Commemorating Blue Mar Basins’ First Year of Operation at Celebration Key

One year after opening, Carnival’s private destination on Grand Bahama island has had much to celebrate even before its first anniversary. The cruise line announced that Celebration Key has completed an expansion to its pier which will add two new berths and allow up to four ships to dock at the exclusive destination. Now, more than 13,000 guests in a day can experience the sparkling blue waters of the Blue Mar Basins lagoons. In its first year, nearly 2.5 million guests came to the destination; Carnival has projected to welcome nearly 3.5 million guests in its second year.

In its first year of operation, the Blue Mar Basins system delivered more than exceptional water clarity to guests; the technology offered Carnival smooth operations for its maintenance team thanks to smart automation and targeted chemical delivery. With the ability to check water chemistry remotely, the Blue Mar Basins system can deliver sanitizing agents throughout the basin, or with a zoned approach, only injecting sanitizing agents in any areas that might need extra. The way the system was designed with advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics modeling, the entire lagoon ensures a healthy distribution and movement of water for optimal water clarity and a perfect chemical balance so that guests can enjoy swimming throughout the basins.

For every day that a ship was in port, guests found our two basins in pristine condition, ready to welcome guests to its sparkling blue water. And on the very few days where extreme wind and severe weather kept ships from docking, the professional maintenance team on the island worked directly with the Blue Mar Basins remote crew on non-scheduled preventative maintenance. By guiding onsite staff through these periodic safety checks and performance tests, the engineering team continues to support the ongoing operations and longevity of this incredible amenity.

“We have been working with Carnival’s team throughout the year, with our team available to respond to any notification or phone call as they fine tuned their system,” said Orio. “As they learned how to use the Blue Mar Basins technology and respond to higher capacity days, we’ve been with them every step of the way. Carnival has a fantastic onsite team that is running a highly technical system to be as efficient as possible. And the guests who are visiting Celebration Kay can experience the water clarity firsthand.”

While the two Blue Mar Basins lagoons are the anchor of the destination, Celebration Key has seen equal guest demand for its other aquatic amenities designed and engineered by Martin Aquatic. The adults-only Pearl Cove Beach Club with its infinity pool and swim up bar consistently sells out on high capacity days. Additionally, the splash pad and connected kiddie pool is a favorite family amenity, and the two body slides that wrap around the iconic 10-story Suncastle have been hot commodities: more than 500,000 thrill-seekers have raced down the destination's signature waterslides.