On July 19, 2025, Carnival Cruise Line cut the ribbon on Celebration Key in the Bahamas with a ceremony that included a Bahamian brass band, company leadership and celebrity Shaquille O’Neal.
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One year later, the cruise line has welcomed 2.4 million guests to the destination on Grand Bahama Island to enjoy the largest freshwater lagoons in the Caribbean, a 10-story sandcastle with two waterslides, swim-up bars, food trucks, Bahamian culture and more. In the last 12 months, Celebration Key has hosted 500,000 thrill seekers on its waterslides, sold 400,000 sweet treats from the Mini Donut King food truck, served 100,000 piña coladas and brought hundreds of lively Junkanoo parades to its visitors.
“We’ve built something special here at Celebration Key. Our goal is to create unforgettable memories for our guests, and in its first year, the destination has done exactly that for more than 2 million people,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, in a news release. “We’re proud to be part of those moments while also creating real, lasting impact in the local community. As we look ahead, we’re excited to continue building on this momentum, creating new experiences for our guests and deepening our commitment to Grand Bahama and its people.”
Carnival recently completed a pier extension project at Celebration Key with two additional berths, allowing up to four ships to visit the destination at one time and more than 13,000 guests each day. Year two is expected to welcome an estimated 3.5 million guests.
Celebration Key’s appeal
With a colorful, sunny and jubilant atmosphere, Celebration Key welcomes thousands of guests every day to choose their own fun organized into five portals, starting with Paradise Plaza, which ushers guests into the destination.
From there, guests fan out to Calypso Lagoon, which is geared toward adults and guests ages 13+, and Starfish Lagoon, the family-friendly area. Shopping from Bahamian vendors is available at Lokono Cove situated just behind the towering Suncastle waterslides. The Pearl Cove Beach Club is available to guests 18 and older, with a paid day pass and drink packages available.
Jonathan Stafford, the founder of Freestyle Travelers and The Carnival Cruise Blog, said the $600 million development was designed to cater to cruise passengers with a curated experience. Unlike other private destinations, this one also allows guests the freedom to explore beyond Celebration Key.
“Going into this project, they wanted to create a destination like Royal Caribbean’s Coco Cay or Norwegian’s Great Stirrup Cay but something that Carnival owned in the Bahamas,” he said. “Celebration Key has a unique advantage because you can still go to Freeport, unlike Coco Cay and Great Stirrup Cay where you’re on the cruise line island and you don’t really have any alternatives.”
With so many options for swimming, eating, drinking, lounging, playing sports, listening to live music or sliding down waterslides, the experience has something for the whole family. Having Freeport close by also opens up additional shore excursion opportunities with island tours, alcohol tastings and boat tours.
“I think that’s what a lot of cruisers want right now. They want a cruise experience that’s relatively safe, all-inclusive at some ports and a curated experience that transfers from the ship to the destination as well,” Stafford said. “They’re building more of these beach club experiences across all the cruise lines because that’s what a lot of travelers want. They want to go on vacation and know what they’re getting into.”
The Pearl Cove Beach Club, swim-up bars, lagoon pools, and cabana rentals have received positive feedback from visitors, Stafford said.
In addition to serving cruise passengers and Carnival’s bottom line, Celebration Key supports 1,000 Bahamian jobs with 80% local ownership among the destination’s food and retail operators, including Bahama Mama Seafood Pit, Flippin’ Fritters and Mini Donut King.
Celebration Key also achieved a milestone this year by becoming the first cruise destination to earn a sensory inclusive certification through a partnership with KultureCity.
Growing pains
It’s logical to compare Celebration Key, a private resort area on a larger island, to Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Great Stirrup Cay, both of which offer complimentary dining for cruise passengers and drink packages that carry over from the ship.
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At Celebration Key, some guests have felt frustrated when realizing that not all food is included at the destination and that drink packages don’t transfer on land.
“I think when they first announced the project, they leaned a little too heavily in the private islands realm,” Stafford said. “They’ve tried to refine the dining program where they give people more options so it feels like more is included.”
Guests can use the to get a complimentary meal at a fast-casual spot, typically food trucks, or 40% off one entree at a full-service restaurant. Compared with other private islands, where all employees are hired by the cruise lines, Carnival uses a partnership model with Bahamian businesses, government and the local tourism bureau.
In Celebration Key’s first year, two American tourists, both in their 70s, died after drowning in separate incidents on one day last August. An 88-year-old guest died in May after driving a mobility scooter off the pier at Celebration Key.
“Our thoughts remain with the families affected by the incidents,” said a Carnival spokesperson in an email statement. “Safety is, and has always been, a top priority for Carnival. As part of our standard business practices, we continuously evaluate and strengthen safety measures across all our ships and destinations.”
Expansion plans
Carnival just completed its $100 million pier extension project, which will help accommodate the company’s newest and largest ships. From September onward, three- and four-ship days at Celebration Key will become more common as the destination begins hosting ships from Princess Cruises and eventually AIDA Cruises.
Carnival has room to expand its footprint at Celebration Key with an area marked on the map for “phase two expansion.” When the destination was first announced, the cruise line said that future expansion would include a waterpark and a zipline course, although those plans have not been confirmed recently.
Right now, only 68 acres of the 379-acre property at Celebration Key have been developed. The cruise line has the potential to expand on 154 more acres, while 110 acres have been set aside for a wetland preserve.
The development, construction and ongoing operation of Celebration Key is projected to create more than 2,500 direct Bahamian jobs, generate $3.2 billion in incremental government revenue and contribute $9.7 billion in incremental GDP impact over the next two decades, according to Tourism Economics (an Oxford Economics company).
Paradise Collection
Expanding capacity at Celebration Key and introducing massive Ace-class ships will help Carnival Corporation host an estimated 11 million guests across its Caribbean destinations by the end of the decade, according to Carnival Corp. CEO Josh Weinstein in a previous earnings call. This includes the newly upgraded Isla Tropicale in Honduras and RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, a private island shared with Holland America in the Caribbean.
In the years to come, Carnival plans to invest in its other Paradise Collection ports and cruise terminals: Grand Turks Cruise Center (Turks & Caicos), Amber Cove (Dominican Republic) and Puerta Maya (Cozumel, Mexico). Princess Cays in the Bahamas is also one of seven properties in the collection.
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