Cruise itineraries can change for a variety of reasons, and especially when cruises are still several months or even more than a year away, cruise lines often continue to tweak and balance sailing routes for the best possible experiences.
Carnival Cruise Line has begun reaching out to travelers booked on nine total sailings across three ships in the fleet with notification of such tweaks. Carnival Magic, Carnival Pride, and Carnival Sunshine are all impacted.
Carnival Magic Change
The earliest impacted sailing is the February 16, 2025 departure for Carnival Magic, a 6-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary.
On that cruise, the ship will still be visiting Grand Turk and Amber Cove, but in the reverse order of the original schedule and with slightly different port times. The ship will also be visiting Half Moon Cay rather than Princess Cays, also on a different day and time than initially planned.
Four additional sailings for Carnival Magic also have less extensive adjustments. For the ship’s December 27, 2025 as well as her January 24 and March 21, 2025 departures, she will be visiting Amber Cove rather than Half Moon Cay, and on different days and times than the original itinerary. These cruises are all 8-night Eastern Caribbean cruises.
The last impacted itinerary is the February 21, 2026 departure, which simply replaces Half Moon Cay with a visit to Princess Cays, but on the same day and time as the original schedule for the 8-night Eastern Caribbean sailing.
For all five Carnival Magic cruises with adjustments, the ship is sailing roundtrip from Miami. Departure and return times to the homeport are not impacted for any itinerary for the 128,048-gross-ton, Dream-class ship.
Carnival Magic can welcome 3,690 guests per sailing at double occupancy, so more than 18,000 guests might be impacted by these five itinerary changes, though none of the sailings are likely fully booked at this time.
Carnival Pride Change
Three sailings of Carnival Pride also have small changes. For the January 4, 2026 sailing, the ship will visit Half Moon Cay instead of Princess Cays, while on the February 1, 2026 cruise, the reverse is true with a visit to Princess Cays instead of Half Moon Cay.
The February 8, 2026 departure of Carnival Pride will also now visit Half Moon Cay instead of Princess Cays, and has changed the day planned for visiting Nassau.
On all three Carnival Pride sailings, port times have been adjusted slightly. Each of the cruises is a 7-night Bahamas cruise from Baltimore for the 86,071-gross-ton, Spirit class vessel, but no other ports of call are impacted for the 2,124 guests who may be booked on each sailing.
Carnival Sunshine Change
Finally, Carnival Sunshine has just one impacted itinerary with a very slight change. On the ship’s March 21, 2026 cruise – an 8-night, Eastern Caribbean itinerary from Norfolk, Virginia – the vessel will be visiting Half Moon Cay instead of Princess Cays, with no other changes. The day of the visit and the time in port remain the same.
The 103,881-gross-ton Carnival Sunshine (formerly Carnival Destiny before her conversion in 2013) is the lead ship in the Sunshine class, and can welcome 3,002 passengers per sailing.
Why Such Tiny Changes?
To some travelers, these small changes may seem nit-picky, but Carnival Cruise Line is trying to ensure that everyone onboard has the best possible cruise vacation experience.
This may mean ensuring that ports of call are not overcrowded with too many vessels, or that guests can enjoy longer hours in port as different ships maneuver to and from the docks.
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At times, port operations such as dock maintenance, construction, or harbor dredging could also influence these types of changes, though this is unlikely in this case as no ports are fully cancelled, just rearranged on various sailings.
Fortunately, because the earliest of these itinerary changes is more than five months away, booked guests do have time to reconsider tour options or adjust any private tours they may have booked if necessary.
