All aboard! Carnival to bring a bigger, better cruise ship to South Carolina in 2019
Cold weather got you down? Its never the wrong time to think about taking a nice, warm cruise.
That prospect will get easier in 2019, when Carnival Cruise Lines will bring a newer, larger ship to the Port of Charleston, according to a press release issued Thursday.
The Carnival Sunshine will have a 3,002 passenger capacity, the release said, and will offer year-round four-and five-day cruises starting May 18, 2019.
“With its convenient location and strong tourism appeal, Charleston is one of our most popular home ports and we’re delighted to build upon this success with the deployment of Carnival Sunshine,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line in their release. “Carnival Sunshine not only provides guests sailing from Charleston with a newer, larger ship with so much to see and do but also underscores our commitment to our year-round operations from this port.”
Five day cruise destinations for the Sunshine will include Nassau and the private Bahamian island of Half Moon Cay, according to the release, while four day cruises will take people to Nassau, capital city of the Bahamas.
In December 2019, an 11-day cruise option will be available that will visit destinations like St. Thomas, Aruba, Bonaire, Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay, the release said.
The new ship will offer everything from a top deck water park to a comedy club to a rope course and more, says the release. It will even have a waterfall.
The Sunshine, which currently sails from Port Canaveral in Orlando, is expected to transport roughly 220,000 passengers a year from Charleston, according to the release.
Carnival will move the ship currently stationed in Charleston, the Carnival Ecstasy, to Jacksonville when the Sunshine starts service.
For reservations call 1-800-CARNIVAL or visit carnival.com.
Michael Olinger: 843-706-8107, @mikejolinger
This story was originally published December 7, 2017 at 12:27 PM with the headline "All aboard! Carnival to bring a bigger, better cruise ship to South Carolina in 2019."