The City of Avalon has reached a long-term agreement with Carnival Cruise Line, setting new parameters for cruise ship visits that city officials say will better align with Avalon’s infrastructure, business community, and quality-of-life goals.
At its Dec. 16, 2026, meeting, the Avalon City Council voted unanimously to authorize the city manager to execute a five-year Preferential Access Agreement with Carnival, with two additional five-year renewal options. The vote was 4 to 0, with Councilmember Yesenia De La Rosa absent.
City Manager David Maistros said the agreement is the result of nearly a year of discussions aimed at creating clearer, long-term arrangements with cruise ship operators.
“For the better part of this entire year, we’ve been working toward entering specific long-term agreements with our cruise ship partners,” Maistros said in a news release published by the Catalina Islander, noting the city’s established working relationship with Carnival.
Under the agreement, Carnival will receive exclusive access to Avalon on Wednesdays year-round. In exchange for that exclusivity, Carnival has agreed to pay a passenger service charge of $1.50 per passenger, beginning Oct. 1, 2027. At that time, Carnival’s wharfage fee will also increase.
Currently, the city charges $5 per manifest passenger, with that rate scheduled to rise to $7.50 on Jan. 1, 2026. Beginning in October 2027, Carnival will pay $9 per passenger under the terms of the new agreement.
Maistros said the agreement also places limits on the size of vessels visiting Avalon. Carnival ships calling on the island will be restricted to Sunshine-class vessels, which carry approximately 3,000 passengers, rather than larger ships currently seen elsewhere in the cruise industry.
A guest code of conduct will also be incorporated into the agreement, an addition city officials say was strongly supported by Avalon’s business community and shore excursion partners.
“We had some tremendous feedback from our business community regarding their dealings with Carnival,” Maistros said, adding that local shore excursion operators spoke highly of the cruise line’s practices.
The agreement reflects the city’s broader effort to reduce the impact of increasingly large cruise ships.
“Our goal was really to try to put the brakes on what we are seeing in the industry, which is the larger cruise ships visiting here,” Maistros said. “It just was not a good fit for the city.”
With the Carnival agreement in place, along with a separate agreement with Disney Cruise Line, Avalon is expected to host three cruise ship visits per week during the peak summer season from Memorial Day through Labor Day — two Disney ships on Tuesdays and one Carnival ship on Wednesdays.
Maistros said the strategy is designed to reduce the overall number of cruise ship visits, estimating annual visits would fall between 90 and 100, while increasing revenue generated from each ship.
Councilmember Mary Schickling indicated she would like to continue reviewing the total number of cruise ships visiting Avalon, an issue Maistros said is evaluated annually.
Mayor Anni Marshall raised questions about passenger behavior and whether similar conduct standards should apply to other cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean.
Maistros clarified that the code of conduct addresses issues beyond alcohol consumption, including whether passengers are permitted to disembark with items such as wireless speakers or boom boxes. Councilmember Lisa Lavelle added that Carnival is implementing the passenger code of conduct across the company.
According to the staff report, no cruise ships will be allowed to visit Avalon on summer weekends or during special event weekends, such as Jazz Trax. The report also notes that repositioning cruises, infrequent calls, or smaller vessels carrying 1,000 passengers or fewer may be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Harbor Master. Those decisions will take into account requested dates, holidays, special events, harbor activity, and potential impacts to public safety.
City officials say the agreement represents a shift toward fewer, more manageable cruise ship visits that better reflect Avalon’s scale and community priorities while maintaining a steady source of economic benefit for the city.
