Carnival Cruise Line has restarted sailings from another United States port, as Carnival Ecstasy departed Mobile, Alabama on Saturday, March 5.
Passengers are now on a five-night western Caribbean voyage, which will stop in Cozumel, Mexico. The sailing is also serving as one of Carnival’s special 50th birthday “Sailabration” cruises.
To commemorate the special day, Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy and Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson hosted a “Back to Fun” and 50th Birthday event at the Mobile Alabama Cruise Terminal, cutting a ceremonial ribbon and welcoming the first guests on board after nearly two years.
During the event, the cruise line also announced its future plans for the gulf port. It will introduce a new seasonal six and eight-night cruise program from Mobile from October 6, 2023 through March 30, 2024 with Carnival Spirit.
The ship’s new eastern and western Caribbean itineraries will visit Bimini, Half Moon Cay, and Roatán, among other ports. These voyages will open for sale on March 9, 2022.
“We are committed to our continued relationship with Mobile which is why we are excited to be back to the fun with Carnival Ecstasy and we look forward to Carnival Spirit’s arrival in 2023,” said Duffy. “Aside from Carnival Spirit being a newer and larger ship for Mobile – meaning even more fun to be had on board – Spirit’s new itineraries will give our guests the opportunity to visit new beautiful destinations.”
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Carnival Cruise Line and Mobile have been partners since 2002, when the cruise line began offering a short series of cruises from the city’s port.
In 2004, Carnival introduced its first year-round program from Mobile, which was later expanded with the larger Carnival Fantasy and then replaced with the same size Carnival Elation.
Since the dedication of the Mobile Alabama Cruise Terminal in 2004, Mobile has twice been named Carnival’s “Port of the Year.” At the height of operations in 2019, an average of 2,508 guests were sailing from Mobile on each cruise, for an annual total of 187,013 cruisers from the port.
Carnival Ecstasy sailings from Mobile include four and five-night western Caribbean voyages through October 10, 2022. Four-night voyages visit Cozumel, and five-night cruises visit Cozumel and either Costa Maya or Progreso.
Ecstasy will also operate a 10-night Carnival Journeys Caribbean cruise leaving on September 12, 2022, visiting Key West, Grand Turk, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.
Ecstasy‘s October 10, 2022 voyage will be its last passenger cruise for Carnival, as after that the ship will be leaving the fleet.
With this restart in Mobile and Carnival’s restart in Jacksonville, Florida today, the cruise line now has all of its year-round homeports opened. Its entire fleet is scheduled to be back in service by this summer.
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