Carnival cruisers pick surprising home port for next megaship
Forget Florida — Carnival cruise passengers say this popular port city outside the Sunshine State needs a shiny new ship.
Carnival Cruise Line recently revealed the name and theming for its fourth Excel-class megaship that’s set to debut in spring 2027.
Carnival Festivale will celebrate music through new venues and experiences, but the news that the music-themed megaship will sail from Florida’s Port Canaveral was not music to the ears of some cruisers.
Related: Carnival cruisers angry over new charges for once-free menu items
Since the cruise line’s announcement earlier this month, many Carnival cruise fans have written to Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald to share their pleas for Carnival to consider other popular ports outside of Florida for its future megaships.
Carnival’s strategic growth plans also include the addition of a fifth Excel-class ship, Carnival Tropicale, in spring 2028. Since this ship’s home port hasn’t yet been revealed, many passengers have reached out to submit their suggestions.
The brand ambassador recently gave cruisers the opportunity to make their collective opinion clear to the cruise line. They voted on home port options for Carnival Tropicale in an unofficial poll conducted on Heald's popular Facebook page, followed by more than 600,000 cruisers.
And the results are somewhat surprising.
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Carnival cruisers want next megaship to sail from New Orleans
Heald included several home port options in the poll, including the top Florida ports, Port Canaveral and Miami. Cruisers also had the opportunity to vote for New Orleans, Galveston, Texas, and Long Beach, Calif. “I think the new Excel class ship Tropicale should be homeported in either New York or Baltimore” was also presented as an option.
Surprisingly, New Orleans was the clear winner of the poll on Carnival Festivale’s potential homeport, with more than 3,000 cruisers choosing it. Here’s how the full results played out:
- New Orleans
- Port Canaveral
- New York or Baltimore
- Galveston
- Long Beach
- Miami
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Whether it’s the newest Excel-class ship or another megaship, many Carnival cruisers think New Orleans needs a newer ship with all the bells and whistles. Carnival currently offers Caribbean cruises from New Orleans aboard Conquest-class ships Carnival Valor and Carnival Liberty, two classic-style Carnival ships that are about 20 years old.
Carnival cruisers are big on The Big Easy
“I live in New Orleans and cruise out of there regularly and I was wondering if we are ever going to get one of the newer ships,” Erin Caimi recently wrote to Carnival’s brand ambassador. “I feel like all we get are the old ships that need some TLC with none of the new amenities, slides or fun things to do. We have had the Liberty and Valor for years. Next year we are getting the NCL Prima and the RCL Mariner, but Carnival is my favorite.”
“Thank you, well at the moment for this year and next year there are no plans, but in the summer of this year we will be announcing what we’re doing in 2027, so we shall see,” Heald replied. “We love cruising from New Orleans and we are so glad to see how strong the bookings are on the sailing we have from there.”
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- Carnival Cruise Line pushes back on dining room policy
- Carnival Cruise Line cancels multiple sailings on two ships
Another passenger pointed out that Carnival already has one megaship in the fleet that sees like the perfect fit for New Orleans.
“John, the most logical ship for New Orleans would be the Mardi Gras, since that is where we celebrate it the most,” Charlie Thomason wrote.
“Thank you, well the name of the ship actually has nothing to do with the incredible tradition from New Orleans. It’s the namesake of the very first ship in the fleet,” Heald explained in reply. “But anyway, let’s see what the future holds.”
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