Carnival Opens 346 Sailings for Its 2028-29 Miami Season

By Grace Kim

Carnival Cruise Line has opened reservations for 346 sailings across 22 destinations from Miami, with departures running from April 2028 through April 2029.

The program spans three-day getaways to 11-day Carnival Journeys cruises and uses five ships: Carnival Celebration, Conquest, Magic, Vista and Venezia. That breadth lets sellers match trips to shorter vacation windows or longer itineraries, while the larger slate may support more package combinations.

Reservations being open, however, is not evidence of demand. The release gives no pricing or commission terms, and it offers no booking targets, capacity forecast or market-share data.

The portfolio covers the Bahamas and the Eastern, Western and Southern Caribbean. Of the 346 sailings, 217 call at Celebration Key, Carnival’s exclusive destination on Grand Bahama.

That is roughly 63% of the Miami program. Carnival’s exclusivity gives sellers a proprietary itinerary element that competing lines do not replicate. The concentration could give Carnival more room to shape package pricing, but the company has disclosed no ticket prices, onboard spending or revenue targets.

What does Celebration Key’s traffic mean for sellers?

Celebration Key marked its first anniversary with almost 2.5 million guest visits this summer. The company projects guest numbers of 2.7 million in 2026 and 3.5 million in 2027.

The 2027 forecast sits 800,000, or about 30%, above the 2026 estimate. These remain company projections, not measured annual results. The announcement does not specify the calendar year for the summer figure, and it gives no capacity denominator or revenue forecast.

For travel sellers, the useful test is whether more calls produce confirmed bookings and destination spend. A larger itinerary count alone does not answer that question.

How much of the lineup targets short vacations?

Carnival will offer 174 three- to five-day sailings aboard Conquest and Magic, with calls at Celebration Key, Nassau, Grand Turk and RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay. Those sailings account for just over half of the 346-sailing program, showing how heavily Carnival is pitching short Caribbean breaks.

For sellers, the inventory offers lower time-commitment choices, but no evidence shows which sailings travel sellers or customers have actually reserved. Carnival Celebration will continue week-long vacations from Miami through seven-day Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries.

Those calls include Amber Cove, San Juan, St. Thomas, Cozumel and Isla Tropicale, among others. Together, sellers can offer short and week-long products from the same embarkation port. The announcement does not disclose how many sailings use Celebration Celebration or what they fetch.

What sits in the longer-itinerary mix?

Carnival Vista and Venezia will operate 39 eight-day Southern Caribbean sailings, visiting Aruba and Curaçao. Most will also call at Bonaire.

Carnival Conquest will add two special 11-day Carnival Journeys cruises to the Southern Caribbean. Calls include Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

Together, those explicitly identified eight- and 11-day Southern products total 41, just under 12% of the 346-sailing program. The mix gives sellers longer-trip inventory, but its revenue effect cannot be measured without fares, cabin categories or onboard-spend data. For sellers, it adds inventory depth, not proof of demand.

How does Miami compare with Port Canaveral?

The Miami launch follows Carnival’s announcement of its 2028-29 Port Canaveral lineup, which has more than 300 departures aboard five ships. With Miami at 346, the two announced schedules exceed 646 departures in total.

For sellers, that volume can broaden catalog depth and make Carnival more consequential in cruise comparisons. Scheduled departures are not bookings, and the announcement offers no sell-through rate, passenger capacity or market-share data.

For travel sellers, the next meaningful evidence will be whether Carnival converts the expanded schedule and projected Celebration Key traffic into bookings, occupancy and revenue. Until then, the announcement proves inventory scale, not sell-through.