Carnival cruises from Mobile: Carnival Spirit, Carnival Valor and the 2027 change

Every cruise on our schedule that starts in Mobile is a Carnival cruise, and only one Carnival ship sails from here at a time. Carnival Spirit has the port until 29 March 2027. Then nothing leaves for nearly seven weeks, and Carnival Valor takes over on 15 May 2027. This guide covers both ships, what Carnival has announced, where they go and what they cost.

Which cruise lines sail from Mobile, Alabama?

Only Carnival, on the schedules we check. All 59 sailings on our schedule are Carnival departures from the Alabama Cruise Terminal at 201 S. Water Street, a City of Mobile department. Cruisebound sells no other line from Mobile, and CruiseTimetables' list, which runs to 15 April 2028, shows Carnival only. American Cruise Lines has called at Mobile, on a cruise that starts elsewhere.

We are an independent schedule, not Carnival or the terminal. The Carnival line page lists every Carnival departure from Mobile with its fare, and the terminal guide covers the building you board from.

Which Carnival ships sail from Mobile?

Two, one after the other. Carnival Spirit sails from Mobile until 29 March 2027 and Carnival Valor from 15 May 2027. The City of Mobile said in April 2025 that Spirit had sailed from Mobile six months of the year since 2023. Carnival named Valor as the year-round ship in October 2025.

Ship	Mobile departures	First	Last	Guests	Entered service	Routes from Mobile	Lowest fare
Carnival Spirit	17	14 November 2026	29 March 2027	2,134	2001	Bahamas, one Western Caribbean voyage, one-way to Seattle	$392
Carnival Valor	42	15 May 2027	15 April 2028	2,980	2004	Bahamas, Western Caribbean, two 14-night voyages	$378

Guest numbers come from each ship's page on carnival.com and the entered-service years from Carnival's fact sheets, both read on 4 November 2026. Fares are the lowest we saw on 4 November 2026, per person for the cheapest cabin listed, with taxes and port fees included.

When does Carnival Valor replace Carnival Spirit in Mobile?

On 15 May 2027. Carnival Spirit's last Mobile departure is on 29 March 2027, a 16-night one-way voyage through the Panama Canal that ends in Seattle on 14 April. Carnival says Valor finishes her New Orleans season with a four-day cruise on 10 May 2027, and her first Mobile trip is an 8-night Bahamas cruise on 15 May.

Spirit's last trips before she goes are an 8-night Bahamas cruise on 6 March and a 9-night Carnival Journeys voyage to the Western Caribbean on 20 March 2027, which calls at Cozumel, Roatán, Grand Cayman and Montego Bay. On Cruisebound's itinerary the Panama Canal voyage leaves Mobile at 4:30 PM on 29 March, with three days at sea before Cartagena. Carnival's release says it makes a full canal transit and stops at Puntarenas in Costa Rica and Cabo San Lucas.

After Mobile, Carnival says, Spirit sails from Seattle: a 15-day Journeys voyage to Hawaii from 14 April 2027, then the first of 20 seven-day Alaska cruises from 29 April. The Carnival Journeys guide covers the Seattle voyage, including getting home.

Is there a gap between Carnival Spirit and Carnival Valor in Mobile?

Yes. Nothing leaves Mobile between Carnival Spirit's departure on 29 March 2027 and Carnival Valor's first trip on 15 May 2027, a gap of 47 days by our count. Neither Cruisebound nor CruiseTimetables lists a departure in that time. Carnival's own dates agree, with Spirit in Mobile seasonally from October 2026 to April 2027 and Valor from 15 May.

Spirit's April date is the end of her voyage to Seattle, not a Mobile departure. If your time off falls in the gap, the season guide shows the nearest departures on either side, and the April 2027 page will list any sailing that is added.

Is Carnival Valor staying in Mobile year-round?

That is what Carnival announced. Its release of 22 October 2025 calls the move a "return of year-round deployment" for Mobile, starting on 15 May 2027. On our schedule Valor leaves Mobile in every month from May 2027 to her last listed date, 15 April 2028, except February 2028, when neither Cruisebound nor CruiseTimetables lists a departure.

The schedule stops there because that is where Cruisebound's catalogue and CruiseTimetables' list stop, and we found no Carnival release opening later Mobile dates when we checked on 4 November 2026. We add sailings as Cruisebound lists them.

Valor comes to Mobile from New Orleans. Carnival said in June 2025 that she had just come out of a dry dock that added a WaterWorks aqua park with twin slides on the top deck and the Heroes Tribute Bar and Lounge, which honors military guests and veterans. The same release says the casino was refreshed and the spa renamed Cloud 9 Spa.

What has Carnival announced about Mobile?

Year-round sailing from 2027, first at a City of Mobile press event in April 2025 and then in its own release naming the ship. These are the announcements we read on 4 November 2026:

Date	From	What it said
6 April 2025	City of Mobile	Carnival will resume year-round sailing from Mobile in spring 2027. Carnival had not yet said which ship.
24 July 2025	Carnival	Spirit's 9-day Journeys voyage from Mobile on 20 March 2027 and 16-day Panama Canal voyage on 29 March, then a move to Seattle
22 October 2025	Carnival	Valor in Mobile from 15 May 2027, with six- to eight-day trips to the Bahamas, two 14-day Journeys voyages on 26 September and 16 January, and a seven-day Thanksgiving sailing on 20 November. Spirit sails seasonally from October 2026 to April 2027.

Carnival president Christine Duffy called the Conquest-class ship a "big win" for guests in the October release.

One detail in that release does not match the itineraries on sale. It describes the 20 November sailing as a Thanksgiving trip to Key West, Nassau and Celebration Key. On Cruisebound's and CruiseTimetables' itineraries, which we read on 4 November 2026, those three ports belong to Valor's 7-night trip of 13 November 2027, and the 20 November trip calls at Roatán, Belize City and Cozumel. We follow the itineraries on sale, but check carnival.com before you book.

Where do Carnival cruises from Mobile go?

Mostly to the Bahamas, on 6- to 8-night round trips that all call at Celebration Key. Carnival Valor adds 6-night Western Caribbean trips to Cozumel and Belize City from December 2027, and each ship has a few longer Carnival Journeys voyages.

Route	Sailings	Ships	Ports of call	Lowest fare
Bahamas	50	Both	Celebration Key on every trip, with Nassau, Princess Cays, Half Moon Cay or Bimini, and Key West on Spirit's 8-night trips	$378
Western Caribbean	6	Both	Cozumel and Belize City on Valor, plus Roatán on her 7-night trip. Spirit's 9-night voyage calls at Cozumel, Roatán, Grand Cayman and Montego Bay	$425
Panama Canal	2	Both	Spirit's one-way voyage to Seattle, and Valor's 14-night round trip via Jamaica, Aruba, Curaçao, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Cozumel	$931
Southern Caribbean	1	Carnival Valor	Celebration Key, Amber Cove, San Juan, St. Thomas, Aruba, Curaçao and Montego Bay	$1,203

Fares are from 4 November 2026, on the same basis as the table above. Carnival names its trips in days ("8 Day Bahamas"), and on these Mobile sailings the days match the nights. Key West is on 9 sailings: every one of Spirit's 8-night trips and Valor's 7-night trip of 13 November 2027.

On the schedule, Carnival Spirit has 7 departures of 6 nights and 8 of 8 nights, and Carnival Valor has 19 and 19. Each route has its own guide: Bahamas, Western Caribbean and Carnival Journeys.

What do Carnival Spirit and Carnival Valor have on board?

Much of the same. Both have a WaterWorks area, a Serenity adults-only retreat, the Punchliner Comedy Club, Playlist Productions shows, and Guy's Burger Joint and BlueIguana Cantina at no extra charge. Spirit is the longer ship, but Valor is bigger by tonnage and carries 846 more guests, by our arithmetic.

	Carnival Spirit	Carnival Valor
Guests	2,134	2,980
Crew	930	1,180
Gross tonnage	88,500	110,000
Length	963 feet	952 feet
Entered service	2001	2004
Shipyard	Kvaerner Masa-Yards	Fincantieri
Included food	Guy's Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, Pizza Pirate, Sweet Spot, Swirls	Guy's Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, Lido Marketplace, Mongolian Wok, Seaday Brunch
Food at extra cost	Steakhouse, Seafood Shack, Bonsai Sushi, The Chef's Table, Coffee Bar	Steakhouse, Seafood Shack, The Chef's Table, Thing 1 and Thing 2 Birthday Breakfast
Bars at extra cost	Alchemy Bar, BlueIguana Tequila Bar, RedFrog Pub	Alchemy Bar, BlueIguana Tequila Bar, RedFrog Pub
Included play	WaterWorks with the Green Thunder slide, mini golf	WaterWorks, Camp Ocean, Seuss at Sea
Kids	Three youth programs	Three supervised youth spaces

The table comes from Carnival's ship pages, apart from the entered-service and shipyard rows, which are from Carnival's fact sheets. Spirit's page also lists Spa Carnival at extra cost. The Spirit and Valor pages on this site list every Mobile departure.

How much does a Carnival cruise from Mobile cost?

On 4 November 2026 the lowest Carnival fare from Mobile was $378 per person, for the cheapest cabin listed, with taxes and port fees included. By ship, the lowest was $392 on Carnival Spirit and $378 on Carnival Valor. Fares change daily, so check the current price before you book.

Per night, the lowest was $49 on Spirit and $54 on Valor. The fare is only part of the cost: Carnival's pages list the specialty restaurants and bars above at extra cost on both ships. The cheap and last-minute guide and the cheap cruises page sort the lowest fares.

Are there Royal Caribbean or Norwegian cruises from Mobile?

No. Neither Cruisebound's catalogue nor CruiseTimetables' list, which runs to 15 April 2028, has a Royal Caribbean or Norwegian departure from Mobile. Every departure on both is a Carnival cruise from the Alabama Cruise Terminal.

If you came looking for another line, the Carnival trips above are what leaves from this port, and cruises by month shows them by date.

Which other cruise ships call at Mobile?

American Cruise Lines' American Symphony, on a cruise that starts in New Orleans. The City of Mobile said in April 2025 that the ship would call four times in March 2026 on an eight-day Gulf Coast cruise from New Orleans to Pensacola, with about 180 guests each time, and would dock behind the National Maritime Museum rather than at the cruise terminal.

The city said the American Symphony and Carnival Spirit were both due in port on 22 March 2026. Neither schedule we check lists a cruise that starts in Mobile on any line but Carnival, so we do not list port calls as sailings.