Carnival Cruise Lines Stays in Jacksonville
December 14, 2005
Carnival Cruise Lines has given Jacksonville yet another reason to celebrate, in addition to their 9-4 Jaguars. Carnival Cruise Lines has signed a two-year contract extension to continue its service from Jacksonville. This port of call is especially convenient for people who live in the south eastern US, but aren't willing or able to travel the 300+ miles further south to Miami or Fort Lauderdale - two of the most trafficked cruise ports in the country. Even more, for residents of Jacksonville, Carnival Cruise Lines will continue to offer the convenience of sailing from their home town. Go Carnival!
Carnival Cruise Lines will keep its four- and five-night cruises going for another couple years, at least, to Key West and Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas. Its ship, the Celebration, will be traveling year-round out of Jacksonville.
Nassau has been the beating heart of the Bahamas since the days when the Blackbird the pirate shipwrecked off the coast of one of the Bahamas' islands. The Bahamas are actually made up of about 700 islands, and Nassau is located on the 21-mile stretch of island called New Providence.
At one moment, you'll be enjoying the experience on the deck of your Carnival Cruise Lines cruise ship, and at the next, you'll be strolling down Parliament Square, the beautiful epicenter of Nassau's government. Close by you'll find lots of restaurants, stores, and bars, as well as 18th and 19th century buildings that are perfectly preserved. The main resort area is Cable Beach, which is located slightly west of Nassau; it's home to high-rise hotels, shore-side bars, and many water sport stands.
Located on Grand Bahama Island, Freeport, Bahamas, has something for everyone - whether your sport of choice is sailing, golfing, or hunting for the best bargains, you'll be sure to experience excitement in Freeport. Of course, you can also go off the beaten path is where you'll find curious creatures like the curly-tailed lizard. Harmless and shy, these "mini-dinosaurs" are big hits with tourists. And just like these cold-blooded creatures that rely on the sun for energy, you can renew yourself under the warm Freeport sky.
Finally, Key West, Florida, is another popular port of call for Carnival Cruise Lines. Key West is a place that's both hip and relaxing. Hey, you know it has to be cool if Ernest Hemingway stayed there! Still, Key West isn't the same place as it was 50 or 60 years ago. Duval Street, Key West's main drag, is now laden with t-shirt stores and souvenir shops - although there is no mistaking that it is a historic area.
Still, there are some new traditions that undoubtedly make Key West worth visiting; namely, the annual Conch Republic Festival, whose origin is derived from a mock secession of Key West from the U.S. in 1982.
But what's equally as exciting as the places to which Carnival Cruise Lines' Celebration goes is the place from where it sails. "We've received extremely positive feedback from consumers," said Bob Dickinson, Carnival Cruise Lines president and CEO. That's no surprise; in its first year operating in Jacksonville (2004), Carnival's embarkation team at Jaxport was rated tops among the company's nine full-time home ports in the U.S.
Carnival provides year-round service aboard the Celebration, a 1,486-passenger cruise ship. The Celebration is the second-oldest ship in the Carnival fleet, entering service in 1987. But with a complete renovation in 2001, you'd think she was brand new.
More than 138,000 passengers boarded cruise ships in Jacksonville in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, which was a 78% increase over the previous fiscal year. That's a lot of smiling people! Jacksonville is unique in that Carnival Cruise Lines is the only cruise line currently offering service from there, although Celebrity Cruises' ship Zenith provided seasonal service to Jacksonville on a six-month basis, from October 2004 through April 2005.
Call a Cruise Specialist at 1-888-267-1232 to book your Carnival Cruise Lines vacation from Jacksonville, or in fact, from anywhere that cruise ships call home.
