Understood! We can have a lot of fun speculating/ aka making up wild theories but of course it’s nothing until Carnival says so. I likewise wouldn’t change plans without actual decisions in place.
As for the homeport problem I feel you. We tried Baltimore just the once to see if the drive (closest / shortest drive time of any large ship port) was worth it over flying. It wasn’t. It was a miserable drive, and we have accepted we will fly to any future cruises unless we move somewhere coastal. However, that being the case, I would probably not bother flying for those older ships, just me. We had a lovely Christmas cruise on Legend but a one and done for us.
I can just go to Miami and have practically every cruise line and shiny new megaship option to choose from if I am already accepting that I’m flying no matter what.
So I am going on that assumption, that the convenience of a same day, half day drive is a major draw for these Baltimore departures. Obviously there are exceptions.