Carnival Cruise Line on September 30 opened bookings for its entire West Coast program for the 2028 to 2029 season, with three ships sailing to Alaska, Hawaii and Mexico from Seattle, San Francisco and Long Beach. The first of these departures is about a year and a half away, and the announcement came a day after the line's parent company told investors that its record booking curve "has extended out even further".

What happened

The Carnival release lists the ships, home ports and itineraries below. Longer voyages are sold under the line's Carnival Journeys label. The release gives no prices.

Carnival Adventure, from Seattle

  • Sails from Seattle from May through September 2028, "relocating seasonally from Australia".
  • 18 seven-day Alaska Inside Passage and Glacier cruises departing between May 9 and September 5, 2028, calling at Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Victoria, British Columbia, with scenic cruising in Endicott Arm Fjord.
  • Carnival Journeys: a nine-day Alaska voyage departing September 12, 2028 and a 16-day Hawaii voyage departing September 21.

Carnival Legend, from San Francisco

  • Sails from San Francisco from April through September 2028.
  • Ten four-day Baja Mexico cruises to Ensenada between April and August 2028.
  • Nine ten-day Alaska sailings from May 15 to September 4, 2028, calling at Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan (Ward Cove) and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, with scenic cruising in Endicott Arm Fjord.
  • Carnival Journeys: a 13-day Alaska cruise on April 28, 2028 and a 15-day Hawaii cruise on September 14.

Carnival Spirit, from Tampa, Seattle and Long Beach

  • Begins with a 16-day Carnival Journeys Panama Canal sailing from Tampa on April 16, 2028.
  • 18 seven-day Alaska cruises from Seattle between May 11 and September 7, 2028, calling at Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Victoria, with scenic cruising in Endicott Arm Fjord.
  • Select longer Alaska trips, including nine-day sailings that add destinations such as Sitka and Icy Strait Point; the release lists a nine-day Carnival Journeys Alaska cruise on September 14.
  • From October 2028 to spring 2029 the ship sails from Long Beach: three-day Baja Mexico trips, five-day Mexican Riviera cruises and select eight-day Mexican Riviera sailings, with Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta among the ports named, plus 11 Carnival Journeys Hawaii sailings visiting Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island.

Carnival says the cruises can be booked through travel advisors, online travel sites, its website and by phone.

The background

On September 29, Carnival Corporation, the parent company of Carnival Cruise Line and several other cruise brands, filed its third-quarter results with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. For the quarter ended August 31, 2026, the earnings release reports revenues of $8.435 billion and net income of $1.920 billion.

The forward-looking parts of the filing explain the timing of announcements like this one. The company points to "the ongoing strength we are seeing across our record booking curve, which has extended out even further". It says that "for full-year 2027, both booked occupancy and pricing are at record levels", and that "2028 is also off to an excellent start at higher occupancy and prices than last year." Customer deposits, money paid in advance for future cruises, "reached a third-quarter record of $7.6 billion", which the filing says is up nearly seven percent on the prior year on flat capacity growth.

The same filing says the company expects full-year net yields to rise about 2.3% in constant currency and that total debt has fallen to $23.912 billion from $26.640 billion at November 2025. For the Carnival Cruise Line brand specifically, it mentions the launch of the Carnival Rewards loyalty program on September 1 and a next-generation ship, Carnival Destiny, due in 2029.

Alaska itineraries are planned around port limits as well as demand. The City and Borough of Juneau, a port of call for all three ships' Alaska cruises in this release, agreed in 2023 with the cruise industry to allow no more than five large ships in port per day, and in June 2024 signed a further agreement with Cruise Lines International Association Alaska setting a limit of 16,000 lower berths a day, and 12,000 on Saturdays. In announcing the first agreement, the city noted that "cruise schedules are set well over a year in advance."

Why it matters

For travelers, the practical point is that the full West Coast schedule for that season is now public, long before many people would start planning. Carnival Corporation's own filing describes a booking curve that has "extended out even further", so popular dates, cabin types and itineraries may be sold earlier than they used to be. That is the company's account of its bookings, not an independent measure, and it covers all of its brands, not only Carnival Cruise Line.

For the company, opening sailings this far ahead brings in deposits earlier. Its filing calls customer deposits "another key leading indicator", alongside booked occupancy and pricing. The deployment also shows the line moving ships between regions by season: the release says Carnival Adventure comes to Seattle from Australia for the Alaska summer, and Carnival Spirit moves from Tampa to Seattle and then to Long Beach.

The filing is also explicit about risk. Its forward-looking statements caveat lists factors such as geopolitical uncertainty, pandemics, weather, fuel costs and regulatory changes, any of which could affect a cruise sold a year and a half before it sails.

What we do not know yet

  • Prices. The release does not give fares, and the filing gives no figures for these sailings.
  • Exact dates for every sailing. The release gives date ranges and counts for most routes, not a full departure list, and does not date the Long Beach Hawaii and Mexico cruises individually.
  • Port arrangements far ahead. Port calls and local limits can change between now and 2028; the release does not say how changes would be handled.
  • How full these sailings already are. The parent company's booking statements cover the whole group, not this program.

What it means for you

  1. Compare like with like. The seven-day, nine-day, ten-day and Carnival Journeys trips differ in length, ports and departure city. Note the home port and whether the trip is a round trip.
  2. Read the payment and cancellation terms before booking. Carnival's published policy sets final payment at 91 days before sailing for cruises of six days or more, including Alaska and Panama Canal trips, and 76 days for shorter cruises. After that, cancellation charges rise in stages up to 100% of the fare 14 days or less before departure.
  3. Know what an early cancellation gets you. Under that policy, a cancellation before the final payment date returns the deposit as a non-refundable, non-transferable future cruise credit, minus a $50 per person service fee, to be used within 12 months. Promotions with non-refundable deposits are treated differently.
  4. Check documents for foreign ports. The seven-day and ten-day Alaska routes in the release call in British Columbia, and the Baja and Mexican Riviera trips call in Mexico, so check passport and entry requirements well before you sail.
  5. Booking early is a choice, not a deadline. The company's statements about demand are a reason to look at the schedule, not proof that a given sailing will sell out.