Sunshine moving to Norfolk for year round sailing in 2025

[pogoism9]

https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/norfolk/carnival-sunshine-to-sail-year-round-from-norfolk-beginning-2025/

 

Good for Norfolk!

[DCDragonfly]

Carnival will pause its sailings from Norfolk in 2024 to allow for necessary terminal and infrastructure enhancements at Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center.

 

"Necessary" is the understatement of the year.  The story didn't mention the parking situation, which is absolutely horrific.  I know Carnival had little choice after losing Charleston, but Carnival and Norfolk have to do WAY better before I'd consider cruising out of there again.

[shof515]

so the now the billion dollar is what happens to the Magic, where does it go? 

 

Sunshine last cruise out of Charleston is on December 30 2024 and returns to Charleston for the last time on January 4 2025. These new Norfolk cruises start on February 18 2025. What is going to happen to the sunshine for a month, planned drydock for maintenance ? 

[tidecat]

14 minutes ago, shof515 said:

so the now the billion dollar is what happens to the Magic, where does it go? 

 

Sunshine last cruise out of Charleston is on December 30 2024 and returns to Charleston for the last time on January 4 2025. These new Norfolk cruises start on February 18 2025. What is going to happen to the sunshine for a month, planned drydock for maintenance ? 

That has to be a drydock - last one was in October/November 2021 - although don't rule out a Transatlantic or repositioning cruise during that time free as well on either side of the drydock.

 

[mz-s]

I was REALLY hoping for a newer ship in Norfolk. I live pretty much equidistant between Norfolk and Charleston. I have sailed Sunshine many times out of Charleston. Oh well, I'll still cruise Sunshine out of Norfolk too I guess...

[jsglow]

2 hours ago, mz-s said:

I was REALLY hoping for a newer ship in Norfolk. I live pretty much equidistant between Norfolk and Charleston. I have sailed Sunshine many times out of Charleston. Oh well, I'll still cruise Sunshine out of Norfolk too I guess...

It's a little interesting to me that they didn't assign Liberty up there and send Sunshine over to New Orleans.  To expect something 'newer' in either spot might have been a reach but they could have mixed things up a bit.

 

Here's one thing I think folks need to prepare for.  Jubilee is the last new build for a number of years. And the 3 ships in the class will be covering the 7 day slot in their 3 most important ports for years to come. 

 

Plus, I'd expect more Costa transfers and possibly Spirit Class retrofitting before another new keel goes down, post Jubilee. 

[mz-s]

43 minutes ago, jsglow said:

It's a little interesting to me that they didn't assign Liberty up there and send Sunshine over to New Orleans.  To expect something 'newer' in either spot might have been a reach but they could have mixed things up a bit.

 

Here's one thing I think folks need to prepare for.  Jubilee is the last new build for a number of years. And the 3 ships in the class will be covering the 7 day slot in their 3 most important ports for years to come. 

 

Plus, I'd expect more Costa transfers and possibly Spirit Class retrofitting before another new keel goes down, post Jubilee. 

 

Yeah I'm not expecting a brand new ship in Carnival's newest year-round port. They need to prove the market in Norfolk first. But I was hoping for something better than their oldest hull. Maybe the Sunshine is just there to prove the market and will be swapped out with newer tonnage in a year or so if it's a success.

[BlerkOne]

3 hours ago, jsglow said:

It's a little interesting to me that they didn't assign Liberty up there and send Sunshine over to New Orleans.  To expect something 'newer' in either spot might have been a reach but they could have mixed things up a bit.

Sunshine has already been in New Orleans. The naming ceremony was even held there.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

I was hoping to be excited about this, but I'm not.

 

We're between Baltimore and Norfolk, and the Norfolk itineraries don't add anything not available in Baltimore. Even the ships are similar.

 

 

[mz-s]

12 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

I was hoping to be excited about this, but I'm not.

 

We're between Baltimore and Norfolk, and the Norfolk itineraries don't add anything not available in Baltimore. Even the ships are similar.

 

The ships out of Baltimore sail right past Norfolk on their way to their destinations so it makes sense the itineraries would be similar.

 

The benefit of Norfolk for cruisers is mostly for those in southern VA, NC, SC, etc - you don't have to deal with DC traffic to drive to your cruise.

[jsglow]

12 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

I was hoping to be excited about this, but I'm not.

 

We're between Baltimore and Norfolk, and the Norfolk itineraries don't add anything not available in Baltimore. Even the ships are similar.

 

 

1) The destinations they can reasonably reach are exactly the same.

2) The ships are completely different classes.

 

Norfolk is designed to serve it's local and regional market, nothing more.

[Jamman54]

19 hours ago, shof515 said:

so the now the billion dollar is what happens to the Magic, where does it go? 

 

Sunshine last cruise out of Charleston is on December 30 2024 and returns to Charleston for the last time on January 4 2025. These new Norfolk cruises start on February 18 2025. What is going to happen to the sunshine for a month, planned drydock for maintenance ? 

The Magic is sailing out of Miami the entire year in 2024.

[kupton]

Norfolk is an hour closer to me than Baltimore so I'm happy.  I'm on the Sunshine next week and and driving down to Charleston tomorrow.  I wish Norfolk was open now 🙂

[pogoism9]

17 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

I was hoping to be excited about this, but I'm not.

 

We're between Baltimore and Norfolk, and the Norfolk itineraries don't add anything not available in Baltimore. Even the ships are similar.

 

 

I wouldn't call 14% more gross tonnage similar.

[bguppies]

19 hours ago, mz-s said:

The benefit of Norfolk for cruisers is mostly for those in southern VA, NC, SC, etc - you don't have to deal with DC traffic to drive to your cruise.

I doubt many of us from SC will drive north to cruise south for crappier itineraries.

 

Just drove 7 hours to Tampa a couple of weeks ago. 6 hours to Port Canaveral and 4 hours to Jacksonville. (for the same itineraries as Norfolk will have)

 

It's at least 6 1/2 hours north to get to Norfolk.

 

Mid- upper FLA. is plenty close for GA and SC .

[tidecat]

1 hour ago, bguppies said:

I doubt many of us from SC will drive north to cruise south for crappier itineraries.

 

Just drove 7 hours to Tampa a couple of weeks ago. 6 hours to Port Canaveral and 4 hours to Jacksonville. (for the same itineraries as Norfolk will have)

 

It's at least 6 1/2 hours north to get to Norfolk.

 

Mid- upper FLA. is plenty close for GA and SC .

Jacksonville is the next closest Atlantic port besides  Charleston for virtually everyone in South Carolina and Georgia. Norfolk is the next closest port for nearly everyone in North Carolina and Virginia.

 

It remains to be seen, but it may be possible that putting another ship, even seasonally, in Jacksonville could still be on the table, as Carnival Miracle's and Carnival Spirit's 2025 itineraries haven't been announced yet.

[bettyboop16]

I had hoped for a better ship than Sunshine (loved the Magic) and better itineraries. Tired of Bahamas, just nothing that interest me in Nassau or Freeport.

[mz-s]

I do think they are just trying to prove the market in Norfolk right now. If it's a success, I would expect a newer ship, maybe even multiple ships (at least seasonally) and varied itineraries. I could see a ship like Sunshine being the year-round 5-6 day ship, and a newer ship like Magic stopping by a few times a year for a 7-10 day option.

 

The port really needs attached parking for multiple ships to be an option though, and I'm not sure if that's possible.

[iheartmarshall]

I'm excited for this, as I'm from West Virginia and Norfolk is the closest/easiest drive for us (we're not Baltimore fans).  I know the itineraries get old after a while but for affordable cruises, I'm all about it.  We prefer to fly to Miami or Tampa for the Caribbean itineraries but that's not always feasible. 

[Leyann]

For some reason I remember hearing that Norfolk isn't currently capable of handling a bigger/newer ship unless they do a major overhaul of the port. 

 

As we are in Richmond, VA, it definitely is an easier port for us but the itinerary is boring. We are doing one in Sept to Bermuda but after that, I doubt we would go back again or to the Bahamas. They do have one that included Grand Turk so we might try that in 2025.  Hopefully they get the business and can bring other ships in. 

[Joebucks]

I don't think they're trying to prove anything in Norfolk, other than it can support a ship the size of the Sunshine. Since they can't be in Charleston, that's the next best option for that business who will consider it due to travel conveniences. Norfolk isn't ever going to be a huge port. The itinerary is limited and Virginia isn't synonymous with vacation. To spread out the business though, it makes more sense there than further oversaturating Miami. 

[vandercapellen]

We live near Baltimore but sailed out of Charleston often due to the long weekend cruises. It's a shame they won't continue that in Norfolk or Baltimore. 

[ninjacat123]

On 12/17/2022 at 7:10 AM, tidecat said:

Jacksonville is the next closest Atlantic port besides  Charleston for virtually everyone in South Carolina and Georgia. Norfolk is the next closest port for nearly everyone in North Carolina and Virginia.

 

It remains to be seen, but it may be possible that putting another ship, even seasonally, in Jacksonville could still be on the table, as Carnival Miracle's and Carnival Spirit's 2025 itineraries haven't been announced yet.

Will those ships be able to sail under the bridge at Jacksonville? We were on Elation over Thanksgiving and it looked like the whale tail was almost scraping the bridge. Just kidding, but it did look close.

[jsglow]

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

Will those ships be able to sail under the bridge at Jacksonville? We were on Elation over Thanksgiving and it looked like the whale tail was almost scraping the bridge. Just kidding, but it did look close.

They do fit but there's never been any discussion of adding a second ship to Jacksonville.  And if one reflects on Carnival's tertiary ports (let's call them the 'drive to only ports'), they never have more than one ship.  That's why the company is working hard to space them out every few hundred miles along the east coast.

[shof515]

2 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Will those ships be able to sail under the bridge at Jacksonville? We were on Elation over Thanksgiving and it looked like the whale tail was almost scraping the bridge. Just kidding, but it did look close.

Spirit does fit under the bridge, she did a few cruises from Jacksonville earlier this year