CCL-Carnival Cruise Line’s next newbuild Carnival Celebration was floated out at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland on Friday, February 11, which signified a major step in the ship's construction.
The newbuild will now move alongside the yard’s outfitting pier and into the next phase of building, where the focus will shift to work on what Carnival ships are popular for: the fun.
Carnival Celebration is the seconnd of 3 Excel-class liners, joining Carnival Mardi Gras (currently homeported in Port Canaveral/Orlando, Florida) and Carnival Jubilee (scheduled for inauguration in 2023 and homeporting in Galveston TX). Excel-class is CCL's newest and largest design of LNG-powered ships (running on liquefied natural gas).
Due to enter service on November 6, 2022 (Maiden Voyage), Carnival Celebration starts with a Transatlantic crossings (RepositionCruises.com) from Southampton (England UK) to PortMiami (Florida USA/homeport). CCL’s transformed "Terminal F" will usher in a new era of infrastructure as one of the first fitted with shore power technology, to be available to cruise liners by fall 2023.
Carnival Celebration’s first Caribbean voyage from Miami starts on November 21st. The boat's arrival will mark the culmination of the year-long celebration of Carnival’s 50th birthday.
The name of the newbuild is a nod to one of Carnival’s 3rd/last Holiday-class liners - MS Celebration (1987-built/2021-scrapped as "Grand Celebration").