Cruise giant Carnival just announced what may be its most unusual — and epic — itinerary ever
Carnival Cruise Line is about to operate what just may be its most off-the-beaten-path itinerary ever.
The world's second-largest cruise brand on Wednesday announced that its 2,826-passenger Carnival Luminosa would sail a one-time voyage from Brisbane, Australia, to Seattle, following an epic, roundabout transpacific route that would take it all the way up to Japan and then to Alaska.
Starting on April 1, 2024, the voyage will last 31 days, making it one of the longest cruises in Carnival's 50-year history.
Such far-ranging itineraries are extremely rare for Carnival, which is known for its focus on short cruises out of U.S. ports.
Nearly all the line's ships sail out of U.S. ports. The only regular exceptions are a small number of vessels deployed in Australia to offer mostly short cruises aimed at the local market; occasionally, the line will offer one-off cruises from European ports.
Transpacific cruises that start in Brisbane are rare for any line, not just Carnival. And transpacific cruises that start in Brisbane and include stops in Japan and Alaska are even rarer.
Related: The 5 best destinations you can visit on a Carnival cruise
A pricey transpacific cruise
In another twist, the cruise will come with a price tag that, compared to the typical Carnival cruise, might seem astronomical.
As of Thursday morning, Carnival was listing the sailing on its website starting at $3,449 per person for the least expensive windowless inside cabin, based on double occupancy and not including $389.20 in taxes and fees.
That means booking the least expensive cabin on the sailing will set you back a minimum of $7,676.40. That's many times the typical starting rate of a Carnival cruise. Some of Carnival's most popular itineraries regularly sell at starting rates under $800 for two people.
Even when analyzing the cost on a per-day basis, the starting rate is more than double the cost of many Carnival cruises.
The route
Carnival Luminosa will make the journey as it repositions from Australia to Seattle to operate Alaska sailings for the summer of 2024.
The 31-day itinerary will kick off with six sea days in a row (yeah, you better like sea days) as the vessel heads across the Pacific to the American-owned Pacific island of Guam, a destination that draws relatively few cruise ships, for a day stop.
Then come two more sea days as the ship continues on to the Japanese island of Okinawa — a destination that no Carnival vessel has visited in the line's 50-year history.
From there, Carnival Luminosa will travel north to the Japanese ports of Hiroshima, Yokohama (the port for Tokyo), Aomori and Kushiro.
Four more sea days — and a crossing of the international date line (where you will lose a full day of your trip in an instant, alas) — will bring the ship to Alaska.
Alaska port calls include Seward, Juneau and Ketchikan, and Carnival Luminosa also will visit Alaska's Hubbard Glacier.
The trip ends in Seattle on May 1, 2024.
The voyage is just the latest unusually long, Pacific-focused voyage that Carnival has announced. Just last week, the brand revealed plans for a one-time, 18-night voyage from Long Beach, California, to Yokohama that also will take place in 2024.
Additionally, the line plans a 25-night voyage in 2024 from Singapore to Long Beach.
Both of the latter sailings will take place on the 4,008-passenger Carnival Panorama as it repositions to Asia for an overhaul at a shipyard.
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