2026/27 itineraries are dropping.

[jimbo5544]

6 hours ago, CruiseAdict218 said:

Definitely on the bucket list to do a longer itinerary. 

We choose specialty cabins, so we booked ours on this trip (aft wrap) the day the cruise opened for booking.   14 days and 11 ports, 3 of which we have never been to.  We did this in November, the weather was mild and some afternoon and early evening pass thru storms that gave us spectacular sunsets almost every single evening and 7 rainbows, two of which were double and one triple.  Outstanding trip, plan for it, make it part of the fun of doing the trip.

[3smithboys]

DH and I are teachers so we can only travel during summer or if we are lucky enough to have spring break at the same time. We are looking at the summer ‘26 itineraries that dropped and so far nothing is interesting. I’m assuming that more will be coming since these seem to be only the Excel class ships for the most part.
 

We did see the Pride out of Baltimore that goes to Bermuda… I don’t know how the Pride would be… I really love new ships so I’m afraid I’d be disappointed. Anyone have thoughts on the ship and itinerary?.
 

Love the Excel ships but don’t want to go back to the same old places again if we can find something more interesting, especially since we are going back on the MG this summer with our 3 adult kids and other family. Hopefully, there might be a longer itinerary on offer with some different stops, and if we can get 9+ days we will reach Platinum.

[CruiseAdict218]

1 hour ago, 3smithboys said:

DH and I are teachers so we can only travel during summer or if we are lucky enough to have spring break at the same time. We are looking at the summer ‘26 itineraries that dropped and so far nothing is interesting. I’m assuming that more will be coming since these seem to be only the Excel class ships for the most part.
 

We did see the Pride out of Baltimore that goes to Bermuda… I don’t know how the Pride would be… I really love new ships so I’m afraid I’d be disappointed. Anyone have thoughts on the ship and itinerary?.
 

Love the Excel ships but don’t want to go back to the same old places again if we can find something more interesting, especially since we are going back on the MG this summer with our 3 adult kids and other family. Hopefully, there might be a longer itinerary on offer with some different stops, and if we can get 9+ days we will reach Platinum.

I sailed on the Pride last year and loved it, she was also updated shortly after that as well. I felt there was still plenty to do, but I don’t mind old or newer ships. Have done Bermuda many times on various ships and it’s one of my favorite destinations with so much to do, especially if you’re there for three days or at least an overnight. 

[jsglow]

So @3smithboys, you need to do some experimenting to see what kind of cruiser you are (and there is a blend). There's the 'ship as destination' crowd and the 'ship as transportation to interesting/beautiful places' crowd. I'm way more toward the latter. I'm all about exploring new and exotic places. So Pride is actually one of my favorite ships because she's been a wonderful platform to get me to those cool places. I'm also a big Windstar fan because of the intimacy 200 passengers brings and the tiny ports she can visit.  But others see it completely differently and that's ok too. Best wishes on finding exactly what floats your boat. 🙂 

[3smithboys]

8 hours ago, CruiseAdict218 said:

I sailed on the Pride last year and loved it, she was also updated shortly after that as well. I felt there was still plenty to do, but I don’t mind old or newer ships. Have done Bermuda many times on various ships and it’s one of my favorite destinations with so much to do, especially if you’re there for three days or at least an overnight. 

 

7 hours ago, jsglow said:

So @3smithboys, you need to do some experimenting to see what kind of cruiser you are (and there is a blend). There's the 'ship as destination' crowd and the 'ship as transportation to interesting/beautiful places' crowd. I'm way more toward the latter. I'm all about exploring new and exotic places. So Pride is actually one of my favorite ships because she's been a wonderful platform to get me to those cool places. I'm also a big Windstar fan because of the intimacy 200 passengers brings and the tiny ports she can visit.  But others see it completely differently and that's ok too. Best wishes on finding exactly what floats your boat. 🙂 

Thanks to both of you for your replies! In the past we have looked at both the ship and the ports and sometimes one would be more important than another; however, both ship and port stops would be important in the decision making process. After a disappointing cruise on the Magic, I worry a bit about an older ship experience, but I’m not going to say it’s out of the question. I hear what you are saying about using the ship as transportation to get to cool places, and I think I could be ok with that… It’s not that I need all of the bells and whistles- but I do want the ship to look decent. I’ll have to do some investigation!

[jimbo5544]

Again, there are still ships and itineraries not yet out there.  We have sailed the Pride more than any other Carnival ship, 11 times and from different home ports (Port Canaveral, Tampa, Baltimore, Long Beach, Rome, and Dover).  She does not have the frills of an Excel class ship but we love her.  

[ProgRockCruiser]

14 hours ago, 3smithboys said:

We are looking at the summer ‘26 itineraries that dropped and so far nothing is interesting. I’m assuming that more will be coming since these seem to be only the Excel class ships for the most part.

As @jimbo5544 noted, not all itineraries are released just yet.

 

Whether there will be any interesting 7 or 8 day cruises announced for summer 2026 is uncertain - they could release the 3, 4, and 5 day cruises with minimal changes to 2024/2025 itineraries, except swapping in Celebration Key as much as possible.

 

You probably have time to ponder, since I doubt the summer 2026 cruises will sell out too fast.  We jumped on a newly announced cruise in Feb 2027 because it was one of three from the closest port with a different kind of itinerary we really wanted (14 day Journeys), and we wanted a specific type of cabin.  But if I just wanted a "regular" 7 day cruise, I'd wait to see what else gets announced.

[jimbo5544]

20 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

As @jimbo5544 noted, not all itineraries are released just yet.

 

Whether there will be any interesting 7 or 8 day cruises announced for summer 2026 is uncertain - they could release the 3, 4, and 5 day cruises with minimal changes to 2024/2025 itineraries, except swapping in Celebration Key as much as possible.

 

You probably have time to ponder, since I doubt the summer 2026 cruises will sell out too fast.  We jumped on a newly announced cruise in Feb 2027 because it was one of three from the closest port with a different kind of itinerary we really wanted (14 day Journeys), and we wanted a specific type of cabin.  But if I just wanted a "regular" 7 day cruise, I'd wait to see what else gets announced.

good advice

[3smithboys]

4 hours ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

As @jimbo5544 noted, not all itineraries are released just yet.

 

Whether there will be any interesting 7 or 8 day cruises announced for summer 2026 is uncertain - they could release the 3, 4, and 5 day cruises with minimal changes to 2024/2025 itineraries, except swapping in Celebration Key as much as possible.

 

You probably have time to ponder, since I doubt the summer 2026 cruises will sell out too fast.  We jumped on a newly announced cruise in Feb 2027 because it was one of three from the closest port with a different kind of itinerary we really wanted (14 day Journeys), and we wanted a specific type of cabin.  But if I just wanted a "regular" 7 day cruise, I'd wait to see what else gets announced.

Thanks for your reply! Yes, I agree we do have some time to decide. I have noticed that people do seem to really like the Pride and Baltimore is close to us, so being able to drive to the port would be a plus! We are going to Celebration Key this summer, and we are excited to go there but it’s not a must do again stop. 
 

We would love to do a Journeys cruise at some point. Do they ever occur in the summer? If not, guess we’ll have to wait until retirement!

[ProgRockCruiser]

40 minutes ago, 3smithboys said:

We would love to do a Journeys cruise at some point. Do they ever occur in the summer? If not, guess we’ll have to wait until retirement!

Honestly, I have no idea what type of scheduling they typically have.  We picked this one (in Feb 2027) because the timing was right and the itinerary was great.  We had never considered them before, because getting that much time off from work was problematic.  But we've decided we can manage it now.

[ProgRockCruiser]

6 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Honestly, I have no idea what type of scheduling they typically have.

Going to answer myself: I went to the Carnival website, planned a cruise, selected Journeys as specialty sailing type, and then looked at the available dates - there are a couple in Aug 2025 to Greenland from Baltimore, a TA from Spain in June 2025, and the UK-Europe eclipse cruise in Aug 2026.

 

So maybe Greenland for you?

Edited August 29 by ProgRockCruiser

[3smithboys]

36 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Going to answer myself: I went to the Carnival website, planned a cruise, selected Journeys as specialty sailing type, and then looked at the available dates - there are a couple in Aug 2025 to Greenland from Baltimore, a TA from Spain in June 2025, and the UK-Europe eclipse cruise in Aug 2026.

 

So maybe Greenland for you?

Hmmm… not sure about that! Maybe… I don’t think we’ve ever considered it. I’m looking forward to a Med cruise in my future!! Someday…  Thanks for looking these up for me!

Edited August 29 by 3smithboys

[blt23]

Mardi Gras, Venezia, Jubilee, Dream, Breeze, and Pride all had sailings posted through the end of April 2027 in this release, but Celebration is only available through February 2027, which could be a sign about where Excel 4 is going.

[ProgRockCruiser]

Mr. Heald noted earlier today that more 2026 itineraries will be released later this week.

 

Might have to see if any interesting short (4-day-ish) weekend cruises pop up, or if they are all Canaveral -> Nassau -> Celebration Key -> Canaveral type deals.  We love our longer cruises, but sometimes just popping out to sea for a couple of days is a nice treat.

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Mr. Heald noted earlier today that more 2026 itineraries will be released later this week.

 

Might have to see if any interesting short (4-day-ish) weekend cruises pop up, or if they are all Canaveral -> Nassau -> Celebration Key -> Canaveral type deals.  We love our longer cruises, but sometimes just popping out to sea for a couple of days is a nice treat.

Mr Heald????🤣

[ProgRockCruiser]

On 8/27/2024 at 9:29 PM, ProgRockCruiser said:

So...my wife and I looked at the available 7-day itineraries, then I mentioned the 14-day cruises on Venezia that include a whack of ports we've never visited...

 

We are booked for the Feb 2027 "Southern Carib" cruise on Venezia.  Picked a Cove Balcony way up front - we liked that on Breeze.

 

This will take us (well, me) close to platinum, not that it really matters, but we'll probably do a weekend getaway in between anyway...

Close friends of ours expressed interest in going on this cruise with us. They were trying to also book a cove balcony but the Carnival site told them there were no cabins left on Deck 2.  I thought that was strange, so I went onto the site just to see what balconies were available, and as it turns out I could book a Cove balcony very close to ours.  They still couldn't find it.  So I booked it for them - which entailed having to call Carnival, because it booked the second cabin also in my name, and you can't change the primary cabin name assigned online, blah blah.  But it was quick to fix!  And now our bookings are linked (because they are both mine, I suppose).  They got the same price as us, plus $50 OBC.

 

But that raises an interesting question - why couldn't they see the available Cove balconies when trying to book, but I could?  Was it just them not searching correctly, or does Carnival "filter" based on who is searching?  I was logged in under my VIFP account, they were just guest browsing, I suppose - I don't think they are past Carnival cruisers.

 

Anyway, it should be a blast hanging out with them - we hang out several times a week together, and often entire weekends, and have traveled together before.  Two weeks on a ship will be a new experience, though.