The Carnival Sunshine is wrapping up Carnival Cruise Line’s operations in Charleston with a final cruise that sailed from the homeport on Dec. 30, 2024.
As its cruise terminal closes in favor of a redevelopment project, the South Carolina port ends a 14-year partnership with the company.
For the final sailing, the Carnival Sunshine is offering a five-night itinerary to ports of call in the Bahamas.
Celebrating New Year’s Eve at sea, the cruise features visits to Nassau and Half Moon Cay, in addition to two days cruising in the Atlantic.
After concluding the cruise in Charleston on Jan. 4, 2025, the 2,964-guest ship is set to undergo a routine drydock before repositioning to Norfolk.
Starting in February, the Sunshine offers a series of five- to eight-night cruises to the Bahamas and the Caribbean departing from its new homeport in Virginia.
The year-round deployment includes visits to several destinations in the region, such as Grand Turk, Princess Cays, Bimini and Amber Cove.
The departure of the Carnival Sunshine effectively marks the end of the homeporting operations in Charleston.
After first launching a year-round deployment from the port in 2010, Carnival Cruise Line was the only brand sailing from the port on a regular basis.
The operation started with the Carnival Fantasy, which was later replaced by the Carnival Ecstasy in 2016.
Along the way, cruise lines faced opposition from locals that wanted less cruise calls in Charleston. A plan to redevelopment the city’s cruise terminal never came to fruition.
In 2019, the Carnival Sunshine took over the itineraries from the port, becoming the largest and most modern Carnival ship to ever sail from South Carolina.
During its four-year presence in Charleston, the 101,000-ton vessel mainly offered four- and five-night cruises to the Bahamas.
While homeporting operations cease, the port is said to be open for ships making transit calls as part of their itineraries in the region.
Other cruise lines that visited Charleston in the past include AIDA Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Crystal and others.
