Caribbean cruises from Norfolk: the 8-night Eastern Caribbean trips

Every Caribbean cruise from Norfolk on this schedule is an 8-night Carnival round trip that Carnival sells as the Eastern Caribbean. Most leave on a Saturday afternoon. The ship spends two days at sea, makes three stops in a row, then spends two more days at sea and is back in Norfolk on the Sunday morning.

There are 36 of them, from 14 November 2026 to 5 August 2028. On 3 November 2026 fares ran from $567 to $1,472 per person, for the cheapest cabin listed, with taxes and port fees included. Grand Turk and Amber Cove are on every one. The third stop is RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay on most sailings and San Juan on a few in 2028. The table at the end of this guide lists every date.

What Caribbean cruises leave from Norfolk?

Carnival's 8-night Eastern Caribbean round trips, the only Caribbean route from Norfolk on this schedule. There are 36, from 14 November 2026 to 5 August 2028. Each calls at Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos and at Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, plus either RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas or San Juan.

Carnival Sunshine sails them until April 2027. On this schedule her last Norfolk departure is a transatlantic crossing on 15 May 2027, and Carnival Freedom takes over from 23 May 2027. Carnival's own announcement of the move, in September 2025, listed Amber Cove, RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk for Freedom's 8-day Eastern Caribbean trips.

Which ports do Eastern Caribbean cruises from Norfolk visit?

Grand Turk and Amber Cove on every sailing. Most also stop at RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, Carnival's beach destination in the Bahamas. The sailings of 13 May, 24 June and 5 August 2028 call at San Juan, Puerto Rico, instead. Only the order and the port times change between the other versions.

Version	Stops, in order	Example sailing
The usual route	RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Amber Cove	29 May 2027
The same ports reversed	Amber Cove, Grand Turk, RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay	22 January 2028
San Juan	San Juan, Amber Cove, Grand Turk	24 June 2028

The reversed order runs on 26 December 2026 and on 22 January, 4 March, 27 May and 10 June 2028. Cruisebound and the table on this page list RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay as Half Moon Cay, the name it had until Carnival renamed it in December 2024.

What does an 8-night Caribbean cruise from Norfolk look like day by day?

Two days at sea, three port days in a row, then two more days at sea. The ship leaves Norfolk at 4pm on a Saturday and reaches its first port on the Tuesday. It leaves the last one on the Thursday and is back in Norfolk at 8am on the Sunday, eight nights after it left.

These are two real sailings, with times as Cruisebound listed them on 3 November 2026. Times are local, and Carnival can change them.

Day	Carnival Freedom, 29 May 2027	Carnival Freedom, 24 June 2028
Saturday	Leave Norfolk, 4pm	Leave Norfolk, 4pm
Sunday	At sea	At sea
Monday	At sea	At sea
Tuesday	RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, 8am to 4pm	San Juan, noon to 6:30pm
Wednesday	Grand Turk, 11am to 6pm	Amber Cove, 11am to 7pm
Thursday	Amber Cove, 7am to 4pm	Grand Turk, 8am to 4pm
Friday	At sea	At sea
Saturday	At sea	At sea
Sunday	Norfolk, 8am	Norfolk, 8am

On the reversed trips the ship is at Amber Cove on the Tuesday from 11am to 7pm, or 10am to 6pm on 26 December 2026, at Grand Turk on the Wednesday from 7am to 2:30pm, and at RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay on the Thursday from 9am to 5pm.

Two dates leave on other days. The sailing of 18 December 2026 leaves on a Friday and returns on Saturday 26 December. The sailing of 19 December 2027 leaves on a Sunday and returns on Monday 27 December.

What changes when Carnival Freedom replaces Carnival Sunshine in May 2027?

The ship and the months. The ports, the 8-night length and the times stay the same. Carnival Sunshine's Eastern Caribbean trips run from November 2026 to April 2027. After about six weeks with none, Carnival Freedom's start in late May 2027 and carry on through the summer, though not in September, when she sails to Canada and Bermuda.

Carnival says Carnival Freedom moves from Port Canaveral with a 15-day Southern Caribbean cruise and arrives in Norfolk on 23 May 2027. Carnival lists her at 2,980 guests and Carnival Sunshine at 3,002, so the two are close in size. The Carnival Freedom and Carnival Sunshine pages list each ship's Norfolk dates.

What are Grand Turk, Amber Cove and San Juan like?

Grand Turk is an island in the Turks and Caicos with a cruise center, a beach and an old town. Amber Cove is a cruise center on the north coast of the Dominican Republic, near Puerto Plata. San Juan, in Puerto Rico, is a city stop where Carnival points you to the old town and the El Morro fort.

Grand Turk. Carnival points to duty-free shops and local crafts at the Grand Turk Cruise Center, Governor's Beach for swimming, and Cockburn Town with its old salt pans for a tour.

Amber Cove. The Dominican Republic's tourism ministry puts the Amber Cove Cruise Center on the north coast, on the Bay of Maimón, in the Puerto Plata area. Carnival says the port has bars, pools, shops and places to lounge, and that Puerto Plata began life as the first European settlement in the Americas.

San Juan. Carnival suggests the cobblestone streets of historic San Juan, and Castillo San Felipe del Morro, known as El Morro, for the view over the harbor. On the 2028 San Juan trips the ship is there from noon to 6:30pm.

RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay. Carnival says guests arrive by pier or water shuttle and that it has added free lunch spots. Our Bahamas guide has more on it.

When do Caribbean cruises leave Norfolk?

In most months of the year. Carnival Sunshine sails the route from November 2026 to April 2027. Carnival Freedom sails it from late May to August 2027, then again from late October through the winter and into the summer of 2028. On this schedule no Eastern Caribbean trip leaves Norfolk in September.

The National Hurricane Center gives the Atlantic hurricane season as 1 June to 30 November, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October and the peak on 10 September. Carnival Freedom's trips from June to November are inside the season, and the sailing of 21 August 2027 is in its busiest stretch. The December to April trips are outside it. The month-by-month schedule and our season guide show what else leaves Norfolk each month.

How much does a Caribbean cruise from Norfolk cost?

On 3 November 2026 the lowest Eastern Caribbean fare was $567 per person and the highest $1,472, for the cheapest cabin listed, with taxes and port fees included. The lowest worked out at $71 a night. Fares move often, so check the sailing you want.

On the same day the lowest Bahamas fare worked out at $74 a night, so compare the two per night as well as in total. Eight nights does mean eight nights of cruise parking in Norfolk if you drive. For the lowest fares on every route, see cheap cruises from Norfolk or the 8-night cruises page.

Do you need a passport for a Caribbean 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 Eastern Caribbean trip is a round trip.

CBP also warns that the countries a ship visits may still ask for a passport, and these trips stop in the Turks and Caicos and the Dominican Republic, most of them in the Bahamas too. 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 covers what to carry.

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

Pick the Eastern Caribbean if you can take eight nights and want to go beyond the Bahamas. These trips reach Grand Turk and the Dominican Republic, and on most dates a Bahamas beach day too. The Bahamas trips are 6 nights, and every one calls at Celebration Key.

The Caribbean destination page lists the same sailings with a link to each, and the table below has every date and fare.