20 Cruise lines invest in private island portfolios Cruise lines are developing and upgrading their private island destinations to provide guests with carefully curated shoreside experiences Carnival Cruise Line opened its new $600 million private destination Celebration Key, located on the south side of Grand Bahama in The Bahamas in July 2025. It is the first time the cruise line has created a private island destination from scratch. Celebration Key has five areas for guests to explore, including Paradise Plaza, Starfish Lagoon – designed for families – Lokono Cove retail village, Calypso Lagoon and Pearl Cove Beach Club, the largest adults-only retreat at any cruise destination. Carnival predicts it will initially bring more than two million guests to Celebration Key per year but aims to bring four million annually by 2028. The cruise line also operates another private island destination, RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, alongside partner Holland America Line. This private island is currently undergoing a series of developments, which will be gradually completed and opened from summer 2026 until the end of the year. Developments will include an expanded beachfront, additional lunch venues and bars, and a new pier on the north side of the destination to allow larger ships – such as Carnival’s Excel-class vessels – to dock for the first time. A new tram service will be introduced to improve travel around the island. Holland America Line guests will continue to call at the south side of the island, which will receive a smaller refresh. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is also upgrading Great Stirrup Cay, which opened in The Bahamas in 1977. In summer 2026, the cruise line will open an almost six-acre Great Tides Waterpark, which will feature 19 waterslides, an almost 800-foot dynamic river, a 9,000-square-foot splash zone for children and the industry’s first cliffside jumps, among other attractions. NCL hopes to bring one million guests sailing on 15 ships to Great Stirrup Cay in 2026. Also in The Bahamas, MSC Cruises plans to expand its private island, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, by adding a second berth. It will also create a second smaller island – currently nicknamed Little Cay – from dredged material which was added to an existing sandbank during works to widen the channel and turning basin to accommodate the cruise line’s new World-class ships. Unlike many other cruise line island destinations, Ocean Cay does not have a waterpark or rollercoaster; instead it offers guests the opportunity to partake in watersports, beach time or rejuvenating treatments at the spa. The island is also home to the MSC Foundation’s Marine Conservation Center, which will be a base for science and public education, as well as for the foundation’s coral restoration programme. Over the next three years Royal Caribbean Group will expand its portfolio of private island experiences, MARKETWATCH
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