Carnival Cruise Line moved Carnival Sunshine to Charleston in 2019 with great fanfare. The arrival of Sunshine gave the port the newest cruise ship that had ever called the East Coast destination home.
At the time, the cruise line shared the importance of the destination to Carnival.
"Charleston is an important part of Carnival's ship deployment strategy in which the line positions ships near large U.S. population bases along the East and West Coasts and the Gulf of Mexico. Carnival sails from 20 different North American homeports providing a convenient and cost-effective means for its guests to get to and from their cruise. It's estimated that roughly half of the U.S. population is within a day's drive of a Carnival homeport," it shared.
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Carnival has been sailing from Charleston since 2010, but Sunshine. and the cruise line's last trip from the port set sail on Dec. 30.
The cruise line's contract with Charleston has ended and the city decided it no longer wanted to serve as a cruise ship homeport.
Carnival Sunshine will move to Norfolk, VA, where it will sail year-round.
“Carnival Sunshine is the perfect ship to usher in this next step for service expansion from Norfolk’s Half Moone Cruise Terminal, and as we work closely with city and port officials on our plans to increase from seasonal to year-round operations, we’re delighted to open these sailings for sale, so guests from all over the southeastern U.S. can start doing some planning of their own for 2025,” said Carnival President Christine Duffy in 2022.
Coastal Cruise Control had the full story on their YouTube Channel.
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Carnival Cruise Line leaves Charleston
Transcript
Hey guys, it's Michael and welcome to Coastal Cruise Control. Hey guys, today I just want to talk real quick about the Carnival Sunshine, which ports out of Charleston, South Carolina. I recently went on a cruise with this particular ship, and wow, I had so much fun.
Usually for me, I have tended to go with the bigger ships, but this was closer. This is the closest ship for me, and I think it's one of the closest ships for a lot of people on the East Coast. You know, Carnival Sunshine is not going to be there very much longer.
I was looking and it's actually, they're still taking cruises through December of 2024. I don't know how far after that, but I do know it's going to be leaving. If you haven't done this cruise, I strongly recommend it.
(The last cruise left on Dec, 30).
The people were so friendly. It was a different atmosphere than I'm used to. I just had so much fun.
It was one of the easiest embarkations in the world. I mean, it was like boom, boom, you're on the ship. You know, they had a down pat.
The staff was amazing. I was a little worried I might be bored. No way.
No way. Had a lot of fun. The one thing that I did do on this particular cruise, I booked one that was going, it was a five-day cruise.
They have four five-day cruises. I booked one that was going, well, I think they all go to right around the Bahamas, around that area. This particular cruise went to Bimini, which is still a fairly new port in the Bahamas.
If you haven't seen Bimini, oh my, it's worth it just for that to me. Bimini is beautiful. It's not yet commercialized.
Some of the other places like Freeport and Nassau, you know, they have good and bad points, you know, but Bimini, wow, it's just, I'm like almost untouched. It's definitely worth going just to see that. There's also a lot to see in Charleston.
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It's a very historic place. But anyway, again, they're having cruises through December. Check it out.
Guys, again, my name is Michael. Let me invite you to subscribe if you haven't already. Coastal Cruise Control.
And if you would, hit that like button and I appreciate you watching and I will see you next time.
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