First Holiday Season At Celebration Key Bahamas Port

Published on Dec 7, 2025, 2:40 pm CST

8 min read

Key points

Celebration Key in Grand Bahama is celebrating its first holiday season in December 2025 with island wide decorations
Five themed portals now feature holiday trees wreaths garlands and sand sculptures including a 20 foot tree and an eight foot sand tree
Santa appearances family photo spots and a holiday twist on the Junkanoo parade add new activities for visiting Carnival guests
Seasonal menus events and entertainment continue the Celebration Key holiday experience on board Carnival ships that call at the port
Travelers choosing Caribbean cruises this winter can factor in Celebration Key holiday events when comparing itineraries and shore time

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: The busiest holiday scenes will be in Paradise Plaza Lokono Cove and Starfish Lagoon where trees sand sculptures and Santa photo spots draw crowds
Best Times To Visit: Early to mid morning or late afternoon visits will be more comfortable for photos and lagoon time than the mid day heat and peak ship crowds
Onward Travel And Changes: Expect heavier foot traffic returning to the pier after afternoon parades and shipboard events which can slow the walk back to the gangway
What Travelers Should Do Now: Check which Celebration Key call dates are on your itinerary review portal maps and prebook cabanas or excursions if you want quieter space away from the main plazas
Health And Safety Factors: Plan sun protection for long outdoor photo sessions follow lifeguard guidance around the freshwater lagoons and give young children clear meeting points near Santa Village

Celebration Key holiday events are officially under way on the south side of Grand Bahama Island, where Carnival Cruise Line has dressed its new private port for its first Christmas season in December 2025. The exclusive destination's five themed portals now carry their own mix of holiday trees, wreaths, and garlands, with families, couples, and groups sailing from multiple U S homeports stepping into a tropical version of the holidays as soon as they walk off the ship. Travelers comparing winter Caribbean cruises can now treat Celebration Key's seasonal overlay as another factor when choosing itineraries and shore days.

The new Celebration Key holiday events layer Christmas style decor, Santa appearances, and themed programming on top of the Bahamian port's lagoons and beach areas, giving Carnival guests a more clearly defined reason to pick sailings that call at the private destination in December 2025.

Holiday Decor Across Celebration Key's Five Portals

Carnival's December 4, 2025 press release describes Celebration Key transforming into a tropical wonderland, with each of its portals adopting a slightly different festive personality. Paradise Plaza, the main arrivals hub where passengers first step onto the island, now anchors the scene with larger than life gift boxes stacked around the plaza, creating an immediate photo backdrop and a visual cue that this is a limited time holiday experience.

Lokono Cove, the shopping and dining district that fronts the artisan market, is centered on a roughly 20 foot Celebration Key themed tree, which gives the retail side of the destination its own focal point and a natural meeting spot for groups who want to split up between browsing, bars, and the lagoon. In Starfish Lagoon, a family focused zone with calm water and kids activities, Carnival has built out Santa's Village, where an eight foot sand tree and other holiday sand sculptures turn the shoreline into an open air gallery that reads as local and seasonal at the same time.

Across the rest of the island, smaller trees, wreaths, and beach friendly garlands fill in sightlines without trying to compete with the water or the ships themselves. That design choice matters for travelers, because it keeps the core draws of Celebration Key, the beach and the lagoons, fully usable while still making it obvious that the port looks different in December than it did during its July 2025 launch.

Seasonal Programming On Shore And At Sea

The decor is meant to be a frame rather than the whole show, and Carnival is leaning into character driven programming to give the first holiday season more structure. Santa is scheduled to make recurring appearances at Santa's Village in Starfish Lagoon, where families can queue for photo sessions and informal meet and greets, turning a standard beach break into something closer to a themed park day. The destination's Junkanoo parade, already positioned as a marquee Bahamian cultural element, adds holiday touches to costumes and choreography, so guests who saw the parade earlier in the year will still find something new.

Onboard, the same December sailings that call at Celebration Key are running seasonal menus, holiday themed entertainment, and more Christmas programming in the evenings, so passengers get continuity between ship and shore. Cruise Hive reporting notes that ships such as Carnival Dream, Carnival Vista, Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration, Carnival Elation, Carnival Pride, Carnival Spirit, Carnival Sunrise, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Freedom, and Carnival Glory are among those visiting the port this month on three to seven night itineraries, with guests seeing both the island decor and the shipboard events on the same trip.

For travelers, the net effect is that a call at Celebration Key in December is no longer just another beach day. It becomes a defined holiday product, which may appeal strongly to multigenerational families, first time cruisers looking for that postcard Christmas in the tropics moment, and repeat Carnival guests who want to see something different at a new port.

Background, How Celebration Key Is Laid Out

Celebration Key officially opened on July 19, 2025, when Carnival Vista became the first ship to dock at the purpose built port, bringing nearly 5,000 guests for the debut. The destination sits on the south side of Grand Bahama Island, roughly 20 miles east of Freeport, and is Carnival Cruise Line's first private destination designed exclusively for its own passengers.

The overall resort covers roughly mid double digit acres on the coast and is organized into five main portals that most December visitors will encounter. Paradise Plaza functions as the entry plaza and central orientation point. Calypso Lagoon serves as an adults oriented area built around freshwater swimming, DJ led entertainment, and what Carnival promotes as one of the largest swim up bars in the Caribbean. Starfish Lagoon caters to families with quieter water and play structures, while Lokono Cove houses shops, kiosks, and an artisan market that connects the port to local Bahamian businesses. Pearl Cove Beach Club rounds out the map as an upgraded adults only beach club with an infinity pool and enhanced dining.

Cruise Radio coverage of Celebration Key's first operational weeks also points to a white sand shoreline that runs for more than a mile and very large man made lagoons that are now among the biggest of their kind in the region, which together explain why Carnival can comfortably host many thousands of guests across multiple ships on busy days without the port feeling like a single crowded pool deck.

Planning Tips For Holiday Visits

For December 2025 sailings, the biggest functional change is crowd and flow, not basic access. The port's core infrastructure, from the pier to the lagoons, works the same way it did in summer, but more guests are likely to cluster around decorated trees, sand sculptures, and Santa photo areas, especially in mid morning when families have finished breakfast and before young children tire out. Travelers who want quieter time in the water or at a cabana may be better off hitting the beach and lagoon early, then circling back for photos in the later afternoon when the strongest sun and some of the crowds have eased.

If you prefer the cultural side, plan your day around the Junkanoo parade times instead of trying to squeeze it in between other activities. Expect some short term congestion along the parade route and near the main plazas when the music starts, and leave buffer time for the walk back to the ship if your all aboard time falls near late day performances. On days when two ships are alongside, the port can see upwards of 9,000 guests, so independent wanderers should give themselves extra time to move between portals compared to a non holiday visit.

Weather is another practical factor. December in the northern Bahamas generally brings warm but not extreme temperatures, yet standing in line for photos or watching outdoor parades still means a lot of direct sun. Pack sunscreen, hats, and water for everyone in your party, especially children who may be wearing heavier costumes or holiday outfits, and make use of shaded queue areas where they exist near Santa's Village or under the trees and structures in Paradise Plaza.

Safety And Longer Term View

As with any water focused private destination, basic safety practice matters more than any decor. The freshwater lagoons and beachfront will still be in heavy use during the holidays, so travelers should follow lifeguard instructions, respect any flagged off areas, and keep a careful eye on children who might be more distracted by Santa, floats, or sand sculptures than by water depth markers. Those simple steps will do more to keep the day smooth than any port specific rule.

Carnival and cruise industry reporting both frame this first Christmas at Celebration Key as a pilot for a recurring seasonal overlay rather than a one off event. If guest reaction to the decor and programming is strong, there is every indication that similar or expanded holiday events will return in December 2026 and beyond, potentially with more refined crowd management as the port matures and as additional construction phases roll out.

For now, the key takeaway for travelers is straightforward. A December call at Celebration Key will feel different from the same port in July or October, with more structured activities, more visual cues that this is a holiday sailing, and more competition for the best photo angles. That is a net positive for most guests who are deliberately booking a Christmas or New Year cruise, as long as they plan their day with realistic expectations about crowds, heat, and timing.