Carnival Running Limited Adults-Only Cruises With Casino Emphasis
Posted on: May 27, 2025, 02:58h.
Last updated on: May 27, 2025, 03:18h.
- Carnival is running a few adults-only cruises
- Scheduling issues with dry docks led to the casino-focused voyages
- Carnival isn’t venturing away from its family-first mentality, a spokesperson says
Carnival is best known for offering family-friendly cruises at reasonable costs. The world’s largest cruise line, however, is wetting its feet into adults-only sailings with the casino spaces in focus.
The many blogs that cover all things cruising recently broke the news that Carnival will offer adults-only cruises beginning in August and throughout the fall months. But the special engagements are for a limited time only.
Known as SEA cruises, or Sailings Exclusively for Adults, and ACES, or All-Casino Exclusive Sailings, Carnival has rescheduled the dry docks for Carnival Magic and Carnival Conquest and will instead run adults-only excursions.
The change is due to shipyard scheduling issues. Carnival Magic and Conquest will instead dry dock next spring. Carnival has also swapped some Magic and Conquest sailings to ACES and SEA events.
Impacted guests were recently informed that their cruise had changed from a family-friendly affair to one only for those aged 21 and up.
“We have made an operational change for this voyage, designating it as a special Casino Event Cruise, dedicated to offering our playing enthusiasts thrilling and unique experiences,” Colleen Oliverio, director of Carnival guest sales, wrote to confirmed passengers
Families who had planned to sail on a cruise that has since been designated a SEA excursion are being assisted in rebooking their travel.
SEA Not Open to All
Carnival’s test run into adults-only cruises is being offered by invitation only to loyal guests, primarily those who participate in the cruise’s casino loyalty program called the Carnival Players Club. Carnival’s ACES trips will heavily emphasize the ships’ onboard casinos and provide passengers with free play and an array of other casino promotions.
The Carnival Players Club is free to join and allows onboard gamblers to accumulate reward points with every slot spin and table game bet. Rewards members also receive free alcoholic drinks while they gamble. They additionally receive exclusive invitations to Carnival Premier Cruises and casino slot and table game tournaments.
While the minimum age to gamble on most cruise ships that feature casinos, including Carnival, is 18, the cruise line’s SEA adventures are reserved for those aged 21 and up.
Carnival Magic and Carnival Conquest, like most Carnival vessels, have both smoking and nonsmoking gaming spaces.
Carnival Remaining Family-First
Carnival is running a limited number of adults-only, casino-focused cruises, but the cruise line has no intentions of expanding its kids-exempt offering or reducing the number of annual family-friendly cruises. That’s according to Carnival spokesperson John Heald.
We are a proud family cruise line. We have been, and I’m sure we always will be. This is because we moved the dry dock and the casino has taken a couple of cruises and made them adults only. Because they are casino offers … these cruises are for adults only,” Heald explained.
A wholly owned subsidiary of the Carnival Corporation, Carnival Cruise Line has 29 ships in operation across 11 classes. The fleet will expand to 32 vessels in 2027 with Carnival Festivale and to 33 in 2028 with Carnival Tropicale. Both ships are being built by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft.
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