Carnival is bringing a newer and larger ship to Port Charleston beginning 2019, the company annouced today.
Carnival Sunshine will call Port of Charleston her home port beginning May 2019, with regular 4- and 5-day cruises to the Bahamas. Sunshine will replace the 28-year-old Ecstasy as the main ship sailing from Union Pier.
Carnival Sunshine, which has previously sailed from Charleston, can accommodate up to 3,002 passengers compared to Ecstasy's limit of 2,056.
The first cruise under the full-time stay of Carnival Sunshine in Charleston will occur on May 18, 2019. Carnival Ecstasy will shift to Jacksonville, to operate 4- and 5-day cruises from the city.
Carnival Cruise Line said it expected about 220,000 passengers to sail onboard Sunshine annually once it's based in Charleston. In fiscal 2017 Carnival and a number of other cruise lines which stop in Charleston carried a total of 224,105 passengers, which is a 5.6% increase over 2016.
4-day cruises will visit Nassau while 5-day sailings will include stops at the Bahamian port city and the private island of Half Moon Cay.
Sunshine will also operate 11-day Carnival Journeys voyage round-trip out of Union Pier from December 3-15, 2019, with calls at St Thomas USVI, Bonaire, Aruba, Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay.