Carnival will offer guests a unique chance to journey through the Panama Canal in early 2018 when it moves one of its larger ships from Miami to Long Beach as part of the cruise giant’s planned expansion in Southern California.
On Jan. 14, 2018, the 3,006-passenger Carnival Splendor will embark on a 13-day cruise from the East Coast to the West, becoming the first Carnival ship to pass through the canal’s new lock system. The trip will include stops at ports in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America.
Once the vessel reaches Long Beach, Carnival will begin offering seven-day cruises through the Mexican Riviera aboard Splendor, which will replace the Carnival Miracle as part of a 41 percent capacity increase to the line’s weeklong cruises from the West Coast. It will also offer 14-day Hawaii cruises round-trip from Long Beach.
The expansion is part of a deal reached with the city and Urban Commons, a real estate firm that recently took over a lease on the Queen Mary. The agreement allows Carnival to expand cruise operations to use the entire 142,000 square feet of the Queen Mary Dome, formerly home to the Spruce Goose. The cruise line has been using a portion of the dome for its operations since 2003.
Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said the Long Beach expansion is a deal years in the making.
“Long Beach is a highly convenient and popular homeport and we’re delighted to provide our guests with exciting new year-round cruise vacation choices aboard a newer, larger ship in this market,” Duffy said in a statement. “At the same time, we’re also very pleased that we’re able to expand our terminal facilities in Long Beach with full utilization of the dome, which will ensure we can provide our guests with a high quality and efficient experience at the port.”
Urban Commons recently unveiled plans to renovate the interior of the Queen Mary and develop the 42 acres of land around it. Under the new agreement, the firm has also promised to build a replacement terminal for Carnival in the next five years, which will allow Urban Commons to regain full use of the dome in the future.
Cruise Carnival
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Add Carnival to the list of cruise lines that soon will be sending a ship through the Panama Canal’s new, larger locks.
The Miami-based cruise giant on Thursday said its 3,006-passenger Carnival Splendor would operate a one-time, 13-day voyage from Miami to Long Beach, Calif. in 2018 that includes passage through the locks — a first for the line.
The sailing will kick off on Jan. 14, 2018 and include calls at Cartagena, Colombia; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala; and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
With a beam of 116 feet, the eight-year-old Splendor is too wide to fit through the canal’s old locks. The vessel, notably, had to sail around the bottom of South America in 2009 when it re-positioned from the Caribbean to the Pacific. It was the first Carnival ship ever to make such a voyage.
Splendor also sailed around the bottom of South America when it returned to the Caribbean from the Pacific in 2013.
Princess Cruises was the first cruise line to announce voyages through the new canal locks, which opened in June. The line’s 3,080-passenger Caribbean Princess will operate partial transits of the canal using the new locks starting in late 2017.
With a beam of 118 feet, Caribbean Princess also is too wide for the canal’s old locks. The old locks can handle vessels with a beam of up to 106 feet.
Disney Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line also recently revealed plans to use the new locks for upcoming sailings. Disney told USA TODAY in June that the 1,754-passenger Disney Wonder would sail through the new locks in 2017 when it re-positions to Alaska from the Caribbean. Norwegian announced last month that its still-under-construction, 4,000-passenger Norwegian Bliss would sail through the new locks in 2018, also on the way to Alaska.
Splendor’s 2018 canal cruise will come as it re-positions from Florida to Long Beach, Calif., to replace Carnival Miracle. Miracle in turn is re-positioning to Tampa. The deployment of the bigger Splendor will increase Carnival’s capacity on the West Coast.