject to fines, arrest, and denial of boarding without refund or compensation. This is beyond Carnival’s control. Furthermore, Carnival reserves the right to deploy narcotics-sniffing dogs in terminals and on board our ships in order to enforce our obligations to uphold federal law.”

Owned by Carnival Corporation, the cruise line is a part of the world’s largest cruise ship operator, accompanied by sister lines Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, and Cunard Lard.

The Daily Dot has talked with other experts on the subject as well. In an exclusive with the Daily Dot, cruise-planner Mandy ( @mandythecruiseplanner ) warned of similar scenarios on the cruise line. And though she wants her followers to have as pleasurable of an experience as possible, Mandy warns that nothing can ruin a cruise more than having to disembark for a small marijuana charge. 

Even commenters on Melissa’s TikTok acknowledged how persistent the drug dogs can be, detecting almost everything that was out of the ordinary. 

“My sister has a medical card in Florida, but had nothing in her bag and they still pulled her aside we think because her canvas bag smelled like it,” one commenter said. 

“Back in November the dog pulled my sister’s bags for a search because she had cookies in the bottom of her bag (regular cookies),” another warned.

@professormelissa This now seems to be standard practice. #Cruise #cruiseship #cruisetok #cruiselife #cruiser #travel #traveltiktok #cruisewithme #cruisetips #cruisetipsandtricks #cruisehacks #vacation #cruiseships #cruisecontent #cruisingcontent #cruisevacation #cruiselover #cruiseblogger #firsttimecruiser #cruisequestions #cruisefacts #goingonacruise #crusingtok #cruiseessentials #traveler #royalcaribbean #carnivalcruiseline #choosefun #virginvoyages #norwegiancruise #hollandcruise #hollandamericaline #disneycruiseline #msccruise #princesscruises #carnivalcruise ♬ Hurts Me (Alone At Prom) – Tory Lanez

Though of course there were some commenters debunking Melissa’s advice. Saying that they had gotten one or two small things across the terminal, at the end of the day it comes down to risk mitigation. It is up to the passenger to decide what they are willing to test, and if they decide to bring drugs on board, it is their own vacation at risk.

The Daily Dot reached out to Melissa ( @professormelissa ) for comment via TikTok DM and Carnival Cruise Line via their media email. 

Grace Rampaul is a social and multimedia intern at the Daily Dot. She is a senior at the University of Texas at Austin, with a major in Journalism and focus on Media and Entertainment Studies. Grace is based in Austin and covers trending stories, entertainment, cultural phenomenon, and all things social.

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Eight passengers stranded on African island after Norwegian cruise ship left without them

A dream cruise vacation has turned into a nightmare for eight passengers left stranded on the African island of São Tomé and Príncipe after their ship left without them because they were late to return from a private tour.

The tourists — six from the U.S. and two from Australia — were aboard the Norwegian Dawn, a Norwegian cruise line ship , which departed from Cape Town, South Africa, on March 20 for a 21-day voyage up the coast of Africa set to end in Barcelona, Spain, on April 10.

But on Wednesday, the group of eight tourists was late to return to the ship by more than an hour for the all-aboard time of 3 p.m. from a private excursion on the island, which was not organized by the cruise line.

Jay and Jill Campbell of South Carolina were part of the group that was left behind.

They said that their tour’s operator notified the cruise captain that they were going to be late to rejoin the ship and that the local Coast Guard tried to get them on the vessel but that they weren’t allowed to board.

As a result, the couple and the rest of the group have been stranded for days on the island off Nigeria, grappling with language, currency issues and complicated travel to catch up with the ship.

“The lovely people of São Tomé were very gracious, very hospitable. They had reached out as much as they could to help us find hotels,” Jay Campbell said on NBC's "TODAY" show Tuesday morning.

“We were able to get to a tour agency there to arrange flights to the next port of call. ... Very difficult process — you’re dealing with multiple languages, language barriers, you’re dealing with different currencies ... finding someone that even has dollars ... trying to get an agent to understand where we need to get to.

"It’s one of those ‘You can’t get there from here,’" he added.

A Norwegian spokesperson called the incident a “very unfortunate situation” and said, “Guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time.”

The cruise line said that after the guests failed to return, their passports were delivered to local port agents, in line with protocol. The company said it was working with local authorities to understand “the requirements and visas needed for the guests to reboard the ship at the next available port of call.”

On Monday, the guests had made arrangements to rejoin the ship in Banjul, Gambia, but the ship was unable to safely dock there because of “adverse weather conditions” and “tidal restrictions,” Norwegian said. The guests were then contacted and provided with information to rejoin the ship at Dakar, Senegal, on Tuesday. 

Jill Campbell said they traveled through seven countries in 48 hours to arrive in Senegal on Monday night.

But the couple was reconsidering whether they even wanted to return to the cruise.

"We are considering whether or not we are going to board the ship. It is in dock here in Senegal," she said. "We believe there was a basic duty of care that they had forgotten about, so it does concern us."

"After what we witnessed, we truly believe that although there’s a set of rules or policies that the ship may have followed, they followed those rules too rigidly. I believe that they really forgot that they are people working in the hospitality industry and really the safety and well-being of the customers should be their first priority," she added.

Ultimately, the eight passengers did rejoin the cruise before 8:30 a.m. ET Tuesday in Dakar, Senegal, Norwegian told NBC News in an e-mail Tuesday evening, after this story originally published.

Norwegian said the passengers were responsible for making their own travel arrangements to rejoin the ship.

"Despite the series of unfortunate events outside of our control, we will be reimbursing these eight guests for their travel costs from Banjur, Gambia to Dakar, Senegal," a cruise line spokesperson said in a statement. "We remain in communication with the guests and are providing additional information as it becomes available."

A silver lining of the catastrophe was that the Campbells were able to connect with another Norwegian Dawn passenger — Julia Lenkoff, 80 — who was also left on the island, but for a medical reason.

Lenkoff was on a different day tour Wednesday. She had "medically disembarked" from the cruise to seek local treatment on that day, Norwegian said.

Norwegian said that its care team tried to call Lenkoff several times and was unable to reach her and that it worked with its port agent in São Tomé and Príncipe for updates on her health.

The Campbells met Lenkoff and were able to put her in contact with her family in California, who flew her home — a move Lenkoff's daughter said "saved her life."

"She's a world traveler. She travels all the time. So this was going to be one of her bucket list trips, because she's been to 120 countries so far, and she wanted to get to 130," her daughter, Lana Lenkoff Geis, said in an interview that aired Tuesday on "TODAY."

Norwegian said Lenkoff was escorted on a flight to Lisbon, Portugal, then put in the care of airport staff members to continue her journey back to the U.S., where she has safely returned.

Breaking News Reporter