Bahamas
Celebration Key
Celebration Key: Carnival's Own Stop on Grand Bahama
- Port traffic
- ModerateNext 30 days
Celebration Key is Carnival's newest destination. The ship docks directly at the pier. The island is still developing its programming, which for now means fewer crowds than the more established private islands.
Good to know
What to Expect
Ships tie up at a pier built for the site on the south side of Grand Bahama. Celebration Key is a private destination of Carnival Corporation.
- Guest Services on board can tell you how the site is laid out, how payment works ashore and what is open on the day of your call.
- Check on board what is included in your cruise fare and what costs extra before you go ashore.
Celebration Key on Your Own
A day at Celebration Key is spent within the site, so planning on your own is mostly a matter of choosing where to spend the day and keeping an eye on the time. Leaving the site to see more of Grand Bahama is done on excursions sold by Carnival.
- Plan before you land: Ask Guest Services how far each area is from the pier, so you know how long the walk back will take.
- Beyond the site: Carnival sells shore excursions to other parts of Grand Bahama.
- Sea safety: Do not swim at dusk or at night, when the risk from sharks is higher across the Bahamas.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers who are late back.
Culture
Junkanoo, the costumed street parade of drums, cowbells and horns, is the Bahamas' great festival. At Celebration Key, the name of the shopping area, Lokono Cove, comes from Grand Bahama's own past.
- Lokono Cove was named by a Grand Bahama resident in a public competition backed by two Bahamian government ministries. Lokono is a Lucayan word meaning "the people."
- The Lucayans, the first people of the Bahamas, were an Arawakan-speaking Taíno people who arrived in the islands between about 500 and 800 AD.
- Junkanoo groups make their costumes by hand from crepe paper and cardboard, and the biggest parades are held in Nassau on Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
History
Grand Bahama was almost empty for centuries after the Lucayans were taken from it, grew into a modern island only after 1955, and has had to rebuild after severe hurricanes. Celebration Key opened in 2025 on the island's south side.
- The Lucayans: The first people of the island called it Bahama. The Spanish enslaved and removed the Lucayans in the early 1500s.
- An empty island: Grand Bahama was still almost unpopulated in 1828.
- Prohibition: During US Prohibition, West End on Grand Bahama was a waystation for liquor smuggled into the United States.
- Freeport, 1955: The financier Wallace Groves agreed with the Bahamian government to build the city of Freeport under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, which also created the Grand Bahama Port Authority.
- Hurricane Dorian, 2019: In early September 2019, Dorian struck as a Category 5 hurricane, and nearly half of the homes on the island were damaged or destroyed.
- Celebration Key, 2025: Carnival opened the destination on July 19, 2025, with Carnival Vista making the first call.
Shopping
Lokono Cove is the shopping area at Celebration Key, and many of the businesses on the site are Bahamian-owned. Ask on board what is open on the day of your call.
- Ask before you buy whether an item was made in the Bahamas, if that matters to you.
Port crowds
Next 30 days
Traveler photos
Photos from travelers
Reviews
Traveler reviews
Be the first to share your experience.
Suggest an edit
See something missing or incorrect?