Carnival Dream will launch four- and five-day cruises to Mexico year-round from Galveston beginning in May 2019, becoming the newest and largest Carnival ship to operate a short cruise program from that port and providing Texans with a new option.
Carnival Valor, currently based in Galveston, will shift to New Orleans to begin year-round four- and five-day cruises beginning May 2019. It will be the largest ship to offer a year-round short cruise schedule from New Orleans.
Four- day long weekend cruises depart Thursdays and visit Cozumel, while five-day voyages depart Mondays and Saturdays calling at Cozumel and Progreso. Some five-day itineraries from Galveston feature Cozumel and Costa Maya.
'Galveston and New Orleans are two of our most popular and fastest-growing homeports and Carnival Dream and Carnival Valor provide wonderful short cruise options in these markets,' Carnival president Christine Duffy said.
Carnival Dream's new Galveston deployment represents a 22% increase in capacity for this program. The ship recently underwent an extensive makeover that added food and beverage options like Guy’s Pig and Anchor Bar-B-Que created by Food Network star Guy Fieri, the cocktail pharmacy-themed Alchemy Bar, BlueIguana Cantina and the full-service Bonsai Sushi restaurant.
Carnival Dream will join Carnival Freedom and Carnival Vista, which repositions to Galveston in fall 2018, and together these three ships are expected to carry nearly 650,000 passengers annually from Galveston—the most of any cruise line.
Meanwhile, Carnival Valor will replace Carnival Triumph in New Orleans for a nearly 10% capacity increase on the line’s short cruise program from that port. Carnival Triumph will be deployed to another homeport to be announced at a later date.
Also in May 2019, Carnival Glory will take over Carnival Dream's year-round, seven-day cruise schedule. Together, Carnival Valor and Carnival Glory are expected to carry nearly 400,000 passengers from New Orleans.
Carnival Valor last year underwent a renovation that added a Guy’s Burger Joint, developed in tandem with Guy Fieri, the Caribbean-themed RedFrog Pub, SkyBox sports bar, Alchemy Bar and the poolside RedFrog Rum Bar and BlueIguana Tequila Bar.
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