Carnival to deploy Panorama in Long Beach

As part of a strategy to strengthen its West Coast presence, Carnival Cruise Line will deploy Carnival Panorama to Long Beach in 2019, the first new Carnival ship based in Southern California in 20 years.

The announcement was made by Carnival President Christine Duffy in Long Beach, California at a VIP ceremony officially unveiling the enhancements to the newly upgraded cruise terminal with travel agents, port officials, local dignitaries and media in attendance.

Carnival’s third Vista-class ship, the 3,960-passenger Carnival Panorama will sail on seven-day Mexican Riviera cruises from Long Beach. Reservations for Carnival Panorama are expected to open in late March 2018.

Other developments include the grand re-opening of its 146,000-square-foot state-of-the-art Long Beach Cruise Terminal, and a multi-million-dollar port development project in Ensenada, Mexico, that will provide guests with one-of-a-kind experiences ashore.

Carnival’s Long Beach Cruise Terminal, the busiest in North America with ships docking five days a week, has been operated by Carnival since 2003 and encompasses the world’s largest, free-span geodesic dome originally built to house also Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose plane and served as the location for many Hollywood movies.

With the expansion, Carnival is now utilizing 100 per cent of the dome for its operations. The renovation of the Long Beach Cruise Terminal more than doubles the size of the facility’s space while dramatically enhancing the overall passenger experience and operational flow. It also includes the expansion of portside shore power to enable larger ships to plug into the local electric grid, reducing exhaust emissions while docked.

The grand re-opening of the terminal coincides with the arrival of Carnival Splendor to Long Beach, which operates seven-day cruises to Mexico and longer-length voyages to Alaska and Hawaii, representing a 40 percent capacity increase on this route.

The 113,300-ton Carnival Splendor is currently the largest ship based year-round in Southern California and joins Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration which sail three- and four-day cruises to Ensenada and Catalina Island.

Carnival officials also announced a major port development project in Ensenada, Mexico, currently featured on the line’s three- and four-day cruises from Long Beach. The project will provide guests visiting the destination with an unparalleled, one-of-a-kind dining and retail experiences ashore, along with unique attractions for guests of all ages to enjoy. Details about the development will be announced at a later date.