Carnival Switching Up Its Jacksonville-Based Cruise Ships

Carnival cruisers hitting the high seas out of Jacksonville, Florida will soon be sailing on a different vessel.

Beginning next month, the Carnival Ecstasy – which has been sailing out of Jacksonville since 2019 – will be relocating to Mobile, Alabama.

According to News4Jax, Carnival will be bringing in the Carnival Spirit from Brisbane, Australia to replace the Ecstasy. The move is due to uncertainty with cruising in Australia thanks to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“As we continue our successful restart of guest operations in the U.S., we are making some adjustments in vessel deployments,” Carnival said in a statement to News4Jax. “We have delayed the restart of Carnival Sensation. And because of the continued uncertainty of when cruising can resume in Australia, we are bringing Carnival Spirit to the U.S. Carnival Ecstasy will reposition from Jacksonville to Mobile and sail the Carnival Sensation itineraries, effective with the planned March 5 restart. Carnival Spirit will position to Jacksonville to sail the published itineraries from that port, effective with the planned restart on March 7.”

The 12-deck Carnival Spirit’s inaugural cruise was in 2001. The vessel contains 1,062 staterooms and has a cruising capacity of 2,124.