Carnival Cruise Line has announced its programming for America’s 250th anniversary. 

According to a statement, the festivities will include ship meetups with fireworks on both coasts, community homeport celebrations and fleetwide onboard activities. 

“As America’s cruise line, we are bringing the fun from coast to coast so everyone can celebrate,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.  

“There is no better way to honor this milestone than by bringing people together to salute our nation and create unforgettable moments at sea and ashore.” 

On July 4, seven ships sailing from the East Coast will meet up near Carnival’s exclusive destination in Grand Bahama, Celebration Key, for a special fireworks show. 

As previously reported, the Carnival Radiance, Firenze and Luminosa will also meet up to watch the West Coast’s largest fireworks show, Port of San Diego’s Big Bay Boom, which the cruise line will sponsor. 

Additionally, Carnival will sponsor the Virginia Sail250 Fireworks Show on June 20 in Norfolk, VA and the Miami-Dade 250 Independence Day Celebration on July 4 at Miami-Dade County, FL. 

Onboard, embarkation on select ships will feature forty-foot patriotic inflatables on deck, while all ships will sport 250th birthday banners and decorations. 

There will also be festive food and drinks including specialty cocktails, strawberry shortcake, limited-edition America250 souvenir Coke cans and “America’s Cruisin” beer.  

Carnival added that one military family on each sailing the week of July 4 will receive an American flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol.  

All veterans and active-duty military on those sailings will also receive a special edition military pin. 

Onboard celebrations will be hosted in several of Carnival homeports: 

• the Carnival Pride – Baltimore, June 28 

• the Carnival Radiance – Long Beach, June 30 

• the Carnival Elation – Jacksonville, July 2 

• the Carnival Paradise – Tampa, July 2. 

This is complemented by patriotic “From Sea to Shining Sea” bow crests that were recently added to the Carnival Legend and Carnival Magic. 

The crest will be gradually added to all Carnival ships sailing from ports in the United States, apart from the Carnival Jubilee and the Carnival Tropicale.