Carnival Cruise Line has a fleet of ships slated to visit its new Bahamas destination Celebration Key when it opens in 2025, including sailings from three Florida ports.

The new destination on Grand Bahama will begin welcoming guests in 2025, and bookings are now available among nearly 400 sailings on 12 of its ships among eight U.S. home ports. That includes three ships from Port Canaveral, two from PortMiami and one from Jacksonville.

The line also opened itineraries from five Galveston, Texas; Baltimore; Norfolk, Virginia; Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans.

From Port Canaveral, Mardi Gras will make stops at the exclusive port of call during seven-day Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises beginning July 19, 2025. It also has one nine-day Eastern Caribbean sailing on Oct. 30, 2025, and two 14-day transatlantic voyages from Port Canaveral to Barcelona on Sept. 13, 2025, and from Barcelona to Port Canaveral on Oct. 16, 2025.

Freedom will sail four- and five-night trips starting July 19, 2025, with Carnival Glory visiting on short three- and four-night voyages beginning July 21, 2025.

PortMiami’s offerings give seven-night duties to Mardi Gras’ sister ship Carnival Celebration starting July 20, 2025 and short-trip duties to Carnival Conquest starting July 18, 2025.

Carnival Elation will begin sailing from Jacksonville on four- and five-night voyages starting July 21, 2025.

No ships from Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades or the Port of Tampa have itineraries yet for the new destination.

“As the first port destination exclusively designed for Carnival Cruise Line guests, Celebration Key will provide the ultimate Carnival fun in the sun, immersed in the natural beauty of Grand Bahama,” said Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy in a press release. “We’ve seen that there is a lot of interest in Celebration Key as thousands of Carnival guests signed up over the last week to be the first to know about the itineraries and features.”

The line continues the development of the 369-acre site in concert with the government of the Bahamas and community members of Grand Bahama, but the line has yet to reveal in detail what exactly travelers can expect when it opens.

A new rendering shows the planned dock that can handle simultaneously two of the line’s newest and largest ships — the Excel class that includes Mardi Gras and Celebration, which can each carry 6,000 passengers. The site will also have a south-facing mile-long beachfront expanse and massive freshwater inland lagoon.

Dining and shopping options promise to pay deference to Bahamas culture as well as offer excursions such as fishing, glass-bottom boat tours and snorkeling across Grand Bahama.

“This is so exciting for the people of Grand Bahama as we watch Celebration Key come to life,” said the Hon. Ginger Moxie, Minister for Grand Bahama in the press release. “We have a bold vision of how Grand Bahama can become the premier destination for entertainment and events in the region and we look forward to showing Carnival’s guests a warm and memorable vacation when they start visiting our beautiful island in 2025.”

The long-planned site faced years of delays from both COVID and the recovery from Hurricane Dorian, but crews finally broke ground in May 2022.

Located on the south side of Grand Bahama, it will be the first private destination dedicated to Carnival in the island nation. Its construction, which had originally targeted mid-2020 after completing environmental assessments and permitting ended up starting two years later, and its opening has since then been pushed from its target of late 2024 now to summer 2025.

The site will be the third Bahamas destination run by the Carnival Corp. brand. Sister lines Princess Cruises and Holland America Line have hosted Carnival ships over the years at their private destinations Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays.

When originally proposed, it was referred to as the “Grand Port” project, and a website at carnivalgrandport.com was launched, recently updated with the Celebration Key name change. It identifies the area being developed as the Sharp Rock site, about 18 miles from the island’s capital of Freeport, which is where cruise lines normally dock when visiting Grand Bahama.

The website notes the new site will be “offering experiences for all tastes, from the serene relaxation of the beach to high-adrenaline water and adventure amenities, and a wide range of dining opportunities ranging from high-end cuisine to beachside snacks. The Bahamian Town Square and Festival Walkway will connect the port’s various amenities with beautifully kept grounds surrounded by local flora. This point will also serve as the location for a presentation of Junkanoo culture.”

For food, beverage and retail, the site promises that “interested local parties will be engaged to develop true Bahamian concepts in general souvenir, jewelry, straw market and local art products. With respect to food and beverage operations, only existing Bahamian brands or newly created brands will be featured.”

The Bahamas has several other private islands run by cruise lines including Disney’s Castaway Cay, Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at Coco Cay, MSC Cruises’ Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Great Stirrup Cay. Disney Cruise Line is set to open up its second Bahamas destination next summer on the southern tip of Eleuthera called Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point while Royal Caribbean is developing a small private beach club in Nassau.

Carnival is developing part of the land but keeping part of the property as a nature reserve. The website notes the destination “will also feature a natural walk where visitors will be able to enjoy the unspoiled island wilderness. A nature center will also be situated on the property to serve as a location where visitors can rest and seek information on the island and its local flora and fauna.”

While it won’t be generally open to the Bahamian public, it will offer up to 1,000 jobs for locals.

Hoping to offer an economic boost to the northwestern Bahamas, officials had previously targeted the project to come at a cost of $100 million, but that was before the pandemic. Officials did say it will be designed to withstand the impact of a Category 5 hurricane like Dorian.