Norfolk cruise season: cruises from Norfolk, VA in 2026, 2027 and 2028

Norfolk has no off-season. Carnival sails from here in every month, and what changes through the year is where the ship goes. In winter it alternates 6-night Bahamas trips with 8-night Eastern Caribbean trips. From spring to fall Bermuda joins the rotation, Canada follows in late summer, and the Bahamas trips pause from July to October.

The guide runs through the year month by month, then covers what is left in 2026, the 2027 and 2028 schedules, holiday sailings, the weather and hurricane season. The table at the end shows each month's departures, routes and fares per night. It is rebuilt from the schedule every day.

When is the cruise season in Norfolk, VA?

All year. On the schedule we track, Carnival has departures from Norfolk in every month of 2027, roughly one a week. The routes change with the season: Bahamas trips from November to June, Bermuda from April to October, Canada from August to October, and 8-night Eastern Caribbean trips in every month except September.

This is what leaves in each month:

Month	2027	2028	What leaves
January	4	5	6-night Bahamas and 8-night Eastern Caribbean trips, taking turns
February	4	4	The same
March	4	4	The same
April	4	5	The same, plus Carnival Sunshine's 6-night Bermuda trip of 11 April 2027
May	5	4	In 2027, Sunshine's last trips and her crossing to Dover on 15 May, then Carnival Freedom from 23 May. In 2028, Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean
June	4	4	Bahamas, Eastern Caribbean and Bermuda
July	2	3	Eastern Caribbean and Bermuda
August	3	4	Eastern Caribbean and Bermuda, and in 2028 the first Canada trip, on 19 August
September	3	4	Bermuda and Canada, with no Eastern Caribbean trips
October	4	4	Bermuda and Canada, plus one Eastern Caribbean trip on 30 October 2027
November	2	0	Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean. Nothing is listed for 2028 yet
December	3	0	Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean, including the Christmas and New Year trips. Nothing is listed for 2028 yet

The route notes describe the schedule when we wrote this on 3 November 2026. We list only sailings Cruisebound sells, so a month can look thinner than the ship's real pattern. CruiseTimetables and Visit Norfolk both show Carnival Freedom leaving on 10 and 18 July 2027, for example, dates Cruisebound was not selling when we checked. Each month has its own page, such as June 2027, and cruises by month lists them all.

What day of the week do cruises leave Norfolk?

Mostly on weekends. On the schedule, most 8-night Eastern Caribbean and Canada trips leave on a Saturday, and most 6-night Bahamas and Bermuda trips on a Sunday. Cruisebound's itineraries put departure at 4 pm and the return at 8 am on nearly every trip. The exceptions fall in December, around the holidays, and in May 2027, when the ships change over.

Usually an 8-night trip that leaves on a Saturday is back on the Sunday eight days later, and the next 6-night trip leaves that afternoon. If your time off is fixed, the cruise length page groups the trips by nights, and the search finds a sailing by date.

What cruises from Norfolk, VA are left in 2026?

The schedule has 6 departures left in 2026, all on Carnival Sunshine. When we checked on 3 November 2026 they were 8-night Eastern Caribbean trips on 14 and 28 November, 6-night Bahamas trips on 6 and 12 December, and 8-night Eastern Caribbean trips on 18 and 26 December. The lowest 2026 fare on 3 November 2026 was $585.

That fare is per person for the cheapest cabin listed, with taxes and port fees included. The Eastern Caribbean trips call at Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk and Amber Cove. The Bahamas trip of 6 December calls at Celebration Key, Nassau and Bimini, and the one of 12 December at Nassau, Half Moon Cay and Celebration Key. There are 2 departures in November 2026 and 4 in December, and the December 2026 page lists the December ones with fares.

Visit Norfolk's schedule and CruiseTimetables also show Carnival Sunshine leaving on 8 and 22 November 2026. Cruisebound was not selling either date when we checked, so neither is on our schedule. For anything leaving in the next 60 days, see last-minute cruises.

What cruises leave Norfolk, VA in 2027?

The schedule lists 42 departures from Norfolk in 2027, from 3 January 2027 to 27 December 2027. Carnival Sunshine sails them until 15 May and Carnival Freedom from 23 May. Most are 6-night Bahamas or 8-night Eastern Caribbean trips, with Bermuda from April to October and Canada in September and October.

May 2027 is when the ships change over. Sunshine sails a 5-night Bermuda trip on 1 May and a 5-night Bahamas trip on 10 May, then leaves Norfolk on 15 May on a 15-night one-way crossing to Dover, England, which Carnival announced in January 2026. Carnival Freedom arrives on 23 May 2027, at the end of a 15-day Southern Caribbean voyage from Port Canaveral, Carnival says, and starts that day with a 6-night Bahamas trip. The Carnival guide compares the two ships.

From June the Bermuda trips run through the summer and fall, and Freedom's 8-night Canada trips leave on 4 and 18 September and 2 October 2027. On 3 November 2026 the lowest fare in 2027 was $441, per person for the cheapest cabin listed, with taxes and port fees included.

What cruises leave Norfolk, VA in 2028?

The schedule lists 41 departures in 2028, all on Carnival Freedom, from 2 January 2028 to 28 October 2028. The pattern follows 2027: Bahamas trips from January to June, Eastern Caribbean trips from January to August, Bermuda from June to October and Canada from August to October.

The 2028 Eastern Caribbean trips of 13 May, 24 June and 5 August call at San Juan in place of Half Moon Cay. The schedule stops at 28 October 2028 because that is where Cruisebound's catalogue stops. CruiseTimetables lists Carnival Freedom from Norfolk until 31 March 2029, and Carnival said on 8 October 2026 that it had opened Norfolk sailings through April 2029. We add sailings as Cruisebound lists them.

Are there Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year cruises from Norfolk?

Yes, in 2026 and 2027. Carnival Sunshine's 8-night trip of 18 December 2026 is at sea on Christmas Day, and her trip of 26 December spends New Year's Eve at Half Moon Cay. In 2027 Carnival Freedom's trip of 21 November covers Thanksgiving, and her trips of 19 and 27 December cover Christmas and New Year.

Holiday	Sailing	Where the ship is on the day
Thanksgiving, 26 November 2026	None on the schedule	The 8-night Eastern Caribbean trip of 28 November 2026 leaves two days later
Christmas 2026	Carnival Sunshine, 8-night Eastern Caribbean, 18 to 26 December	At sea on 24 and 25 December
New Year 2027	Carnival Sunshine, 8-night Eastern Caribbean, 26 December to 3 January	Half Moon Cay on 31 December, at sea on 1 January
Thanksgiving, 25 November 2027	Carnival Freedom, 6-night Bahamas, 21 to 27 November	Celebration Key on 25 November
Christmas 2027	Carnival Freedom, 8-night Eastern Caribbean, 19 to 27 December	Amber Cove on 24 December, at sea on 25 December
New Year 2028	Carnival Freedom, 6-night Bahamas, 27 December to 2 January	Celebration Key on 31 December, at sea on 1 January

Where the ship is on each day comes from Cruisebound's itineraries. Nothing on the schedule leaves Norfolk in November or December 2028 yet. On 3 November 2026 the lowest fare in December 2026 was $585 and in December 2027 $630. The holiday cruises page compares each holiday sailing's fare per night with the rest of its month.

What is the weather like in Norfolk when cruises leave?

Mild in spring and fall, hot in summer and cool in winter. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for Norfolk International Airport give an average high of 51°F in January, 89°F in July and 72°F in October. July and August are the wettest months, with about 6 inches of rain each.

These are NOAA's average daily highs and lows at Norfolk's airport in °F, with the average rainfall for each month:

Month	High	Low	Rain (inches)
January	51	34	3.41
February	53	35	2.90
March	60	41	3.69
April	70	50	3.37
May	77	59	3.78
June	85	68	4.43
July	89	73	6.08
August	87	72	5.88
September	81	67	5.40
October	72	55	3.86
November	62	44	3.10
December	55	38	3.28

Temperatures are rounded to the nearest degree. A winter sailing leaves Norfolk when nights are close to freezing, so pack a coat for the terminal and the first evening on deck.

Do cruises from Norfolk sail in hurricane season?

Yes. The National Hurricane Center gives the Atlantic hurricane season as 1 June to 30 November, with a peak on 10 September and most activity between mid-August and mid-October. Carnival sails from Norfolk right through it: Eastern Caribbean, Bermuda and Canada trips in summer and fall, and Bahamas trips in June and November.

The Hurricane Center adds that storms sometimes form before or after the official dates. On its 1991 to 2020 figures, an average Atlantic season has 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes. Read Carnival's terms on itinerary changes before you book a late-summer or fall sailing.

Which month is cheapest for a cruise from Norfolk?

We can't name one yet. This site began recording fares in November 2026, which is too soon to show when they fall. On 3 November 2026 the lowest fare per night was $71 in January 2027, $72 in February, $111 in July and $79 in December, per person for the cheapest cabin listed, with taxes and port fees included.

A fare per night puts the 6-night and 8-night trips on the same footing. The table at the end of this guide shows the typical and lowest fare a night for every month, and the cheap and last-minute guide picks out the lowest fares.

What's happening in Norfolk on cruise days?

Visit Norfolk, the city's visitors bureau, publishes a cruise schedule that pairs each ship day with something happening in Norfolk that day. It runs to December 2027, and when we read it on 3 November 2026 the entries from mid-May 2027 on said "TBD". The same schedule lists ships that only call at Norfolk.

Norwegian Pearl's visits are stops on cruises that start elsewhere, and none of the other lines' ships has a departure from Norfolk on either schedule we check. The Carnival guide lists them, and the terminal guide covers the day you sail.