Carnival Destiny Launches Short Cruises from Miami

Carnival Cruise Lines’ 2,642-passenger Carnival Destiny will begin a new schedule of four- and five-day cruises from Miami on Sept. 27. Carnival said the Destiny’s deployment will also further solidify Carnival’s position as a leader in the short-cruise market, with 29 such options from 12 U.S. homeports.

In total, Carnival’s ships will operate nearly 850 departures of five days or less with roughly half of its 22-vessel fleet offering short cruise itineraries. On its new schedule, Carnival Destiny departs Thursdays on four-day cruises to Key West and Cozumel; Mondays on five-day cruises to Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay; and Saturdays on five-day voyages to Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios.

Next year, Carnival will expand capacity on its short cruise programs from Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans when the 2,052-passenger Carnival Fantasy and the 2,758-passenger Carnival Triumph, respectively, launch new programs from those ports in November 2009.