Carnival Celebration Completes Sea Trials

New Carnival Cruise Line ship Carnival Celebration has completed sea trials in the Baltic Sea.

The sister vessel to Mardi Gras is capable of carrying 6,500 passengers when its enters service from Miami in November.

Both Excel-class ships are powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and are based on the same platform as P&O Cruises Iona and soon-to-be launched Arvia.

Carnival Celebration set out on its first round of sea trials on 5 September from the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, where Mardi Gras was also built.

A full contingent of officers, technicians and engineers were on board to test the ship's technical, mechanical and navigational systems.

Captain Vincenzo Alcaras said: "During her sea trials, Carnival Celebration underwent several tests, which are meant to determine the ship's capability and her performance. 

"We've done many manoeuvring tests, such as endurance tests, steering tests, speed tests and thrusters tests. The ship performed wonderfully, and shortly, we will get her out and start cruising."

Carnival Celebration's arrival to Miami will continue the US line's 50th birthday celebrations. 

The ship will feature several unique zones, including 820 Biscayne – a tribute to Miami, where Carnival Cruise Line was born.

Following a six-day inaugural sailing to the eastern Caribbean, Carnival Celebration will run year-round Caribbean cruises from Miami starting on 21 November.

The week-long voyages will visit destinations such as San Juan, Puerto Rico, Cozumel, Mexico and Grand Turk.

The US line's third Excel-class ship Carnival Jubilee is due to visit Southampton in October 2023 before embarking on a re-positioning transatlantic sailing to its home port of Galveston in Texas.