Carnival Cruise Line and PortMiami held a ground-breaking ceremony this week for the expansion of the state-of-the-art Terminal F, which will serve as the homeport of Carnival Celebration, the line’s next Excel-class ship.

Currently under construction in Finland, Carnival Celebration is set to debut in 2022, as part of the line’s 50th birthday festivities.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Carnival President Christine Duffy, along with county commissioners and construction partners, used ceremonial shovels to officially mark the beginning of construction on the expansive 43,780 sq.-m. facility, which will be Carnival’s third terminal at the port and its largest in South Florida.

Carnival Cruise Line got its start when the original “Fun Ship,” the TSS Mardi Gras, departed on its inaugural voyage from PortMiami in March 1972, starting a nearly 50-year relationship between the cruise line and the port.

The new terminal’s clean and open design will allow for efficiency and flexibility to accommodate Carnival’s newest class of ships, maximizing use of technology to move guests through the embarkation process, providing a seamless boarding experience.

Carnival Celebration will offer a variety of innovations including an onboard roller coaster as well as a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) propulsion system, part of Carnival Corp.’s “green cruising platform.”

The ship will also offer a wide range of accommodation categories with 180 suites across 11 different categories, along with unique innovations created just for this vessel.