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Carnival Cruise Line has just hiked the cost of bottled water on ships. A 12-pack of 16.9 fluid ounce bottles will now cost $11.95, while the 8-pack of 1.5-litre bottles is priced at and $24.95. Single 1.5 litre bottles are $4.50. It’s a big hike and represents a rise of as much as 141% in under two years. Carnival Cruise Line last increased the 12-pack price to $9.95 in November 2022. The cost is the same whether pre-purchased or bought during the cruise. “Price did go up a bit recently with our bottled water because of inflation which I know many of you are facing on land as well,” Brand Ambassador John Heald said Water onboard ships is potable in staterooms and at dispensers and is regulated by the CDC. The cruise line banned guests from bringing their own bottled water several years ago.

Carnival has kicked off development work for a pierside berth at private destination Half Moon Cay. According to CEO, Josh Weinstein a dedicated berth will provide ‘significant upside’ in cruise traffic to the island. Weinstein announced it during Carnival Corp’s recent earnings call. The dock will be large enough to accommodate the cruise line’s largest vessels, Weinstein said. Development of a pier has been talked about for several years. An initial development timeline was to start in 2020 but the pandemic delayed it. Along with other land developments on Half Moon Cay, it represents an investment of about $80 million. Half Moon Cay is used by Carnival Cruise Line and Carnival-owned sister brand Holland America and ships currently tender offshore. Previously known as Little San Salvador, Half Moon Cay offers a long stretch of beach, cabanas, villas, dining, bars and a pirate ship. Weinstein also gave updates on the upcoming private cruise port on Grand Bahama called Celebration Key. This is currently under construction and the first ships are expected to call there in 2025. “It will be the largest and closest exclusive destination in our portfolio and a real game changer for Carnival Cruise Line,” Weinstein said of Celebration Key.

Carnival Cruise Line's newest ship, Carnival Jubilee, has successfully completed its first series of sea trials. The ship is one milestone closer to her Caribbean cruise debut from Galveston, Tex. on December 23. Carnival Jubilee's first round of sea trials successfully completed on November 14, led by a full contingent of officers, technicians and engineers on board for the full testing of systems. "Our all-new Carnival Jubilee performed extremely well through each test. Now shortly, we'll start cruising," Captain Andrea Catalani said. Carnival Jubilee is the first Carnival ship to be built in Germany. Jubilee will officially be handed over by shipbuilder Meyer Werft in Papenburg on December 4. The ship will feature unique concepts such as the Dr.Inks, Ph.D Bar. Jubilee will be the cruise line's third ship to be powered by a Liquefied Natural Gas propulsion system. Landmark features include top-deck rollercoaster BOLT: The Ultimate Seacoaster, and guest-favorites like Guy's Pig & Anchor Smokehouse, and Shaquille O'Neal's Big Chicken restaurant. Carnival Jubilee will sail year-round Caribbean cruises from Galveston to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Mahogany Bay (Roatan) and more.

Carnival Cruise Line has opened sales for 2025-26 Australia cruises. They depart from its Australian homeports of Sydney and Brisbane with a range of sailings to Fiji and New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and a series of Great Barrier Reef cruises. From Sydney, Carnival Splendor will offer a range of Australia cruises, with options spanning from three to 12 days. Sailings include calls at the Great Barrier Reef, Moreton Island, Tasmania and a Melbourne Cup cruise. International calls comprise Fiji, the South Pacific islands and New Zealand. The 3,012-guest Carnival Splendor features waterslides at WaterWorks aqua park and the Serenity Adult-Only Retreat. Dining options include Guy's Burger Joint, Pizzeria del Capitano and the Alchemy Bar. From Brisbane, Carnival Luminosa will sail to Airlie Beach and the Great Barrier Reef, along with tropical South Pacific nations including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu. Cruise durations are from three to 11 days.

Carnival Cruise Line is adding more Long Beach cruises as it prepares for the first Carnival Firenze departure next spring. As Carnival unveils its 2025-26 deployment, many more sailings on Carnival Firenze and Carnival Radiance have opened for bookings. There are various itineraries featuring Mexican destinations. The cruise line is also adding to its Carnival Journeys program of longer sailings with new Hawaii cruises The new itineraries now available from Long Beach feature popular destinations such as Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and Catalina Island, Ca. New sailings added to Carnival Firenze's schedule include four-, five- and six-day sailings, with the six-day itineraries calling in Cabo San Lucas for two days. Carnival Radiance's newly opened itineraries offer several three-, four- and five-day options. In addition new sailings open for the fall of 2025 and into spring 2026, Carnival has also opened an additional sailing for Carnival Firenze next spring. This moves up the ship's inaugural sailing to April 25, 2024. The ship's first sailing from Long Beach will be a seven-day cruise visiting Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, and Cabo San Lucas. The 4,126-guest Carnival Firenze will bring Carnival Fun Italian Style experiences to Long Beach. It has many design elements influenced by Florence as well as cuisine, such as new specialty restaurant Il Viaggio, as well as unique entertainment. More details about Carnival Firenze will be announced ahead of its debut next spring.

Upcoming new ship Carnival Jubilee just completed a new milestone as it prepares for sea trials. The first Carnival ship built at Meyer Werft in Germany, Carnival Jubilee was successfully transferred from the Papenburg shipyard to Eemshaven, Netherlands. To complete Carnival’s first ever conveyance of the river Ems, Carnival Jubilee sailed backwards toward the North Sea with the support of two tugboats. It was guided through narrow channels and under several bridges before arriving in Eemshaven. The first round of sea trials will begin on November 5. A full team of officers, technicians and engineers will be on board to thoroughly test all systems. Carnival’s third ship to be powered by a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) propulsion, Carnival Jubilee will feature a top-deck rollercoaster BOLT: The Ultimate Seacoaster. Jubilee will sail out of Galveston, TX with a festive cruise departing December 23. The ship will sail weeklong Caribbean cruises to Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico, as well as Mahogany Bay (Roatan).

Carnival Freedom is back fully repaired with its iconic Carnival winged funnel again. It marked its return to service by welcoming guests on board in Barcelona for a 14-day transatlantic voyage to its homeport of Port Canaveral. The ship underwent an extensive refurbishment that included the installation of the new funnel as well as other enhancements. Earlier this month it entered a 16-day dry dock in Cadiz, Spain. Carnival Freedom suffered a funnel fire last year in the Caribbean but did not cause damage elsewhere on the ship. Other enhancements include a newly installed Heroes Tribute Bar which honors military veterans and active-duty service members. Carnival Freedom now features a Dreams Studio, while the ship's casino was expanded. There have also been renovations and upgrades across the ship's staterooms and public areas. The two-week-long transatlantic Carnival Journeys cruise from Spain calls at Valencia, Malaga and Las Palmas, Spain as well as Bermuda. From Port Canaveral, the ship offers four- and five-day sailings to The Bahamas, such as Nassau and Princess Cays, as well as other Caribbean destinations, including Grand Turk.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation into the stabbing of a cruise ship passenger. It involved two guests on the Carnival Magic. The FBI began its investigation on the ship’s arrival back in Norfolk, Virginia. An altercation took place in the ship's theater with one guest attacking another with a bar glass. Carnival Magic ship was sailing an eight-day cruise to Canada and New England. "The victim received treatment from the medical team, and the assailant was confined to his room for the remainder of the cruise," the cruise line said. The suspect has been banned for life from cruising with Carnival. "Carnival security and medical officials fully cooperated with law enforcement should the guest decide to press charges,” Carnival cruise Line said. “We have zero tolerance for this kind of behavior and the assailant guest has been permanently banned." "I can confirm FBI Norfolk is investigating an assault on the cruise ship. The FBI typically has jurisdiction to investigate incidents on the high seas," an agency spokesperson said. A fellow guest who witnessed the incident described it to local media as ‘terrifying.’ "Out of nowhere, we heard this horrifying scream, multiple screams," she said.

Carnival has released an additional 100 cruises featuring calls at Carnival's upcoming exclusive destination Celebration Key. The destination is set to open in the summer of 2025, and will be a major feature of many 2025-26 sailings. It brings the total number of available itineraries featuring Celebration Key to 500. Celebration Key will welcome 18 different Carnival ships from nine US homeports. The Port of Tampa is the latest homeport to add sailings with visits to Celebration Key. In 2025, Carnival Paradise will sail four- to six-day cruises, with select sailings to the new destination. At PortMiami, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Magic and Carnival Sunrise will offer Caribbean cruises of various lengths, from long weekend getaways to week-long sailings. Several of these itineraries include visits to Celebration Key. Among the other destinations available are Grand Cayman; Grand Turk, Belize; Cozumel; and Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays, Bahamas. Carnival Vista will also call at Celebration Key on a six- and eight-day alternating cruise schedule from Port Canaveral. The ship's Eastern Caribbean cruises also visit destinations such as Amber Cove and Half Moon Cay, as well as calls to St. Thomas and San Juan. Carnival Venezia will also sail three special 14-day Carnival Journeys cruises from Central Florida. Two of the special cruises visit St. Thomas; Antigua; St. Lucia; Grenada; Barbados; the British Virgin Islands and San Juan. A Another 14-day journey sails to the Panama Canal. Carnival Cruise Line also announced that Carnival Miracle will offer cruises in Europe in the summer of 2025. Carnival Miracle will sail 16 cruises in summer 2025 departing from three homeports: Lisbon, Dover and Civitavecchia. The ship's first cruise of the season departs Lisbon for Dover, with visits to La Coruna and Bibao, Spain as well as Le Verdon (Bordeaux) and Le Havre. From Dover, nine sailings are now open, with nine-, 12- and 15-day itineraries available. Sailings span several regions across Europe, including the British Isles, Spain, Portugal and France, and the Baltic Sea including Amsterdam and Scandinavia.

Carnival Cruise Line's 2,124-guest Carnival Spirit has kicked off its Caribbean cruise season from new homeport of Mobile, Ala.  Captain Salvatore Siviero and the ship's leadership team welcomed guests aboard on an eight-day Bahamas cruise to Bimini, Freeport, Half Moon Cay and Nassau. The ship will sail a series of six- and eight-day Caribbean cruises through March 2024. Carnival has also opened cruises from fall 2024 to spring 2025 on Carnival Spirit from Mobile, featuring five, six- and eight-day itineraries. There is also a 12-day Carnival Journeys Southern Caribbean cruise – the first Carnival Journeys cruise scheduled from Mobile. "Mobilians love to see a cruise ship on the waterfront, and Carnival Spirit is the best ship we've ever had. It will offer unparalleled itineraries and experiences," said City of Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson. Carnival Spirit offers double the amount of balcony staterooms available on previous ships homeported in Mobile.

Carnival Cruise Line has opened sales for Long Beach cruises for spring 2025 onwards. The sailings from Long Beach, Calif are aboard Carnival Panorama, Carnival Radiance and Carnival Firenze. The newly announced program includes six- and eight-day itineraries on Carnival Panorama from May 2025 through April 2026. They feature a wider variety of itineraries and destinations including Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, La Paz and Ensenada. The new Beach cruises can be viewed on Carnival.com. "Long Beach is one of our top homeports and we're able to further diversify our offering from the West Coast," said Fred Stein, VP of revenue planning and deployment. The new sailings feature a wide range of itineraries that visit the Mexican Riviera and Baja Mexico. Carnival Firenze will offer four-day cruises visiting Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico as well as five-day Mexican Riviera cruises to Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada. Carnival Panorama will alternate between six- and eight-day itineraries departing Saturdays and Sundays. These sailings begin in the spring of 2025 and are now open for sale into the spring of 2026. The six-day sailings call at Ensenada with two days in Cabo San Lucas. The eight-day Long beach cruises will sail guests to Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta. Carnival Radiance offers alternating three- and four-night cruises with nearly 50 new getaways to Ensenada from the spring to the fall of 2025. The ship's three-day weekend cruises departing Fridays visit Ensenada while the four-day cruises add a stop in Catalina Island.  

  October 5, 2023 marks the start of bookings for the AIDA summer season 2025. With the new program and a choice of around 500 departure dates, the cruise line has just the right offer in store for a variety of travel trends.   Travel trend number 1: Getting away from it all   Many travelers want a travel experience that will catapult them completely out of the ordinary. What could be better than exploring an exotic faraway destination on a cruise? AIDA has a real highlight in its program for this category for summer 2025, namely: JAPAN! During the cherry blossom season in spring 2025, fascinating routes will take you to the Land of Smiles. For example, on the 15-day "Great Japan Round Voyages" with AIDAstella or on cruises that combine destinations in China, Japan and South Korea or Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and Hong Kong. These special voyages can also be combined with the matching Trans Asia and Trans Suez voyages to create a “globetrotter’s cruise” of up to 52 days. Of particular interest for the personal bucket list are the ports that AIDA will be calling at for the first time on the new itineraries: Seoul/Incheon, Jeju, Busan, Hiroshima, Aburatsu, Kagoshima, Kyōto/Kobe, Mount Fuji/Shimizu, Tokyo/Yokohama, Kanazawa, Niigata, Akita, Hakodate, Miyako-Iwate and Amami Oshima.   Travel trend number 2: Easy to get to, easy to enjoy   The trend toward travel starting at one's own doorstep continues unabated. In the summer of 2025, no fewer than eight AIDA ships will set sail from German ports on voyages to Northern Europe. A total of 290 cruises will be available from Hamburg, Kiel and Warnemünde between April and October 2025. How about a Baltic Sea cruise from Warnemünde, for example? The treasures of the Baltic States can be explored on numerous cruises that take you to Stockholm, Riga, Klaipeda or Gdansk, for example. Or how about the "Scottish Highlights" tour, which departs from Hamburg to Newcastle, Edinburgh and the Orkney Islands?   Travel trend number 3: Off the beaten track   Megacities are great, but smaller destinations also have their appeal. Places that are still relatively undiscovered and off the beaten track are especially in vouge. How about Brønnøysund, for example? AIDAbella is calling at this new Norwegian destination for the first time - on her voyages to the Northern Lights in fall or to the Lofoten Islands. Or Kemi? The Finnish port city is located on the Gulf of Bothnia and, with the Perämeri National Park, offers not only great nature but also countless outdoor activities. Kemi is one of the cities visited on AIDAmar's "Archipelago of the Baltic Sea" voyage.   A look to the south also offers potential for explorers: AIDAstella sets sail from Corfu to the Adriatic Sea and Greece - including Koper in Slovenia. In addition to dream beaches, there is also plenty of culture to be discovered. For example, the magnificent Gothic Praetorian Palace is located in the center of the medieval old town. Another new AIDA port on this itinerary is Korčula. Ever heard of it? Korčula is one of the most diverse and beautiful islands in Croatia with plenty of opportunities for hiking and swimming.   Travel trend number 4: Busy diary, but always finding time to get away   A travel trend is and remains - travel! Even those who don't have a lot of time on their hands still want to take a break from time to time. The extensive range of short trips with 3-, 4-, 5- or 6-day cruises is the solution: With AIDAmar from Warnemünde, you can easily visit destinations such as Gotland or Bornholm, as well as capitals such as Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen. For AIDAperla it goes from Hamburg to Stavanger and Eidfjord and with AIDAluna for example to Gothenburg, Kristiansand, Arhus, Oslo and Copenhagen. Who wouldn't want to pack their suitcase for a short trip?   Travel trend number 5: Sunbathing is out, forest bathing is in!   Wildlife watching and hiking are among the top travel activities. AIDA cruises in the summer of 2025 will once again offer numerous opportunities for this. A cruise through the fjord landscapes of Norway, through the archipelago of the Baltic Sea or further west around the British Isles promises one thing above all: impressive natural spectacles.   The Geirangerfjord is certainly one of the most popular destinations. It never fails to enchant visitors with its mystical atmosphere again and again. The fjord winds its way inland past forests, cliffs, rushing waterfalls and snow-capped mountain peaks. The estuary was even named a World Heritage Site in 2005.   For those who are drawn even farther north, there are trips to the North Cape, Iceland, Greenland and Svalbard. One of the many highlights of a trip to Norway is a detour to the Lofoten Islands. This Norwegian archipelago rises like a cliff out of the sea. The islands are located 100 to 300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle at the top of Norway. If you only think of ice and snow, the Lofoten Islands will surprise you: Thanks to the Gulf Stream, the climate here is relatively mild. The coastline is characterized by impressive mountain scenery, interspersed with countless fjords and even white sandy beaches.   Svalbard is one of the northernmost destinations in the world, with a rugged landscape of glaciers, mountains and fjords. Polar bears, reindeer and foxes live here in their natural environment.   Travel trend number 6: Me Vacation!   Mindfulness and personal growth are also top trends when it comes to traveling. On an AIDA cruise, this "me" vacation can be combined with exercise classes, yoga sessions or spa treatments. Another way to find yourself is through pilgrimage. A visit to Santiago de Compostela - the end point on the Camino de Santiago - is an absolute must. AIDAsol calls at the nearby port city of A Coruña on its "English Channel & Bay of Biscay" voyages. Parts of the Camino de Santiago can also be walked on the stops in Bilbao and Gijón, as well as the new AIDA port of Bordeaux. Vacation - here I come!   Travel trend number 7: A trip to the stars   Apparently, space exploration is one of the top travel desires of the future. Who doesn't dream of being up close to the stars one day? It only takes a little imagination to make this dream come true – even on an AIDA cruise! For example, it is well worth visiting the famous Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, which houses the world’s seventh-largest telescope, a Camera Obscura and an exciting gallery dedicated to modern astronomy. Visitors can also try their hand at being an astronomer, lead a space mission and touch a meteorite that is more than 4.5 billion years old. All of this can be experienced on the "Metropolises from Hamburg" route of the AIDAperla from April to October 2025.   In the night, the stars on the vast ocean seemingly draw nearer. Every summer, the Perseids can be seen on a clear night. In 2025, the shooting stars will appear between July 17 and August 24 in the western Mediterranean, for example, where AIDAcosma and AIDAstella will explore Mediterranean highlights on voyages from Mallorca or Barcelona.   The chance to see the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, will be offered on the cruises of AIDAbella in the fall of 2025 from Kiel. The 14-day voyages will take passengers to destinations including Leknes and Bodø, Trondheim or Stavanger, and Tromsø.   Travel trend number 8: Book smart, secure early booking benefits   When booking at the AIDA PREMIUM rate, you can save up to 375 euros early booking plus discount for summer departures in 2025 if you book by October 31, 2024. On the globetrotter itineraries, the discount is even up to 1,050 euros. The contingent is limited and applies to the 1st and 2nd person in the cabin. Other benefits of the AIDA PREMIUM rate include the choice of the cabin of your choice as well as two bottles of mineral water and a 250 MB Internet package on board every day.   The voyages can also be booked at the AIDA PREMIUM All INCLUSIVE rate. In addition to the services included in the PEMIUM rate, it includes the most extensive AIDA beverage package for the entire voyage.   AIDA voyages for the 2025 summer season can be booked starting October 5, 2023, at travel agencies, at the AIDA Customer Center by calling 0381/202 707 07 or at www.aida.de.