The world is vehemently divided on several hot-button topics: iced coffee vs. hot coffee, Team Edward vs. Team Jacob, and Caribbean cruises vs. Europe cruises.
Carnival Corporation, the company long synonymous with fun-in-the-sun Caribbean sailings, is going full Switzerland on that last one. (Neutrality only, to be clear. Carnival is not getting into river cruising out of Basel. We’ve had enough ocean lines going river lately.)
For the first time, Europe will tie the Caribbean in 2027 as Carnival’s biggest cruising region, CEO Josh Weinstein told investors late last month, with each claiming 34% of the company’s capacity.
With both camps now getting equal airtime, it’s a good moment to decide whether you are Team Caribbean or Team Europe. More importantly, do you know where your clients stand, and how to sell them on their favorite?
Cool-cations Are Now Cool at Carnival
The shift touches all eight of the company’s brands: Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Cunard, Seabourn, Costa Cruises, AIDA, and P&O Cruises.
Some of it is simple math. Princess is pulling one ship out of the Caribbean and sending it to Japan (an increasingly popular cruise destination in its own right), which helps even the score. Mostly, though, Carnival is following its guests, and its guests are heading north.
The Mediterranean’s ever-hotter summers are putting off Americans who want to tour historical and cultural sites without melting, and Carnival is leaning into the “cool-cation” trend as guests ask for less-sweaty summer sailings and plenty of outdoor activities. In 2027, Carnival brands will offer more European sailings outside the Mediterranean than within it.
“Northern Europe is on the wish list of many North Americans. With our European brands, it’s the backyard for Germany, for the U.K., even for Italy,” said Weinstein.
The Baltic countries, the Norwegian fjords, and Iceland all sit high on cruisers’ bucket lists, and Carnival sees an opening to help guests check them off.
Every brand will see an uptick in Northern Europe cruises. That includes Carnival Cruise Line itself, which Weinstein said will take advantage of scheduled dry docks overseas to run one-off series of European itineraries while its ships are in the neighborhood.
If your luxury clients are Team Europe but fed up with Mediterranean heat waves, now’s the time to point them toward Seabourn, Cunard, Princess, and Holland America sailings in cooler northern waters.
But the Caribbean Remains Hot
None of this means Carnival is backing away from its bread-and-butter Caribbean cruises. If anything, it has to work harder there: Caribbean cruise capacity overall has grown 37% in three years, which puts pressure on Carnival to stand out in a crowded sea.
Carnival Festivale, the only new ship arriving in 2027 for any Carnival brand, debuts in the Caribbean in May, and more of the company’s lines than ever will send ships to Celebration Key. Weinstein said 3.5 million guests across 31 ships (up from 26 this year) will call on the destination in 2027. Princess Cruises makes its maiden call this month, and AIDA and Costa Cruises will follow in late 2027.
Carnival also recently finished upgrading its original private island, RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, adding a new pier, food and drink venues, and a beach club. Next year, 35% of Carnival’s Caribbean capacity will be on itineraries that visit both, pairing a laid-back beach day at RelaxAway with a higher-energy one at Celebration Key.
Elsewhere on the private destination front, the company might be easing away from Princess Cays, swapping those port visits for RelaxAway, but it’s leaning into Isla Tropicale in Roatán, Honduras. The port added a pool area in May, with 48,000 square feet of recreational space, cabanas, a kids’ splash pad, and a swim-up bar.
Your island-loving clients should stay tuned.
“There is more to come as we continue to develop our destination footprint, differentiate the vacation experiences we offer and make our existing fleet even more valuable,” teased Weinstein.
And if Royal Caribbean’s recent Sandals Resorts investment has you wondering whether Carnival also plans to get into Caribbean resort stays, Weinstein made it clear the answer is no (at least for now).
“We are just laser-focused on improving our cruise business. We are very proudly a cruise company, and everything we do is to enhance the cruise experience for our guests,” he said. “I’m not saying we don’t have land-based assets in our portfolio ... but they’re really ancillary to the cruise experience.”
The company might not be taking sides in the Europe vs. Caribbean debate, but in the vacation wars of land vs. sea, Carnival Corporation remains firmly Team Cruise.
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