Tag Archives: Caribbean cruise

Carnival Legend to Homeport in Galveston in 2025

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Carnival Cruise Line announced that the Carnival Legend will be homeporting in Galveston in 2025, offering Western Caribbean sailings ranging from four to ten nights.

In addition, the Carnival Legend will offer two Panama Canal voyages, according to a statement.

“Carnival Legend’s deployment in Galveston strengthens our already robust portfolio of sailings from Texas, adding more variety to the offered itineraries, as well as another ship choice, and more opportunities for cruises to Mexico and other Western Caribbean that fit any vacation length,” said Fred Stein, Carnival’s vice president of revenue planning and deployment.

From the fall of 2025 through early 2026, the Carnival Legend will alternate between shorter and longer itineraries. Among the available sailings is a five-day voyage that visits Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico. Seven newly available 10-day itineraries feature ports of call in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Mahogany Bay, Roatan; Belize and Cozumel, Mexico.

Additionally, an eight-day Christmas sailing departing on December 18, 2025, will visit Mahogany Bay, Roatan; Belize and Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico.

Ahead of its move to Galveston, the ship will sail a 16-day Carnival Journeys sailing departing from San Francisco on October 6, 2025. Ports of call include Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and Puntarenas, Costa Rica before transiting the Panama Canal, and then Cartagena, Colombia before arriving in Galveston. A second 14-day Carnival Journeys cruise sails roundtrip from Galveston and departs on February 2, 2026. Ports of call include Montego Bay, Jamaica; Aruba; Curacao; Cartagena, Colombia; Colon (Panama Canal), Panama; Limon, Costa Rica and Cozumel, Mexico. Additionally, the Carnival Legend will offer three 10-day Panama Canal sailings departing on Oct. 27 Dec. 8, 2025, and March 16, 2026.

The Carnival Legend’s Galveston cruises open for sale on September 21.

Jamaica Welcomes Over 1.5 Million Visitors In 2023

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Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett revealed that Jamaica has welcomed over 1.5 million total visitors since January 2023, according to a press release.

“Between January 1, 2023, and May 10, we received 1,586,303 total visitors, stopover and cruise, earning $1.69 billion, putting our destination on par with 2019 record figures. We have seen steady growth in our arrivals and continued investment in the tourism sector, which is a tremendous achievement,” said Bartlett.

Bartlett said that strategic investments and resilience were vital in sustaining such a strong recovery of the tourism sector.

“To keep this growth on an upward trajectory, we continue to secure new air service with the addition of new routes by prestigious carriers such as American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Arajet, and Edelweiss Airlines. We are expanding and modernizing Sangster International Airport and have approximately 8,000 new hotel rooms slated for construction over the next two to five years.”

Bartlett also highlighted that the Ministry of Tourism’s Blue Ocean Strategy and its Destination Assurance Framework and Strategy have influenced the development of a more sustainable and diverse tourism product.

“Jamaica is leveraging key pillars for tourism that showcase the destination’s unique culture and heritage while simultaneously addressing the desire of today’s traveller to experience more than just sun, sea and sand. We need to carefully manage the industry through resilience building, so it can continually adapt to issues that may arise and put plans in place to protect it from potential future shocks,” concluded Bartlett.

Icon of the Seas Generating ‘Exceptional Demand’

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When the new Icon of the Seas debuts in 2024 for Royal Caribbean International, she will become the world’s biggest ship and is already breaking sales records.

“Despite being on sale for only five months, Icon is significantly more booked for her inaugural season at materially higher rates than any other Royal Caribbean ship launch,” said Jason Liberty, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, speaking on the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

“The Icon will join the fleet later this year and debut in the Caribbean in January 2024, with itineraries including Perfect Day at CocoCay and its new expansion, Hideaway Beach.”

Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, added: “Icon is literally the best-performing new product launch we’ve ever had in the history of our business, and we’re delighted with volume and rate, and that really is a full 2024 product … it’s really driving a huge amount of demand and a great rate.”

Following the Icon, the company has another Oasis-class ship coming in 2024, the Utopia of the Seas, plus two more Icon-class vessels, set to debut in 2025 and 2026, respectively.