Carnival Cruise Line Marks the Steel Cutting of Carnival Celebration

Even with sailings on hold, cruise lines are continuing to develop and add to their fleets and, this week, Carnival Cruise Line marked another step toward the debut of its next Excel-class ship.

Carnival on Wednesday announced that the first steel was cut for the new Carnival Celebration, a sister-ship to Carnival Mardi Gras, which is scheduled to start sailing from PortMiami in November 2022.

The ceremony took place at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland with Carnival senior vice president of new builds Ben Clement and Meyer Turku’s CEO Tim Meyer on hand.

“The steel-cutting ceremony marks the beginning of yet another exciting chapter for Carnival Cruise Line. Not only will Carnival Celebration feature signature amenities from Mardi Gras, but [it] will usher in a new ear for Carnival Cruise Line with some special innovations created just for her that we’re sure our guests will enjoy,” Carnival president Christine Duffy said.

It is expected that, as a sister ship to Mardi Gras, Celebration will feature a lot of the same eye-popping features that made Mardi Gras one of the most anticipated new builds for Carnival in recent years. It’s also expected to be launch with extra fanfare as November 2020 marks Carnival’s official 50^th birthday month.

Carnival in December took delivery of Mardi Gras, which is right now currently to start sailing this spring, offering seven-day Caribbean itineraries out of Port Canaveral, Florida. The ship was originally slated to debut in August 2020.

Mardi Gras is set to feature the first ever roller coast at sea, BOLT, Carnival’s first Family Feud Live, a WaterWorks aqua park, the longest suspended rope course at sea, dining venues from Emeril Lagasse, and a lot more. It’s also slated to be the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered ship in the America.