Carnival’s newest cruise ship, Carnival Celebration, set sail on her first sea trials today September 5th, at around 9 a.m. local time for a test run. The cruise ship which is currently being built at the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland will sail through the Turku archipelago to the Baltic Sea to test all the important technical and nautical systems during the test drive. 

After completing sea trials Carnival Celebration will be on track to begin operations on time in November 2022. The ship construction is completed externally, while inside the ship, Meyer Werft is still working on construction of the public areas. In the coming months, the shipyard workers will disembark, and Carnival Cruise Line crewmembers will board this magnificent vessel. 

After handing over the ship in Turku, Finland, Carnival Mardi Gras's sister ship will head to Southampton. The first journey starts there on November 6, 2022, which is a Trans-Atlantic cruise to Miami. Like most of the Carnival Cruise Line ships, the new cruise ship will be deployed in the Caribbean. From Miami, the Carnival Celebration will mostly depart weekly on voyages to the western or eastern Caribbean. 

The Carnival Celebration is the second ship based on the Helios class for the American shipping company. There the ship class is also referred to as Excellence Class. She will be delivered about a year later than her sister ship Carnival Mardi Gras, also built in Turku. Next year, Meyer Werft in Papenburg will deliver the third and final LNG cruise ship from the current order, the Carnival Jubilee.