Carnival Doubles Down on Long Beach Cruises, Opens 3- to 8-Day Sailings on Two Ships (2028/29)

A couple of familiar cruise ships to the Los Angeles market are sticking around for a lot longer than expected as Carnival Cruise Line announces new sailing dates out of Long Beach.

Carnival has officially opened its 2028/29 West Coast schedule. The new cruise dates run from May 2028 through April 2029.

Two Ships, Different Itineraries

• Carnival Radiance: Focuses on shorter sailings. It will continue running 3-day weekend trips to Ensenada and 4-day midweek cruises combining Catalina Island and Ensenada. A rare 5-day holiday departure on Dec. 21, 2028, will add Cabo San Lucas to the mix as well.
• Carnival Panorama: Offers longer sailings to the Mexican Riviera. Passengers can choose between 6-day itineraries (featuring two full days in Cabo San Lucas plus Ensenada) or 8-day extended voyages stopping at Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta.

Carnival Radiance and Carnival Panorama are already cruising out of the Long Beach cruise terminal right now.

The port, which is about 7 miles from San Pedro’s port near Los Angeles, is also home to Carnival Firenze. Carnival Legend will be coming to Long Beach in October 2027.

Current Pricing and Availability

Bookings are currently open on these vessels well into 2029. These are the current starting prices on Carnival’s website:

• 3-Day Baja Mexico (Radiance): Starts at $321 per person
• 4-Day Baja Mexico (Radiance): Starts between $336 and $356 per person
• 6-Day Mexican Riviera (Panorama): Starts at $439 per person
• 8-Day Mexican Riviera (Panorama): Starts at $628 per person
• 5-Day Holiday Special (Radiance, Dec. 2028): Starts at $722 per person

Long Beach Remains a Priority

It’s such a unique experience to cruise out of Long Beach, with its iconic geodesic dome right next to The Queen Mary. I’ve spent a night on the historic ship before a Carnival cruise before and can’t recommend it enough. Prices start around $160 or so.

Carnival is maintaining year-round deployments for both Radiance and Panorama, giving cruisers continued sailings to beautiful Mexican ports through spring 2029.

The interesting thing about this announcement is that it comes just shortly after Royal Caribbean announced the cancellation of about 40 West Coast sailings across Navigator of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas. The cruise line is moving these ships to Asia (Navigator) and Australia (Ovation) in 2026 and 2027 respectively.

Carnival is doubling down on Southern California offerings as cruise lines jockey for positioning two and three years ahead.