Guides
Mobile cruise guides
The schedule tells you when to sail. These guides cover the rest: getting to the Alabama Cruise Terminal by car or plane, parking, hotels the night before, the documents to bring and where each route goes. Each one lists its sources and the date we last checked them.
Mobile cruise terminal: where the Alabama Cruise Terminal is and how to get in
All 59 sailings on our schedule are Carnival departures from the Alabama Cruise Terminal at 201 S. Water Street in downtown Mobile, a City of Mobile department. Drivers leave I-10 at Exit 26A, Canal Street, and enter the terminal's own 500-space parking deck from Eslava Street, where porters take the bags before you park. Gates open for embarkation at 10 a.m., but Carnival asks you to arrive at the appointment you pick at online check-in.
Updated 2026-11-04
Mobile cruise parking: the terminal's own deck, rates and overflow lot
The Alabama Cruise Terminal has its own 500-space parking deck, attached to the building on Water Street and run by Premium Parking as the terminal's contractor. A regular-sized vehicle cost $23 a day when we checked the terminal's parking page on 4 November 2026, an RV or camper $46 and a bus $69. You pay online ahead or at the terminal by text, app or kiosk, and your license plate is your proof of payment. When the deck fills, drivers go to an overflow lot and ride a shuttle back.
Updated 2026-11-04
Mobile airport to the cruise terminal: MOB, BFM and nearby airports
Mobile Regional Airport still had Mobile's airline flights when we checked on 4 November 2026, and the Mobile Airport Authority's site named American, Delta and United there. The authority says its new terminal at Mobile International Airport, BFM, is expected to open in spring 2027. Mobile Regional is about 14 miles from the Alabama Cruise Terminal, roughly half an hour by taxi or rideshare, and Carnival offers no airport transfer from Mobile.
Updated 2026-11-04
Driving to the Mobile cruise terminal: directions, tunnels and drive times
The Alabama Cruise Terminal is at 201 S. Water Street in downtown Mobile, half a mile from I-10. Coming from the west or north, the terminal's directions take you off I-10 eastbound at Exit 26A, Canal Street, then right onto Water Street. From I-65 you can also take I-165 into downtown, and from Florida the route runs through the George Wallace Tunnel. Gates open at 10:00 am, and cars enter the terminal from Eslava Street.
Updated 2026-11-04
First cruise from Mobile: questions and answers
Every cruise from Mobile is a Carnival cruise. Carnival Spirit sails until 29 March 2027 and Carnival Valor from 15 May 2027, mostly on 6-night and 8-night trips to the Bahamas, and every Bahamas trip calls at Celebration Key. The fare covers your cabin, meals in the main dining room and the Lido, and basic drinks such as coffee, tea and lemonade. On 4 November 2026 Carnival's page put gratuities at $17 a guest a day in a standard cabin.
Updated 2026-11-04
Hotels near the Mobile cruise terminal
Fort Condé Inn is the closest hotel to the Alabama Cruise Terminal, a 4-minute walk, and the Renaissance Mobile Riverview Plaza is 7. All nine downtown hotels here are within 12 minutes on foot. Seven of the 16 hotels let you leave your car while you cruise, and four offer a ride to the terminal with a package or for a fee.
Updated 2026-11-04
Do you need a passport for a cruise from Mobile?
Most Carnival cruises from Mobile are round trips, and on those a U.S. citizen can board with a birth certificate and a government-issued photo ID instead of a passport. Two sailings are different. Carnival Spirit's 16-night voyage of 29 March 2027 ends in Seattle, so it is not a closed loop and Carnival requires a passport book or card. Carnival Valor's Caribbean and Panama voyage of 26 September 2027 calls in Colombia, where Carnival also requires one, and in Panama, where only passport book holders may go ashore. Carnival recommends a passport book on every sailing, and The Bahamas says passports are required to enter.
Updated 2026-11-04
Bahamas cruises from Mobile: Celebration Key on every trip
This schedule has 50 Bahamas cruises from Mobile, Alabama, all Carnival round trips from 14 November 2026 to 15 April 2028. Most last 6 or 8 nights, one lasts 7, and every one calls at Celebration Key on Grand Bahama. Mobile is a long way from the islands, so expect three or four days at sea. Fares started at $378 per person on 4 November 2026.
Updated 2026-11-04
Western Caribbean cruises from Mobile: Cozumel, Belize City and Roatán
This schedule has 6 Western Caribbean cruises from Mobile, Alabama, all Carnival round trips from 20 March 2027 to 9 April 2028. Most are Carnival Valor's 6-night trips to Cozumel and Belize City, from 5 December 2027. One 7-night trip adds Roatán, and Carnival Spirit's 9-night trip of March 2027 adds Grand Cayman and Montego Bay. Fares started at $425 per person on 4 November 2026.
Updated 2026-11-04
Carnival Journeys from Mobile: Panama Canal to Seattle and 14-night Caribbean trips
Carnival Journeys are Carnival's longer cruises, 9 days or more, with extra onboard activities. The longest from Mobile on our schedule are Carnival Spirit's 16-night one-way voyage through the Panama Canal to Seattle on 29 March 2027, and Carnival Valor's 14-night round trips of 26 September 2027 and 16 January 2028. On 4 November 2026 they started at $931, $1,172 and $1,203 per person.
Updated 2026-11-04
Carnival cruises from Mobile: Carnival Spirit, Carnival Valor and the 2027 change
All 59 departures on our Mobile schedule are Carnival cruises from the Alabama Cruise Terminal. Carnival Spirit sails from Mobile until 29 March 2027, when she leaves on a 16-night voyage through the Panama Canal to Seattle. Nothing departs again until Carnival Valor's first trip on 15 May 2027, and Carnival says Valor then sails from Mobile year-round. Both ships sail 6- and 8-night Bahamas trips, and Valor adds Western Caribbean trips and two 14-night voyages.
Updated 2026-11-04
Short cruises from Mobile: no 3-day trips, and the shortest instead
There is no 3-, 4- or 5-night cruise from Mobile on our schedule. The shortest trips are 6 nights, which Carnival sells as 6 Day cruises, and all 26 sailings shorter than a week are this length. Most leave on a Sunday afternoon and are back on Saturday morning, calling at Celebration Key and one other Bahamas stop, or at Cozumel and Belize City. On 4 November 2026 they started at $378 per person, taxes and port fees included.
Updated 2026-11-04
Cheap and last-minute cruises from Mobile
On 4 November 2026 the lowest starting fare from Mobile was $378 per person for the cheapest cabin listed, based on two guests sharing, with taxes and port fees included, and the lowest fare per night was $49. When we checked on 4 November 2026, Carnival Valor's August and September 2027 trips had the lowest fares, and the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year trips of 2026 the highest per night. Our fare records are too new to show whether booking late lowers the price.
Updated 2026-11-04
Mobile cruise season: cruises from Mobile, Alabama in 2026, 2027 and 2028
Carnival Spirit sails from Mobile until 29 March 2027, nothing leaves in April or early May, and Carnival Valor sails from 15 May 2027 with departures in every month on our schedule except February 2028. The schedule has 7 departures left in 2026, all in November and December, 41 in 2027 and 11 in 2028, up to 15 April 2028. Most are 6- or 8-night Bahamas trips that leave on a Saturday or a Sunday.
Updated 2026-11-04
