Carnival Cruise Line is swapping cruise ships at two homeports in the Gulf of Mexico in early 2019 as the cruise lines adds more shorter cruises to the Western Caribbean.
Carnival Dream and Carnival Valor will swap homeports in May 2019. Carnival Valor currently sails out of Galveston, Texas and Carnival Dream out of New Orleans. Once the ships move to their new homeports, they will both sail four to five night cruises to the Western Caribbean.
Carnival Valor will shift to New Orleans to begin year-round four- and five-day cruises from the Big Easy beginning on May 23, 2019. It will be the largest ship to offer a year-round short cruise schedule from that port.
On this route, four-day long weekend cruises depart Thursdays and visit Cozumel, while five-day voyages depart Mondays and Saturdays calling at Cozumel and Progreso.
Carnival Dream will launch four- and five-day cruises to Mexico year-round from Galveston beginning on May 23, 2019, becoming the newest and largest Carnival ship to operate a short cruise program from that port and providing Texans with an exciting and convenient new vacation option.
On this route, four-day long weekend cruises depart Thursdays and visit Cozumel, while five-day voyages depart Mondays and Saturdays calling at Cozumel and Progreso or Costa Maya.
Each of these stunning Mexican destinations offer world-class beaches, excellent shopping and dining experiences, and opportunities to visit historical attractions and landmarks, including centuries-old Mayan ruins. A wide variety of “fun in the sun” shore excursion choices, from paddle-boarding and ziplining to ATV adventures and watersports like scuba diving and snorkeling, is also available.
Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, gave the following statement: “Galveston is one of our fastest-growing and most popular homeports and we’re delighted to expand capacity on our short cruise program with Carnival Dream. Not only is Carnival Dream our largest ship to operate short cruises it also offers guests some truly spectacular onboard features and facilities following her extensive multi-million-dollar makeover.”
Carnival Dream will join Carnival Freedom and Carnival Vista, which repositions to Galveston in fall 2018, and together these three ships are expected to carry nearly 650,000 passengers annually from Galveston – more than any cruise line.
Carnival Valor last year underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation that added such popular highlights as Guy’s Burger Joint, developed in tandem with celebrity chef Guy Fieri, the Caribbean-themed RedFrog Pub, SkyBox sports bar, Alchemy Bar and the poolside RedFrog Rum Bar and BlueIguana Tequila Bar. Other features on Carnival Valor include an adults-only Serenity Deck, a 214-foot-long water slide and Scarlett’s, a classic American steakhouse.
Photo Credit: Chris Gent via Wiki Creative Commons 2.0