MIAMI, April 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise
Line will build upon its leadership position in Port Canaveral,
Fla., expanding capacity on three- and four-day Bahamas cruises by 34 percent and deploying
its newest class of ship on seven-day Caribbean voyages in 2016.
Carnival will enhance its short Bahamas cruise program from Port Canaveral
with Carnival Victory replacing Carnival Sensation on this popular
route in February 2016. The move not
only increases capacity on the three- and four-day cruises but also
provides guests with a greater variety of on-board features and
amenities, including more than 500 balcony staterooms aboard
Carnival Victory.
Additionally, Carnival Magic will reposition to Port Canaveral
in December 2016 to offer two
different seven-day Caribbean
itineraries, providing consumers with exciting new week-long cruise
vacation choices from Central Florida. Carnival Magic is part
of the line's newest class of ship and offers such features as a
WaterWorks aqua park, Cucina del Capitano family-style Italian
restaurant and SportSquare outdoor recreation area.
In turn, Carnival Sensation, which boasts WaterWorks, Serenity
adults-only retreat and numerous other features, will shift to
Miami in February 2016 to operate the line's attractive
and convenient year-round four- and five-day cruise schedule.
"We are significantly 'upping our game' in Port Canaveral with
the addition of these great new ships to the important and growing
Central Florida market," said
Christine Duffy, Carnival's
president. "When these ships join the spectacular Carnival
Sunshine, this dynamic trio of 'Fun Ships' will offer our guests
and valued travel agent partners the widest array of attractive and
convenient cruising options from the Space Coast," she added.
Expanded Capacity on Short Cruises from the Space
Coast
Carnival Victory, currently based in Miami, will reposition to Port Canaveral to
launch a schedule of three- and four-day cruises beginning
Feb. 25, 2016, dramatically expanding
the line's capacity on this program. On this route, three-day
cruises depart Thursdays and visit Nassau, while four-day cruises depart Sundays
and call at both Nassau and
Freeport.
In addition to providing a newer, larger ship on short cruises
from Central Florida, Carnival
Victory boasts a variety of on-board features, including a
14,500-square-foot spa, four swimming pools – one with a
214-foot-long water slide – along with 18 lounges and bars whose
stunning interiors are inspired by the world's most famous bodies
of water.
During their time in the Bahamas, guests can relax on gorgeous
white-sand beaches, enjoy numerous shopping, dining and sightseeing
opportunities and partake in a wide range of watersports, from
snorkeling and scuba diving to kayaking, parasailing and deep-sea
fishing.
In October 2016, Carnival Valor --
currently based in Port Canaveral and scheduled to undergo an
extensive dry dock in March 2016 that
will add a variety of Fun Ship 2.0 innovations -- will take over
Carnival Victory's three- and four-day Bahamas cruises from Central Florida on a year-round basis.
Carnival Valor will be the only ship operating three- and four-day
cruises to offer the line's highly acclaimed Fun Ship 2.0 features.
Carnival Victory will subsequently move to another homeport.
Exciting New Seven-Day Choices from Port Canaveral
Carnival Magic will kick off its Port Canaveral-based program with
a special eight-day cruise departing Dec. 9,
2016, and featuring St. Thomas, San Juan, Amber
Cove (Dominican Republic),
and Grand Turk. The ship will then launch year-round
seven-day cruises from Port Canaveral Dec.
17, 2016, offering two distinctly different week-long
itineraries – a western Caribbean
route featuring Cozumel,
Belize, Mahogany Bay (Isla Roatan)
and Costa Maya; and an eastern Caribbean option calling at St. Thomas,
San Juan, Grand Turk and
Nassau or Amber Cove.
Carnival Magic features a wide variety of Fun Ship 2.0
innovations, including a massive WaterWorks aqua park featuring a
312-foot-long Twister water slide, the DrainPipe funnel-style water
slide and a 300-gallon PowerDrencher tipping bucket, along with an
expansive SportSquare outdoor recreation area highlighted by a
suspended ropes course with breathtaking views to the sea 150 feet
below, and a Caribbean-inspired
watering hole called RedFrog Pub.
Carnival Magic will join Carnival Sunshine which offers seasonal
five- to eight-day Caribbean
voyages from Port Canaveral and is the only ship in the Carnival
fleet to offer all of the line's Fun Ship 2.0 innovations, along
with unique features like the Speedway Splash water attraction, Ji
Ji Asian Kitchen and the Latin-infused Havana Bar.
Special 12-Day Carnival Journeys Cruise on Carnival
Magic
In preparation for its Space Coast debut, Carnival
Magic will offer a special 12-day Carnival Journeys cruise
departing Galveston Nov. 27 and
arriving in Port Canaveral on Dec. 9,
2016. Featured ports will include Cozumel; Limon, Costa
Rica; Colon, Panama;
Cartagena and Santa Marta, Colombia; Aruba, and Grand Turk. Carnival Journeys
is a unique collection of nine- to 15-day voyages featuring exotic,
less visited ports in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central
America and Hawaii and
offering a number of exclusive on-board experiences and
activities.
Carnival Sensation's New Miami-Based Short Cruise
Program
Carnival Sensation will reposition from Port
Canaveral to Miami to offer
year-round four- and five-day cruises featuring top ports in the
Caribbean, Mexico, The Bahamas, and Florida beginning Feb.
25, 2016. On Carnival Sensation's new Miami-based schedule, four-day cruises depart
Thursdays visiting Key West and
Cozumel or the private Bahamian
island of Half Moon Cay, and Nassau, while five-day cruises depart Mondays
and Saturdays featuring some of the top ports throughout the
Caribbean and Bahamas, including Grand Turk, Ocho Rios, Grand
Cayman, Amber Cove,
Freeport, Nassau and Half Moon Cay.
Additional Information and Reservations
These new
itineraries from Port Canaveral and Miami are currently open for reservations.
For additional information and reservations, contact any travel
agent, call 1-800-CARNIVAL or visit carnival.com. Details on
Carnival Journeys are available at www.carnival.com/journeys.
Twitter: www.twitter.com/carnivalcruise
Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/carnival
YouTube: www.youtube.com/carnival
Instagram: www.instagram.com/carnival
Journalists also can visit Carnival's media site,
www.carnival-news.com or follow the line's PR department on Twitter
at www.twitter.com/CarnivalPR .
About Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival, a unit of
Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), is "The
World's Most Popular Cruise Line®" with 24 ships operating three-
to 16-day voyages to The Bahamas,
Caribbean, Mexican Riviera,
Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, New England, Bermuda, Europe, Australia, New
Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The company currently
has two 133,500-ton ships on order - Carnival Vista, scheduled to
enter service in 2016, and an as-yet-unnamed vessel set to debut in
2018.
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SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line