Carnival Ecstasy, the first cruise ship to depart from Port of Mobile in two years, celebrates 50th birthday

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) -The Carnival Ecstasy is back on the waters and is making its voyage to Mexico out of Mobile. Carnival Cruise and the Port City celebrated Saturday morning before the ship set sail.

The Ecstasy which will take passengers to Cozumel, Mexico is the first ship to leave from Mobile since the industry restarted operations in July.

Carnival and the city not only celebrated the end of a two-year cruising hiatus, and welcomed guests back but also celebrated Carnival’s 50th birthday.

“I can’t think of a better celebration, as we come out of these past two years, our 50th birthday. We are kicking off our birthday week with our Carnival Sailabration,” said Christine Duffy, Carnival Cruise Line President.

While this week’s restart of cruising will only last until mid-October, with the Ecstasy getting pulled out of Carnival’s fleet, Carnival’s return to the Port City is no longer out of the picture. Carnival Cruise Line President, Christine Duffy announced some welcome news for the Port City.

“We are going to be bringing... Carnival Spirit to Mobile.”

Duffy said the Carnival Spirit will be newer, larger, and have lots of amenities, offering season cruising from Mobile with six and eight-day itineraries.

“We’re giving guests something different for people who want to come to Mobile. So you’ll see because it’s a longer cruise we’ll probably attract different guests than we would for the shorter cruise,” said Duffy.

Mayor Sandy Stimpson was thrilled about the new ship and its bright future with Mobile.

“It really gives us a huge opportunity to prove to Carnival you know that we have the customer base in this market to support a ship like that which can lead to better things in the future even,” said Mayor Stimpson.

Carnival Spirit will make its way home to the Port City by the end of October 2023.

Carnival Cruise Line said Spirit will offer cruises to Mexico, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Belize out of Mobile.