2026 Europe now available

[craig01020]

Just noticed that Carnival's 2026 Europe itineraries are out and they're underwhelming. Mostly a copy & paste from 2025 with 2024's ship.

[Pyxie]

I would say the Eclipse sailing is not underwhelming, but that's only 1.

[craig01020]

16 minutes ago, Pyxie said:

I would say the Eclipse sailing is not underwhelming, but that's only 1.

You're right. I meant the itineraries as a whole.

[jimbo5544]

6 hours ago, craig01020 said:

Just noticed that Carnival's 2026 Europe itineraries are out and they're underwhelming. Mostly a copy & paste from 2025 with 2024's ship.

and what exactly were you expecting?

[ProgRockCruiser]

16 hours ago, craig01020 said:

Just noticed that Carnival's 2026 Europe itineraries are out and they're underwhelming. Mostly a copy & paste from 2025 with 2024's ship.

 

10 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

and what exactly were you expecting?

I was thinking about that comment, and I guess if you've done a Carnival European cruise you might be looking for something new, but I think the main reason Carnival offers cruises in Europe is to entice first-time-to-Europe cruisers (i.e. I could be a target demographic) who want to explore a new area but not a new cruise line.  More experienced cruisers may select a different line to get a more "European line" flavor (MSC, AIDA) and to explore different ports.

 

Plus, it's not like Carnival can simply decide to go to a different port - they have to get an available docking slot, and many European ports (or at least the locals who live there) are getting tired of the ship visitors (and other tourists) - look at all the protests and anti-tourism activities we've seen this summer.  So the last thing the port may want is an additional ship.

 

So perhaps best to to just run with what worked last year.

[jimbo5544]

1 minute ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

 

I was thinking about that comment, and I guess if you've done a Carnival European cruise you might be looking for something new, but I think the main reason Carnival offers cruises in Europe is to entice first-time-to-Europe cruisers (i.e. I could be a target demographic) who want to explore a new area but not a new cruise line.  More experienced cruisers may select a different line to get a more "European line" flavor (MSC, AIDA) and to explore different ports.

 

Plus, it's not like Carnival can simply decide to go to a different port - they have to get an available docking slot, and many European ports (or at least the locals who live there) are getting tired of the ship visitors (and other tourists) - look at all the protests and anti-tourism activities we've seen this summer.  So the last thing the port may want is an additional ship.

 

So perhaps best to to just run with what worked last year.

Carnival cruising in Europe used to relegated to a new ship being delivered (timing aligning with the delivery).  For cruisers like us who would prefer to venture out of the safety zone into something different like European sailings, having a Carnival ship be available was a significant add to the option list of doing a European cruise (our first Med cruise was on the liberty during her inaugural season).

 

Then Carnival responded to their clientele wishes and started sending a ship over for a season.  While they have expanded, they are not a leader in those kind of exotic itineraries, nor try to be that.  As you mention, it is not easy to get slots in some, let’s say more dynamic exotic ports.  As a result, you do what you can when you can.  As you also mention, cruising in Europe, specifically in the Med, is at an all time high.  Some ports, specifically Portugal and Spain are doing some barking at large ships regularly making many stops in their ports.

 

Even more so, some countries over there are really cranking down on cruising trying to be as carbon neutral or green.  The two most significant are Greek islands and to the north Norway which was on our short list (may not be able to do that now, and if so, prob NOT on a Carnival ship).

 

For us, we will take a less exciting port to stay in the comfort zone of a red funnel ship, but on occasion stray outside the fold (like we did on our Celebrity Antartica cruise, and possibly on HAL  on a more exotic adventure with them.  

 

All this said, my post was really asking what the poster really wanted, and whether it was realistic.

[jimbo5544]

24 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

 

I was thinking about that comment, and I guess if you've done a Carnival European cruise you might be looking for something new, but I think the main reason Carnival offers cruises in Europe is to entice first-time-to-Europe cruisers (i.e. I could be a target demographic) who want to explore a new area but not a new cruise line.  More experienced cruisers may select a different line to get a more "European line" flavor (MSC, AIDA) and to explore different ports.

 

Plus, it's not like Carnival can simply decide to go to a different port - they have to get an available docking slot, and many European ports (or at least the locals who live there) are getting tired of the ship visitors (and other tourists) - look at all the protests and anti-tourism activities we've seen this summer.  So the last thing the port may want is an additional ship.

 

So perhaps best to to just run with what worked last year.

Oh….BTW, if you looking for advice on go or not go, I say do it.

[ProgRockCruiser]

51 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Oh….BTW, if you looking for advice on go or not go, I say do it.

We will, one day.  The eclipse cruise was really tempting, but we have a bunch of balls in the air as it were, coupled with the fact we both travel for work, so we're not planning any big trips after our next one this fall/winter until we have a clearer picture of things.  It is likely spur-of-the-moment 3- or 4-day weekend cruises are in our medium-range future.

Edited August 22 by ProgRockCruiser

[jimbo5544]

22 hours ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

We will, one day.  The eclipse cruise was really tempting, but we have a bunch of balls in the air as it were, coupled with the fact we both travel for work, so we're not planning any big trips after our next one this fall/winter until we have a clearer picture of things.  It is likely spur-of-the-moment 3- or 4-day weekend cruises are in our medium-range future.

There may be another round of them for another eclipse the following year.  Might even tie to one of the new ship deliveries…