Carnival Cruise Line Maps Five-Year Expansion Strategy
Reported to be the most successful brand in the Carnival Corporation portfolio, Carnival Cruise Line has an aggressive five-year plan for growth. The line has a strong orderbook and will also be looking to grow its private ports while continuing its focus on U.S. cruising with the widest assortment of homeports.
“Since our inception in 1972, we have defined and led the modern cruise industry and our plans for the next five years and beyond are no different,” said line’s President Christine Duffy. “Having just integrated two ships into the Carnival fleet in Australia, we now stand at 29 ships, the largest global fleet in our history.”
The line has two additional LNG-fueled cruise ships on order from Meyer Werft and it revealed they will continue the naming pattern of the class which has celebrated the history of the now 53-year-old line. The next ships will be Carnival Festivale debuting in the spring of 2027 sailing week-long cruises from Port Canaveral, Florida. In 2028, it will introduce Carnival Tropicale. The line is planning new innovations including an expanded outdoor area and water park that will for the first time also host evening deck parties on some nights with music and activities for families. Carnival reports it carries more than one million children per year and it is expanding its accommodations for families on the new ships.
Expanded water park will open some evenings for family deck parties (CCL)
Carnival reports that half of the U.S. population lives within 5-hour driving distance to one of its homeports and it will expand its short cruise programs. Already half of its cruises are in the short duration category and in 2027, the Mardi Gras will begin short cruises from Port Canaveral, the first time the line has used one of its largest ships on short cruises.
As part of its strategy, Carnival says it will also return to year-round operations in Mobile, Alabama beginning in spring 2027. In addition, Carnival is exploring moving a larger Conquest class ship to Baltimore in 2027 that can accommodate about 1,000 more guests than Carnival Pride, the Spirit class ship currently deployed from Baltimore.
Like all the large cruise lines, Carnival is also increasing its focus on private destinations. In July 2025 it opens Celebration Key on Grand Bahama Island, which will have a capability in its first phase to handle 13,000 passengers a day. The line plans further expansion in Phase 2 while noting that 20 Carnival ships from 10 U.S. homeports on more than 1,400 sailings are already scheduled to visit Celebration Key in 2027.
Celebration Key is being developed on Grand Bahama Island as a private destination for the cruise line's passengers (CCL)
It is also launching an expanded and renamed operation in the Bahamas, RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, which it shares with Holland America Line. The new features including a dock for two of its largest cruise ship will open at the private island in 2026. At the same time, Mahogany Bay, Carnival’s destination in Roatan, Honduras, will be renamed Isla Tropicale and will be expanded to include a pool with a swim up bar and cabanas.
This expansion follows the growth of Carnival Cruise Line in Australia taking over two 109,000 gross ton ships and merged in the P&O Australia cruise operation. In the past few years, it also took over three ships from sister brand Costa Cruises giving Carnival Cruise Line a total 34 percent increase in capacity.
Longer term, the brand also highlights it order with Fincantieri for three LNG-powered cruise ships which will be approximately 230,000 gross tons, the largest ships ever built by Fincantieri and an Italian shipyard. Called Project Ace, they will be delivered in 2029, 2031, and 2033 and have over 3,000 guest cabins, and a capacity of almost 8,000 passengers.
With strong advance booking and a strong increase in onboard revenue, Carnival Cruise Line points to strong momentum from the brand achieved over the past few years. The growth strategy looks to leverage the brands strengths for the future.