Princess Cruises Adds Celebration Key To Itineraries

Princess Cruises is joining its sister brand Carnival Cruise Line at Celebration Key, the new purpose built private destination on Grand Bahama Island, adding a high profile stop to select Caribbean and Panama Canal itineraries from late 2026. The first Princess call is scheduled for November 1, 2026, when the new Star Princess visits Celebration Key, followed by Regal Princess on November 9 and additional ships in the 2026 to 2028 seasons.

The shift means Princess guests who favor the line's more classic, resort style onboard vibe will soon get access to Carnival Corporation's largest private destination project to date, instead of watching it reserved only for Carnival sailings. It also ties Princess more tightly to Grand Bahama just as Celebration Key ramps toward millions of annual visitors and becomes a central hub for the group's short and medium length Caribbean cruises.

Which Princess Ships Will Visit Celebration Key

Princess confirmed that Star Princess will make the line's first call at Celebration Key on November 1, 2026, as part of an expanded Caribbean deployment that feeds into its 2027 to 2028 program. Regal Princess follows on November 9, 2026, and four more ships, Caribbean Princess, Enchanted Princess, Sky Princess, and Sun Princess, are scheduled to include Celebration Key calls across the 2026 to 27 and 2027 to 28 Caribbean and Panama Canal seasons.

Those calls sit inside what Princess is billing as its largest and most diverse Caribbean lineup so far, with 187 departures on nine ships, 43 itineraries that range from four to 15 days, and 31 destinations across 22 islands. Homeports for the 2027 to 28 Caribbean season include Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Port Canaveral, New York, and San Juan, so Celebration Key will be accessible from multiple gateways instead of a single Florida port.

The Panama Canal program also picks up the new stop on select voyages. Star Princess joins ships like Caribbean Princess and Island Princess on ocean to ocean and roundtrip transits, giving canal focused itineraries the kind of private beach day that rivals already use as a selling point.

For now, Princess has not published a single consolidated list of which specific sailings hit Celebration Key, so travelers will need to check individual itineraries on the booking pages and look for Celebration Key in the port list, alongside better known calls like Nassau, Cozumel, or San Juan.

What Celebration Key Offers Princess Guests

Celebration Key opened in July 2025 as Carnival Corporation's flagship private destination on Grand Bahama, a multi hundred million dollar build designed to handle two ships from a long pier and eventually up to four vessels at once. The project is framed as a major economic driver for Grand Bahama, capable of bringing more than two million guests a year at launch and as many as four million annually by 2028 once expansion is complete.

For Princess guests, the experience ashore will mirror what Carnival passengers already see. Celebration Key is built around calm turquoise lagoons and long beaches, with five distinct zones that function almost like mini resorts. Paradise Plaza is the arrival hub with guest services, shops, and an iconic sandcastle style tower that doubles as an observation deck and water slide complex. Starfish Lagoon caters to families, with one of the Caribbean's largest freshwater lagoons, splash areas, and casual food and bar options. Calypso Lagoon offers a more adult leaning party scene, anchored by an enormous swim up bar, while Pearl Cove is a premium adults only beach club with an infinity pool, higher end dining, and cabanas sold at a surcharge. Lokono Cove rounds out the mix with Bahamian craft stalls, murals, and space for excursions and taxis.

That structure means Princess will effectively have two distinct private destination products in the Bahamas. Princess Cays on Eleuthera, which the brand has used since the early 1990s, is a more traditional beach resort style stop with cabanas, snorkeling, and a simpler food setup. Celebration Key, by contrast, is closer to a purpose built beach park, with more segmented zones, more bars and branded dining, and denser crowds on peak days.

Booking Cabanas And Premium Spaces

Princess says that Celebration Key island experiences, including cabanas, will open for booking on December 17, 2025, giving early planners almost a full year to lock in prime dates before the first visits begin in November 2026. Based on early Carnival demand, cabanas, daybeds, and Pearl Cove beach club access are likely to be among the first options to sell out on high season sailings, especially on dates that line up with school breaks.

Guests will book those add ons the same way they handle other shore excursions, through the Princess website or app once their reservation is in place. Pricing will be dynamic and will almost certainly track ship occupancy and seasonal demand, a pattern that has already emerged in Pearl Cove cabana and beach club pricing for Carnival sailings, where packages can run into the high hundreds of dollars for a group.

One important planning wrinkle, especially for travelers used to land resorts, is that standard cruise line drink packages typically do not carry over at full strength to private destinations like Celebration Key. Carnival uses an island specific model, and Princess will be layering its own policies on top of that, with some premium Pearl Cove options bundling drinks and food while more basic passes and cabanas leave beverages as an extra charge. Travelers who care about cocktails by the pool all day should read the fine print before assuming their usual package covers everything ashore.

How This Changes Princess Caribbean Choices

From a itinerary design standpoint, Celebration Key gives Princess another private day option in the Bahamas that can slot into both shorter three to five night getaways and longer seven to fifteen night Caribbean and canal cruises. For guests who have already visited Princess Cays multiple times, the new port offers a fresher mix of dining, pools, and activities without having to switch to a different cruise brand.

At the same time, adding Celebration Key puts Princess even more directly into the private island arms race that now includes Royal Caribbean's Perfect Day at CocoCay and MSC's Ocean Cay Marine Reserve, where heavy investment in water parks, beach clubs, and cabanas is designed to keep guests within the cruise company ecosystem for as much of the vacation as possible. The move also deepens Carnival Corporation's strategy of sharing major destination investments across brands, an approach already visible at Princess Cays and RelaxAway at Half Moon Cay.

For travelers, the practical takeaway is straightforward. If a private beach day with a high energy lagoon complex and multiple bar scenes is important, they should look for itineraries that explicitly list Celebration Key, and be prepared to pay more for the most comfortable ways to experience it. If they prefer a quieter, more low key day with simpler infrastructure and fewer upcharges, Princess Cays or non private ports might still be a better fit.

Practical Tips For Planning A Princess Cruise With Celebration Key

Because Celebration Key can take multiple large ships at once, days when Carnival and Princess both call will be busy. That can mean longer walks from the pier if you leave the ship late, more competition for free loungers, and higher noise levels around the marquee pools and bars. Early risers who disembark soon after the gangway opens will have a better shot at shade and preferred spots, even if they do not pay for a cabana.

Weather remains another factor. Grand Bahama sits squarely in the Atlantic hurricane belt and has already seen Celebration Key affected by storm driven surf and wind in 2025, so shoulder season sailings carry a higher risk of last minute port swaps or shortened days ashore. Travelers who are flexible about the exact mix of ports but care most about ship experience may want to focus on mid winter dates outside the peak hurricane window.

Finally, travelers should remember that Celebration Key is still physically part of Grand Bahama. Excursions into Freeport and beyond are likely to expand as local partners adapt to the new traffic, so those who do not want to spend all day inside the developed port can watch for tours that get them off the lagoon circuit and into the island's national parks, beaches, and cultural sites.

Sources

• Princess Cruises Deepens Connection in the Caribbean and Panama Canal with 2027-28 Voyages
• Princess Cruise Ships Will Start Visiting Celebration Key in 2026
• Carnival's Celebration Key Opens July 19: What Travelers Need to Know
• Carnival | Celebration Key
• Cruise to the Southern Caribbean 2025-2026
• Carnival Venezia to homeport in Miami in May 2027