Carnival Creates 100 More Connecting Cabins During Dry Dock

October 16, 2025 Randy Young

Cruise ships routinely undergo dry dock for necessary maintenance and repairs, usually every five years or so. Recently, Carnival has taken advantage of these opportunities to make small upgrades to its ships. Carnival’s first Excel Class ship, Mardi Gras, debuted in 2021, so it was time for its check-up. After several weeks in Marseille, France, for dry dock, it has returned to service with a few key improvements.

More Connecting Cabins

balcony cabin 10478 on Carnival Celebration — 100 Standard Cabins were converted into connecting cabins as part of the dry dock.

Families are Carnival’s core market, but booking cabins as a family can be tricky. Fitting everyone into one cabin is often difficult, so the next best option is to book two cabins with a connecting door. Of the 2,641 balcony cabins on the ship, only 600 were originally connecting cabins.

As part of the dry dock, Carnival has added new connecting doors across 100 cabins, a 16% increase. This update is especially important because, as of February, Carnival now requires that any cabin with guests aged 14 or younger must be a connecting cabin. Previously, families could book cabins across the hall or next door without a connecting door. It should be noted that these are not new cabins, just existing cabins that have had connecting doors added between them.

At time of publication, the deck plans online do not appear to reflect the new connecting staterooms.

Expanded Casino and New Stores

The dry dock also brought an expanded casino and new slot machines. While it’s not clear yet where these were installed, it has been confirmed that the casino bar was NOT removed for these.

Several retail venues received updates, including Tag Heuer, Breitling, Pandora, and Swarovski.

Accessibility Improvements

Carnival noted that the ship underwent accessibility improvements as well. While details were not provided, the line says these include redesigned walkways and upgraded features in both public areas and guest cabins.

General Maintenance

The ship also underwent general maintenance and upgrades. It is safe to assume this included fixing many of the worn or damaged floor sections around the pool decks.

Our Take: If it Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix it

This dry dock was mainly for standard maintenance, so it is not surprising that there were few major changes on board. It does show, however, that the first ship in the Excel Class was thoughtfully designed from the start.

While competitor Norwegian had to make adjustments to its Prima Class ships within just a few years of service (including adding an overlooked teen club), even after five years, the design of the Excel Class still meets Carnival’s needs. That said, finding connecting cabins has been a challenge since the new family policy took effect earlier this year, so this change should help alleviate that issue.