Guides
Norfolk cruise guides
The schedule tells you when to sail. These guides cover the rest: getting to the Half Moone terminal, parking, the trip from Norfolk Airport, hotels the night before, the documents to bring and where each route goes. Each one lists its sources and the date we last checked them.
Norfolk cruise terminal: where Half Moone is and how to get there
All 89 sailings on our schedule are Carnival departures from the Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center, 1 Waterside Drive, on the Nauticus campus in downtown Norfolk. Taxis, rideshares and friends drop you on Waterside Drive in front of Town Point Park. Drivers park at the city's Cedar Grove lot, 1.5 miles away, check their bags there and ride a free shuttle to the terminal.
Updated 2026-11-03
Norfolk cruise parking: the city's Cedar Grove lot and free shuttle
The City of Norfolk's Cedar Grove lot at 1000 Monticello Avenue is the official parking for cruise passengers, 1.5 miles from the Half Moone terminal. It cost $15 a day for cars and vans up to 15 passengers when we checked on 3 November 2026, paid on entry by cash or card or prepaid online. Bags are checked at the lot, and a free shuttle runs to the terminal.
Updated 2026-11-03
Norfolk Airport to the cruise port: taxi, rideshare or rental car
Norfolk International Airport (ORF) is 10.8 miles from the Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center, Visit Norfolk says, and it puts the airport 15 minutes from downtown. A taxi or rideshare from the Arrivals Terminal to Waterside Drive is the simplest way with luggage. Carnival's transfer page listed no Norfolk service when we checked on 3 November 2026, and we found no bus between the airport and the terminal.
Updated 2026-11-03
Hotels near the Norfolk cruise port
Glass Light Hotel & Gallery and Hilton Norfolk The Main are the closest hotels we measured to the Half Moone terminal, each a 7-minute walk. All seven downtown hotels here are within 18 minutes on foot. Only the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside publishes a cruise package, and none of the 19 hotels runs a shuttle to the terminal.
Updated 2026-11-03
First cruise from Norfolk: questions and answers
Every cruise from Norfolk is a Carnival cruise, and most are 6-night trips to the Bahamas or Bermuda or 8-night trips to the Eastern Caribbean or Canada. The fare covers your cabin, meals in the main dining rooms and the Lido, and basic drinks such as coffee, tea and lemonade. On 3 November 2026 Carnival's page put gratuities at $17 a guest a day in a standard cabin, and Carnival cannot sell its CHEERS! drinks package on a Virginia sailing until 6:00 am on day two.
Updated 2026-11-03
Do you need a passport for a cruise from Norfolk?
Every Carnival cruise from Norfolk but one is a round trip, and on those a U.S. citizen can board with a birth certificate and a government-issued photo ID instead of a passport. The exception is Carnival Sunshine's 15-night crossing of 15 May 2027, which ends at Dover in England: Carnival requires a passport book valid six months past the trip, and the UK requires an electronic travel authorisation. Carnival recommends a passport book on every sailing, and Bermuda and the Bahamas name a passport in their own entry rules.
Updated 2026-11-03
Bahamas cruises from Norfolk: Celebration Key on every trip
This schedule has 27 Bahamas cruises from Norfolk, Virginia, all Carnival round trips between late November and early June, from 6 December 2026 to 4 June 2028. Nearly all are 6 nights from a Sunday to a Saturday, and every one calls at Celebration Key on Grand Bahama. Fares started at $441 per person on 3 November 2026.
Updated 2026-11-03
Caribbean cruises from Norfolk: the 8-night Eastern Caribbean trips
This schedule has 36 Caribbean cruises from Norfolk, Virginia, all 8-night Carnival round trips from 14 November 2026 to 5 August 2028. Every one calls at Grand Turk and at Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, most add RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, and 3 in 2028 call at San Juan instead. Fares started at $567 per person on 3 November 2026.
Updated 2026-11-03
Bermuda cruises from Norfolk: two days docked at Dockyard
This schedule has 17 Carnival cruises from Norfolk to Bermuda, from 11 April 2027 to 22 October 2028. Most are 6-night round trips that leave on a Sunday and spend a Wednesday and Thursday docked at the Royal Naval Dockyard. The trip of 1 May 2027 is 5 nights. Fares started at $621 per person on 3 November 2026.
Updated 2026-11-03
Canada cruises from Norfolk: 8 nights to Nova Scotia and beyond
This schedule has 8 Canada cruises from Norfolk, Virginia, all 8-night round trips on Carnival Freedom in late summer and fall, from 4 September 2027 to 28 October 2028. Every one calls at Halifax and Sydney in Nova Scotia, plus Saint John in New Brunswick or Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island. None stops in New England. Fares started at $769 per person on 3 November 2026.
Updated 2026-11-03
Carnival cruises from Norfolk: Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Freedom and the May 2027 change
Carnival is the only cruise line that starts cruises in Norfolk, with 89 departures on the schedule. Carnival Sunshine sails from Norfolk until 15 May 2027, when she leaves on a 15-night crossing to Dover, and Carnival Freedom takes over from 23 May 2027. Both ships sail 6-night Bahamas, 8-night Eastern Caribbean and Bermuda trips, and Freedom adds Canada in late summer and fall. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian have no departures from Norfolk in either schedule we check.
Updated 2026-11-03
Short cruises from Norfolk: 3-day, weekend and 5-night trips
There is no 2-, 3- or 4-night cruise on our schedule from Norfolk: the shortest is 5 nights, and 44 sailings are shorter than a week. Carnival Sunshine's 5-night trips of 1 and 10 May 2027 go to Bermuda and the Bahamas. The rest are 6-night trips to the Bahamas or Bermuda, most of them leaving on a Sunday and back on Saturday morning, from $441 per person on 3 November 2026, taxes and port fees included.
Updated 2026-11-03
Cheap and last-minute cruises from Norfolk
On 3 November 2026 the lowest starting fare from Norfolk was $441 per person for the cheapest cabin listed, taxes and port fees included, and the lowest per night on a round trip was $71. When we checked on 3 November 2026, January and February sailings and the 8-night Eastern Caribbean trips cost least per night, and June, July and the Christmas weeks the most. Carnival sails from Norfolk all year, but our fare records are too new to show whether booking late lowers the price.
Updated 2026-11-03
Norfolk cruise season: cruises from Norfolk, VA in 2026, 2027 and 2028
Carnival sails from Norfolk all year, so there is no off-season, only a change of routes. Bahamas trips run from November to June, Eastern Caribbean trips in every month but September, Bermuda from April to October and Canada from August to October. The schedule has 6 departures left in 2026, 42 in 2027 and 41 in 2028, and Carnival Freedom replaces Carnival Sunshine in May 2027.
Updated 2026-11-03
