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Water slides, floating cabanas highlight latest Carnival reveal for new Bahamas destination

Carnival Cruise Line this month revealed details about its family-friendly area of new Bahamas destination Celebration Key opening up in 2025.

Dubbed Starfish Lagoon, the zone is the fourth of five to be unveiled by the cruise line ahead of the resort’s opening on Grand Bahama Island next July. The line plans more than 500 visits among 18 of the line’s ships from Florida ports Port Canaveral, PortMiami, Tampa and Jacksonville as well as six other U.S. ports.

One highlight will be the 10-story Suncastle structure that will be home to two 350-foot-long water slides named after the Bahamas’ national bird and fish: the pink Flash Flamingo and blue Mach III Marlin. The pair offer riders the option to race one another down through a twisting path amid flashing lights and colors into a photo finish splashdown.

For the younger set, there will be the Guppy Grotto splash pad themed to coral reefs with a 2-foot-deep wading pool, water toys, dump bucket and other interactive features. Parents can keep watch from a shaded area while also having access to an adjacent ice cream shop.

The area is also centered on one of the largest freshwater lagoons built in either the Caribbean or Bahamas, and for an extra cost, families can rent one of 12 floating AquaBanas, floating cabanas with room for eight, located around a peninsula with a dedicated bar. The line has land-based cabanas and daybeds as well.

The lagoon and its stretch of beach also will be home to kayak and paddleboard rentals.

For the active set, there’s a game pavilion with table games including foosball, pingpong and corn hole and the sports court area with volleyball, basketball and pickleball among its offerings.

Adults will have their own swim-up bar while lounging options will include hammocks adjacent the the Suncastle, and all along the beach will be sun loungers and umbrellas.

Food options will include restaurants, snack and bar shacks as well as Bahamian food trucks.

“At Carnival, we carry more children than any other cruise line, so we’ve designed Starfish Lagoon specifically for family fun,” said Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy in a press release.  “Toddlers, teens and adults alike will find their own piece of paradise whether it be racing down one of the water slides, playing a round of pickleball or relaxing on our floating AquaBanas.”

The previously announced sections, which the line calls portals, include the welcome area Paradise Plaza, adult-friendly area Calypso Lagoon and the shopping district Lokono Cove. Details on the final portal, an adults-only area, will be revealed later. Future expansion will build beyond the five portals including the construction of a water park.

The 369-acre site less than 20 miles east of Freeport that’s the largest port construction project in the line’s history will be the first dedicated to Carnival Cruise Line, although Carnival ships have used sister line destinations Princess Cays and Half Moon Cay for years.

The port of call will open with one dock capable of handling its largest ships, the 6,000-passenger Excel class, including Port Canaveral-based Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration out of Miami.

The line announced this year a $100 million plan to expand that with a second dock so that it could handle up to four such ships beginning in 2026. That expansion, which grows the line’s investment to $600 million so far, means it expects nearly 4 million passengers to visit the site annually by 2028, an average of 11,000 visitors every day.

Other U.S. ports visiting the new site are Galveston, Texas; Baltimore; Norfolk, Virginia; Mobile, Alabama, Charleston, S.C. and New Orleans.

Disney pitches authenticity for new Bahamas cruise destination Lookout Cay

Carnival’s plans are just one of many new Bahamas destinations opening around the island nation in the coming years. This summer will see the debut of Disney’s new 900-acre destination Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point on the island of Eleuthera while Royal Caribbean has broken ground on what will become the 17-acre Royal Beach Club Paradise Island in Nassau.

These augment the existing private Bahamas destinations such as Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at Coco Cay, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Great Stirrup Cay, Disney’s Castaway Cay, Virgin Voyages’ Bimini Beach Club and MSC Cruises’ Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve as well as Princess Cays and Half Moon Cay.