Carnival Cruise Line has celebrated in 500,000 passenger after it introduced the Carnival Spirit and Carnival Legend in 2012.

The Anderson family who are first time cruisers, tipped the cruise line over the half a million passenger mark while they were onboard the Carnival Spirit for an 11-night cruise.

Briohney and Matt Anderson who are both personal trainers from Davidson in NSW were on the cruise with their sons Taylor and Ollie.

“I’ve always wanted to do a cruise and I heard great things about Carnival – it was the only choice for me really!” said Briohney.

“The slides on Carnival Spirit caught my eye, so we didn’t look at anything else.”

Carnival Cruise Line Vice President Australasia Jennifer Vandekreeke said reaching the landmark less than four years after the cruise line’s local debut was testament to the line’s growing popularity among Australian cruisers.

“Carnival’s free-spirited, family friendly fun is a fantastic match with Australians’ outgoing and relaxed nature so our local ships consistently receive some of the top passenger ratings in the fleet.

We’re thrilled that thanks to the support of our repeat guests and new cruisers like the Andersons, we’re now on our way to welcoming a million guests onboard,” Ms Vandekreeke said.