Carnival Cruise Line Cruises: Ships, Prices & Deals

Who Carnival Cruise Line suits

Carnival is the largest brand of Carnival Corporation, the Miami-based group that also owns Princess, Holland America, Cunard and several European lines. Its pitch has not changed in decades: casual, loud-in-a-good-way ships, low fares and short trips from ports most Americans can drive to.

That makes it a strong fit for first-time cruisers, families on a budget, groups of friends and anyone who wants a long weekend at sea rather than a two-week voyage. Exactly half of the 600 Carnival sailings we track are five nights or fewer. If you want quiet lounges, formal service or an adults-only atmosphere, look at adults-only options or a premium line instead.

Carnival ships by class, newest to oldest

The fleet table above lists every ship with its year, tonnage and capacity, and you can sort it by age. Here is how the 30 ships group by class.

• Excellence class: Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration and Carnival Jubilee. These are the biggest Carnival ships, all above 181,000 gross tons, and the only ones with BOLT, the roller coaster on the top deck. Carnival Festivale is the newest name in our catalogue.
• Vista class: Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon and Carnival Panorama, plus Carnival Venezia and Carnival Firenze, two former Costa ships sailing with Italian-themed décor.
• Dream class: Carnival Dream, Carnival Magic and Carnival Breeze, about 130,000 tons each.
• Conquest class: Carnival Conquest, Carnival Glory, Carnival Valor, Carnival Liberty and Carnival Freedom. Carnival Splendor, built on a related Concordia-class design, now sails from Sydney.
• Destiny class (rebuilt): Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Sunrise and Carnival Radiance, the line's late-1990s ships after major refits.
• Spirit class: Carnival Spirit, Carnival Pride, Carnival Legend and Carnival Miracle. They are narrow enough for the Panama Canal, which is why they run Alaska and the more unusual routes.
• Grand class: Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter, the former P&O Australia ships, sail from Australia alongside the ex-Costa Carnival Luminosa.
• Fantasy class: most of the eight Fantasy ships that defined Carnival in the 1990s have left the fleet. Carnival Elation and Carnival Paradise, the oldest ships still sailing, run short trips from Jacksonville and Tampa.

Older does not mean worse value. In our data, the Destiny and Vista ships have the lowest median fares, and the Fantasy pair produces the cheapest single fares on the line.

Carnival home ports

Carnival is built around drive-to US home ports: 13 of its 23 embarkation ports in our catalogue are in the US, and they account for 527 of its 600 sailings. Miami leads with 116 sailings, followed by Port Canaveral (106), Galveston (74), Long Beach (50), New Orleans (47), Tampa (33) and Jacksonville (32). Smaller programs run from Norfolk, Baltimore, Seattle, Mobile and San Francisco, and in Australia from Sydney and Brisbane.

The practical point: for many readers, the cheapest Carnival cruise is the one from the nearest port, because you save the flight and the pre-cruise hotel. See cruises from Miami for the busiest port's full schedule, and use find a cruise to filter by departure port.

Carnival cruise destinations: where Carnival sails

The Caribbean and the Bahamas make up about three quarters of the schedule. Of 600 sailings, 194 are Bahamas cruises, 151 Western Caribbean, 73 Eastern Caribbean and 24 Southern Caribbean. Cozumel, Nassau, Progreso, St Thomas and San Juan are the most frequent public ports. Browse all Caribbean cruises for other lines on the same routes.

Beyond that, Long Beach feeds about 50 Mexican Riviera and Baja Mexico cruises, Seattle and San Francisco run 17 Alaska Inside Passage sailings, and Carnival's Australian ships cover Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Queensland and New Zealand. Bermuda, transatlantic crossings and a few Mediterranean sailings fill the rest.

What's included on a Carnival cruise and what costs extra

The fare covers your cabin, the main dining room, the Lido buffet, Guy's Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, pools, waterslides, most entertainment and kids' clubs. Water, tea, regular coffee and some juices are included too.

Expect to pay extra for:

• Drinks: the CHEERS! package covers alcohol, sodas and specialty coffees, and every adult in the cabin generally has to buy it. Bottomless Bubbles is the soft-drink-only option.
• Specialty dining: steakhouse, sushi, Asian and seafood restaurants vary by ship.
• Wi-Fi: sold in tiers from social-media-only to streaming.
• Gratuities: a daily service charge per guest is added to your onboard account.
• Faster to the Fun: a paid add-on for priority check-in, early cabin access and priority disembarkation.
• Shore excursions, spa, photos and the arcade.

Add-on prices change often, so check them in Carnival's planner before you sail. Our prices cover the fare only.

Celebration Key, RelaxAway and Carnival's private destinations

Celebration Key, Carnival's private destination on Grand Bahama, is now the backbone of the Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean schedule: it appears on 289 of our 600 Carnival sailings. It has beach areas, pools and an adults-only zone, and ships dock alongside.

RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, the company's island in the Bahamas long known simply as Half Moon Cay, appears on 158 sailings. Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic and Isla Tropicale on Roatán, both company-owned ports, appear on 53 each. If you want more "real" ports, check the itinerary in the sailings table before booking, since some Bahamas cruises call at Carnival-run stops only.

VIFP Club loyalty tiers

Carnival's loyalty scheme, VIFP Club (Very Important Fun Person), has five tiers: Blue, Red, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. You start at Blue when you join, and status traditionally rises with the number of cruise days you have sailed. Perks grow from small onboard extras at the lower tiers to priority embarkation, complimentary laundry and exclusive events at Platinum and Diamond.

Carnival has announced a move toward a spend-based rewards program, so check how your existing VIFP status carries over on carnival.com before counting on a perk. Your VIFP number is also how you look up past sailings and link bookings.

How expensive is Carnival? Price level and cheapest months

Carnival is the cheapest major line in our database. Its median fare is €132 per person per night across all cabin types, against €160 for MSC, €165 for Norwegian Cruise Line and €181 for Royal Caribbean. An inside cabin has a median of €93 per night. The lowest fare we currently hold is from €167 per person, a 4-night Bahamas cruise on Carnival Paradise from Tampa in an inside cabin.

Season matters more than ship. January departures have the lowest median (€106 per night), with October to December close behind at €110–112. June and July are the most expensive months at €171 and €180, when school holidays fill the ships. All prices are the cheapest cabin of each type, per person, captured on the date shown on the page. The seasonality chart above shows the full curve.

Carnival price drops and how to catch them

Carnival reprices sailings constantly, especially short cruises from big ports where several ships compete for the same weekend. Fares often fall when a sailing is not filling as fast as planned, then rise again once it does. Depending on your fare type, Carnival may reprice your booking or give onboard credit if the fare falls before final payment, so it pays to keep watching after you book.

Our Carnival deals page lists every Carnival fare that has dropped in our latest captures. Set an email price alert on the sailing you want, and check its price history chart to see whether today's fare is actually low: 30 days of history are free, 90 days come with Basic and 12 months with Pro. Plans start at $0.99 a month; see pricing. To check where a ship is right now, use the Carnival fleet tracker.