Bahamas cruises from Norfolk: Celebration Key on every trip

Every Bahamas cruise from Norfolk on this schedule is a Carnival round trip, and every one calls at Celebration Key, Carnival's own port on Grand Bahama. Most are 6 nights: the ship leaves Norfolk on a Sunday afternoon and is back the next Saturday morning.

There are 27 of them, from 6 December 2026 to 4 June 2028. On 3 November 2026 fares ran from $441 to $994 per person, for the cheapest cabin listed, with taxes and port fees included. Which other islands you see depends on the season you pick, and the table at the end of this guide lists every sailing.

Can you take a cruise from Norfolk, Virginia to the Bahamas?

Yes. Carnival sails round trips from Norfolk to the Bahamas between late November and early June. This schedule lists 27, from 6 December 2026 to 4 June 2028. Nearly all last 6 nights, from a Sunday afternoon to the next Saturday morning, and every one stops at Celebration Key on Grand Bahama.

Carnival Sunshine sails them through spring 2027. On this schedule her last Norfolk departure is the transatlantic crossing of 15 May 2027, and Carnival Freedom takes over from 23 May 2027. Carnival said in September 2025 that Freedom's Norfolk program would include 6-day Bahamas cruises to Celebration Key, Nassau and Bimini.

Which Bahamas ports do Norfolk cruises visit?

Celebration Key on every trip, plus one or two of Nassau, RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, Bimini and Princess Cays. Most trips in the winter of 2026 to 2027 call at three Bahamas ports, with two days at sea. Carnival Freedom's trips in the winter of 2027 to 2028 call at two, with three days at sea.

Trip	When	Stops	Days at sea
6 nights, three stops	Carnival Sunshine, December 2026 to April 2027, and Carnival Freedom in late May and early June 2027	Celebration Key, Nassau, and one of RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, Princess Cays or Bimini	2
5 nights	Carnival Sunshine, 10 May 2027	Celebration Key, Bimini	2
6 nights, two stops	Carnival Freedom, late November 2027 to early June 2028	Celebration Key, and either RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay or Nassau	3

Across the whole list, Nassau is on 17 trips, Bimini on 8 and Princess Cays on 2. Bimini drops out after the early summer of 2027, so if Bimini is the island you want, look at the Carnival Sunshine dates and the first Carnival Freedom trips.

Carnival now calls Half Moon Cay "RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay". Cruisebound and the table on this page still list it as Half Moon Cay. It is the same place.

What does a 6-night Bahamas cruise from Norfolk look like?

The ship leaves Norfolk at 4pm on a Sunday and spends Monday at sea. It reaches the Bahamas on Tuesday or Wednesday, calls at Celebration Key by Thursday, spends Friday at sea and docks in Norfolk at 8am on Saturday. You get three island days and two at sea, or two island days and three at sea.

Two real sailings show the two shapes. The times are local, as Cruisebound listed them on 3 November 2026, and Carnival can change them.

Day	Carnival Sunshine, 31 January 2027	Carnival Freedom, 16 January 2028
Sunday	Leave Norfolk, 4pm	Leave Norfolk, 4pm
Monday	At sea	At sea
Tuesday	Nassau, 1pm to 9pm	At sea
Wednesday	RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, 8am to 4pm	RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, 8am to 4pm
Thursday	Celebration Key, 7am to 3pm	Celebration Key, 7am to 3pm
Friday	At sea	At sea
Saturday	Norfolk, 8am	Norfolk, 8am

The order changes from trip to trip. When Celebration Key comes first, as on the sailing of 6 December 2026, the ship is there from noon to 7pm on the Tuesday. On the trips that start with Bimini, it arrives at noon and leaves at 8pm.

A few dates break the Sunday pattern. The sailing of 12 December 2026 leaves on a Saturday. The 5-night trip of 10 May 2027 and the 6-night trip of 27 December 2027 leave on a Monday. The sailing of 21 November 2027 leaves Norfolk at 6pm instead of 4pm.

Is there a 5-night Bahamas cruise from Norfolk?

Yes, one: Carnival Sunshine's trip of Monday 10 May 2027. It leaves at 4pm, spends a day at sea, calls at Celebration Key on the Wednesday from noon to 7pm and at Bimini on the Thursday from 7am to 3pm, then sails back to Norfolk for 8am on the Saturday. Nothing on this schedule is shorter.

On 3 November 2026 its fare was $639 per person, against $441 for the cheapest 6-night Bahamas trip. The other trip of that length is the 5-night Bermuda cruise of 1 May 2027, and our short cruises guide compares the two.

What is Celebration Key?

Carnival's own destination on the south side of Grand Bahama island, and the one stop every Norfolk Bahamas trip shares. Carnival says it has a mile-long beach, a freshwater lagoon and five areas it calls portals. It puts the walk from the ship to Paradise Plaza, the first of them, at 6 to 10 minutes.

These details come from Carnival's Celebration Key destination guide:

• Beach chairs, umbrellas and freshwater showers are free, and each guest gets one free meal at a walk-up food venue with the Sail & Sign card.
• Trams run around the site once you are ashore.
• Onboard drink packages do not carry over to Celebration Key.
• Pearl Cove Beach Club is for guests 18 and over and costs extra. Carnival also sells cabanas, daybeds, water rentals, upgraded dining and shore excursions.
• You cannot bring your own beach chairs, umbrellas, tents or pool floats ashore.

What are the other Bahamas stops like?

One is a city and three are beach stops. In Nassau the ship docks downtown, a few steps from the Straw Market. Carnival describes RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays as private beach destinations, and Bimini is a group of islands at the western edge of the Bahamas, centered on Alice Town.

Nassau. Nassau Cruise Port says it lies at the center of downtown Nassau, on the island of New Providence, and that the Straw Market is a few steps from the port. Carnival's Nassau page points to Atlantis on Paradise Island, which a bridge connects to Nassau.

RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay. Carnival and Holland America Line announced the new name on 10 December 2024, along with a new pier on the north side of the island. On 1 June 2026 Carnival said the expansion was complete, with the pier, a tram around the island and new free loungers and umbrellas. Carnival's page says guests arrive by pier or by water shuttle, and that it has added free lunch spots.

Bimini. Carnival calls these the westernmost islands of the Bahamas, says the center of the action is Alice Town, and lists fishing, diving and beach time as the things to do.

Princess Cays. A private resort on the island of Eleuthera, in Carnival's words. Guests come ashore at what Carnival calls Love Boat Marina.

When do Bahamas cruises leave Norfolk?

From late November or early December to early June. On this schedule the first is 6 December 2026 and the last 4 June 2028. From July to October Carnival Freedom sails to Bermuda, Canada and the Eastern Caribbean instead, and this schedule has no Bahamas trips from Norfolk in those months.

The National Hurricane Center gives the Atlantic hurricane season as 1 June to 30 November, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October. The early June and late November sailings fall inside the season, at its start and its end. None falls in the busiest stretch. Our season guide shows what else leaves Norfolk each month.

How much does a Bahamas cruise from Norfolk cost?

On 3 November 2026 the lowest Bahamas fare was $441 per person and the highest $994, for the cheapest cabin listed, with taxes and port fees included. The lowest worked out at $74 a night. Fares move often, so check the sailing you want.

The fare is only part of the cost. If you drive, you pay for six nights of cruise parking in Norfolk. The ship leaves at 4pm, so if you fly in, read our airport guide or consider a night at one of the hotels near the Norfolk cruise port. For the lowest fares on every route, see cheap cruises from Norfolk.

Do you need a passport for a Bahamas cruise from Norfolk?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says U.S. citizens on a closed-loop cruise, one that starts and ends at the same U.S. port and stays in the Western Hemisphere, may use a government-issued photo ID with proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate. Every Norfolk Bahamas trip is a round trip.

CBP also warns that the countries a ship visits may still ask for a passport. If you had to leave the ship and fly home, you would need a passport to enter the United States by air, and CBP says the passport card is not accepted for international flights. Our cruise documents guide has the rest.

Should you pick the Bahamas or the Eastern Caribbean from Norfolk?

Pick the Bahamas if you have a week or less. The Bahamas trips are 6 nights, or 5 on one date, and stay within the Bahamas. The Eastern Caribbean trips are 8 nights and reach Grand Turk and Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, most of them with a day at RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay too.

On 3 November 2026 the Eastern Caribbean trips started at $567 per person, against $441 for the Bahamas. Both run through the winter, so in most months you can choose either one. The Bahamas destination page lists the same sailings with a link to each, and the table below has every date.