Norfolk Moves Ahead With Cruise Terminal Upgrades

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Norfolk is sprucing up facilities at the Port of Norfolk cruise terminal in advance of the arrival of a Carnival Cruise Line ship that will soon homeport year-round at the Virginia destination.

The city government on January 28, 2025 approved an amendment to its Cruise Ship Operating Agreement that details a $12 million investment in the Half Moone Cruise Terminal.

The first part of the two-phase project includes adding an enclosed, air-conditioned space to the terminalโ€™s second floor, with seating for up to 600 cruise guests.

Also, a sloped walkway from the second floor to the ground-level luggage area will be built, making debarkation from the ship easier.

The phase one enhancements are scheduled to be finished by the time the 3,000-guest Carnival Sunshine departs on her first cruise from Norfolk in just a few weeks on February 11, 2025. The ship, which sailed as Carnival Destiny until 2013, is currently in dry dock for scheduled maintenance at a French shipyard.

Once based year-round at Norfolk, the ship will sail a series of Bahamas and Caribbean cruises.

Phase two of the Norfolk upgrades, to be completed by May 1, 2026, includes projects focused on the safety of cruise guests. The enhancements feature another walkway from the terminal along with sidewalk and pedestrian areas, a bus loading zone, and a canopy system to protect passengers during inclement weather.

Funding for phase two of the plan is contingent on approval by the Norfolk city council. However, Norfolk is not carrying the full cost burden. According to the operating agreement, Carnival Cruise Line is providing Annual Revenue Guarantees to the city.

From May 2025 to May 2026, for instance, the cruise line will pay about $371,000 to the city, rising each year to $405,000 for the period May 2028 to May 2029, when the operating agreement ends. (There are options for Carnival to remain at the port until 2032.)

But the big money will come from the 300,000-plus cruise passengers who will sail from Norfolk each year.

The port estimates that cruise guests spend about $125 per person while in port, at retail stores, hotels, restaurants, and other local outlets, generating close to $19 million a year in economic activity.

Carnival Sunshine from Norfolk

Carnival Sunshine previously homeported year-round in Charleston, South Carolina, but was redeployed to Norfolk after Charleston declined to renew its agreement with Carnival Cruise Line.

The port is redeveloping its Union Pier Terminal and has temporarily suspended all homeporting of cruise ships. Vessels can still call at the port, however.

Carnival Cruise Line has had a long association with Norfolk, going back more than 20 years. It most recently sailed its Carnival Pride from the port on a temporary basis after the March 26, 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

Carnival Magic, Norfolk, Virginia
Carnival Magic, Norfolk, Virginia (Photo Credit: Nauticus)

Carnival Pride, which was homeporting at Baltimore, was instead deployed to Norfolk, since the bridge collapse prevented ships from entering or leaving Baltimore Harbor.

The decision to move Carnival Sunshine into Norfolk was announced in 2022, but was initially scheduled as a seasonal deployment. The cruise line later decided to homeport the ship there year-round.

Carnival Sunshine will sail 5- and 6-night Bahamas cruises and 8-night Eastern Caribbean cruises from Norfolk. Bahamas itineraries will take guests to Nassau, Freeport, and Bimini. Caribbean voyages will feature calls to Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Turks and Caicos.

The ship was built in 1996 and underwent a full renovation in 2013.

GigSky Cruise SIM

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Donna Tunney
Donna Tunney
Donna Tunney is a travel news/feature writer and editor with 20-plus years covering cruise news, luxury travel, and Europe and UK destinations. A former staffer at Travel Weekly and at the USAToday Network, she also was a luxury travel columnist at Travel Market Report, and a cruise columnist at Sherman's Travel.

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