Carnival is taking on Royal Caribbean with its own $600 million private resort see Celebration Key's planned features
- Carnival Cruise Line is set to launch its new private destination, Celebration Key, in 2025.
- The $600 million project has amenities similar to Royal Caribbean's private island.
Step aside, CocoCay. Royal Caribbean's private island could soon face some serious competition.
About 140 miles east of Miami, Royal Caribbean's Perfect Day at CocoCay receives thousands of eager families virtually every day of the year, drawn to the private Caribbean island's irresistible waterpark, beach clubs, and family-friendly amenities.
The tropical destination has become a massive hit with the cruise line's guests. And it seems Carnival, which also targets cruising families, wants a slice of its competitor's winning pie.
Carnival already operates its own private island, Half Moon Cay.
But what's better than one exclusive port? Two of them.
The cruise giant is now building another destination just for its guests: Celebration Key, a mile-long resort-like getaway on Grand Bahama Island.
The $600 million project, Carnival Corp's largest, is set to open in 2025 — a sign that the company is "clearly following Royal Caribbean's footsteps," Patrick Scholes, lodging and leisure research analyst at Truist Securities, told Business Insider in March.
Carnival’s promises for its private destination might sound familiar.
Royal Caribbean's private island has a waterpark with 14 slides and children's play areas.
Similarly, according to Carnival's recent announcement, Celebration Key will have a large, family-friendly freshwater lagoon with two 350-foot-long waterslides and a children's water playground.
It's a scaled-back version of CocoCay's popular feature — for now. Looking ahead, Carnival said it plans to build a waterpark and zipline course, too.
Celebration Key would also offer amenities like ping-pong, basketball, and volleyball.
As you might've guessed, these activities are also available on Royal Caribbean's island as well.
Looking to escape the sound of screaming children? Carnival says Celebration Key will have a separate adult-only section, again with frills reminiscent of CocoCay's recently opened pool club (as in, a swim-up pool bar, a DJ, and no kids in sight).
It wouldn’t be a cruise-owned private island without up-charged amenities.
Travelers at Perfect Day at CocoCay can splurge on private beach clubs, cabanas, shopping, food, and alcohol.
The same goes for Celebration Key. In fact, "You'd be surprised at how much people are willing to pay to rent cabanas for the day," Josh Weinstein, president and CEO of Carnival Corp, told investors in late March.
Like CocoCay, Carnival expects its private destination to be a big money maker with increased ticket revenue and "incremental in-port spending," Weinstein said. Plus, it'll be near Florida's major cruise ports, allowing Carnival to save money on fuel — another major benefit to owning private Caribbean properties.
Celebration Key is already included in over 500 of Carnival’s itineraries across 18 ships.
We're still a year from its debut, but that's not stopping the company from planning the expansion of its upcoming property.
Carnival said it'll spend $100 million extending Celebration Key's pier, which, when completed in 2026, will allow it to accommodate four of Carnival's largest cruise ships.
By 2028, the cruise line says the destination will be able to accommodate 4 million travelers annually.
Advertisement