Carnival Imagination at sea. Photo courtesy of Carnival Cruise lines.
Carnival Cruise lines announced today that it will be bringing an additional ship to its terminal in Long Beach, making the city’s cruise port the largest on the West Coast in terms of passenger capacity.
Carnival’s 2,052-passenger Imagination will arrive in Long Beach from Miami in January 2014 and begin running three and four-day cruises to Mexico soon after. The increase of 104 calls per year will bring nearly half-a-million more passengers through the cruise line’s terminal and is expected to net an economic impact of $65 million for the region.
The move will bring the total number of Carnival ships operating from Long Beach to three, which will double the terminal’s current capacity to one million passengers annually–making Long Beach the busiest cruise terminal on the West Coast and the fourth busiest cruise terminal in the United States.
Imagination‘s sister vessel, the Carnival Inspiration, will continue to offer similar three and four-day programs from Long Beach and the Carnival Splendor, which currently operates the line’s seven-day Mexican Riviera and 15-day Hawaii programs will continue on the Carnival Miracle seasonally from October 2013 through April 2014.
Before arriving in Long Beach, Imagination will undergo an extensive renovation to include an expansive WaterWorks aqua park, a Serenity adults-only retreat, a tropical-themed resort-style main pool area, renovated spa and children’s facilities and more.
“We believe the addition of the Carnival Imagination will continue to elevate and build brand recognition of Long Beach as a prime destination in Southern California.” said Steve Goodling, president & CEO of the Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The new ship also provides the opportunity for Long Beach to promote its waterfront and recent enhancements of the downtown area to Carnival’s 1 million visitors a year.”
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