July 4, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of America’s founding — the USA’s semiquincentennial if you want the official word for it.
And while there will be major celebrations across the country, at least one cruise line is taking the celebration to sea for tens of thousands of passengers.
Carnival Cruise Line announced 10 special sailings during July 4th departing six different homeports including Miami, Port Canaveral, Jacksonville, New York, Long Beach, and San Francisco.
Seven of these ships sailing from the East Coast will meet up at sea near Carnival’s new Celebration Key on the holiday. The other three sailing from the West Coast will meet up off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico.
During the meetup on July 4th, Carnival says the ships will “host patriotic birthday-themed deck parties. The cruises will also feature patriotic entertainment and special food and drink offerings.”
Sailings included in the East Coast celebration are Carnival Conquest and Carnival Glory (July 3 departures), Carnival Sunrise (July 2), Carnival Elation (July 2), Carnival Celebration (June 28), Carnival Vista (June 27) and Carnival Venezia (July 1).
The ships on the West Coast are Carnival Firenze (July 3), Carnival Luminosa (July 2), and Carnival Radiance (June 30 departure).
For those away from home during the holiday, we can think of no better way to ring in the United States’ big day.
This isn’t the first time Carnival has arranged one of these meetups at sea to celebrate. In 2022 Carnival celebrated the cruise line’s 50th birthday with several different meetups, including multiple ships meeting off the coast of Cozumel. However, at that time ships met up over the course of several days. This is the first time we know of so many ships coming together on one day.
“Uniting our ships will multiply the fun and make America’s 250th birthday even more memorable for guests who celebrate at sea,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.
If you’re interested in spending July 4th at sea and being part of the event, the cruises are already on sale even though the semiquincentennial isn’t for more than a year-and-a-half.
