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 Holiday News
Full-time Caribbean for Freedom
June 10, 2008 - Carnival Freedom, originally scheduled to operate six and eight-day Caribbean cruises from Fort Lauderdale on a seasonal basis, will now operate there year-round at the end of its 2008 Mediterranean season in October.
The 2,974-passenger Freedom's year-round schedule from Fort Lauderdale begins November 22 with six-day cruises departing Sundays calling at Key West, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, while eight-day Saturday departures alternate to the eastern and western Caribbean.
Eight-day eastern Caribbean voyages visit San Juan, St Thomas/St John, Antigua, Tortola/Virgin Gorda and Nassau. Western Caribbean cruises include Cozumel, Limon and Colon.
Says Carnival vp Lynn Torrent: "The Caribbean is, by far, the most popular cruising region for North Americans. It is easily accessible and affordable, and when combined with attractive, destination-rich itineraries such as these, a Caribbean cruise represents the ideal vacation choice for consumers."
Torrent noted that while the plan had been for Carnival Freedom to return to Europe in 2009, the strong performance of the line's entire Caribbean fleet made the new six and eight-day deployment a compelling choice.
Klass act for Splendor
June 8, 2008 - Classical musician, singer and presenter Myleene Klass is to christen Carnival's new giant, Carnival Splendor, in Dover next month.
And instead of traditional champagne, Klass, who also models in the M&S TV ads, will smash a bottle of sparkling English wine against the hull of the 113,000-ton superliner.
Able to carry up to 3,710 passengers, Carnival Splendor will be the largest passenger ship ever to sail from the port, boasting four swimming pools, a 5,500sq ft children's play area and 22 lounges and bars.
Klass, 30, is reported in the UK's The Mail on Sunday as saying: "I am very excited and a little nervous at becoming a shipÕs godmother. But my family is very connected with ships as my father served in the Merchant Navy."
Splendor will immediately set sail for a three-day mini preview cruise to Amsterdam on July 10 ahead of launching a programme of 12-day Northern European cruises from Dover from July 13. Ê
Biggest ever Euro season in 2009
May 19, 2008 - Continuing its growth in the rapidly expanding European cruise market, Carnival Cruise Lines will operate an unprecedented number of Fun Ship voyages in the region in 2009.
The line's 2009 European season will feature two of its newest 110,000-ton ships - Carnival Liberty, which will operate 12-day Northern European and Mediterranean cruises, and Carnival Freedom, sailing 12-day departures to the Mediterranean.
Liberty will return with twice the number of voyages, round-trip from Dover from May to september, while Freedom will sail round-trip from Rome, offering ta variety of European itineraries between May and and November.
More on Carnival's 2009 European cruise season
Carnival launching Spanish brand
Carnival Corporation's Spanish joint venture cruise line is to launch with three ships.
The Iberocruceros joint venture combines the two vessels run by Spanish partner Orizonia and a vessel from the Carnival group - the 1,486-capacity Celebration.
The fleet will consist of Orizonia's 1,244-passenger Grand Mistral and 834-passenger Grand Voyager, with Celebration scheduled entering service in late spring 2008 after a refurbishment.
Carnival will own three quarters ofÊthe joint venture and Orizonia the remaining 25 per cent.
Carnival tops with Southern Living
January 03, 2008 - Carnival has been named number one cruise line in Southern Living MagazineÕs 2008 Readers Choice Awards. Which is not too surprising since it has 17 ships departing from eight ports throughout Florida, Alabama, Texas and Louisiana.
The awards are based on surveys available to the publicationÕs 15 million readers who are asked to vote for their number one choice in a variety of travel-related categories.
Carnival ships were recognised for their excellent activities and entertainment options, choice of quality cuisine and convenient Southern US departure points.
"The convenience is a real winner and a great reason to keep going back again for more of what their ships have to offer," said Southern Living associate travel editor Wanda McKinney.
2009 Caribbean for Carnival Pride
December 21, 2007 - Carnival Pride will operate a series of seven-day eastern and western Caribbean cruises from Miami between April and August 2009.
The seven-day program opens on April 11 with a cruise to the popular eastern Caribbean destinations of San Juan, St Thomas, St John, and St Maarten.
The 2,124-passenger Carnival Pride will then operate a series of seven-day western Caribbean cruises from Miami to Cozumel, George Town, and Ocho Rios departing April 18, May 2, 16, and 30, June 13 and 27, July 11 and 25 and August 8 and 22.
Also included in the programme is a series of seven-day eastern Caribbean cruises calling at the private Bahamian island of Half Moon Cay, StThomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk. Departure dates include April 25, May 9 and 23, June 6 and 20, July 4 and 18, and August 1, 15, and 29.
Carnival expands Jacksonville operation
August 17, 2007 - Carnival and the Jacksonville Port Authority have announced a significant increase in capacity to an expected 170,000 passengers a year when Carnival Fascination replaces Celebration on year-round four and five-day cruises from September next year.
Carnival is the only operator to sail year-round from Jacksonville and Carnival Fascination represents a 38 per cent increase in capacity over the Celebration.
Fascination will offer a new five-day itinerary departing Saturdays and featuring daylong calls to Half Moon Cay and Nassau. Five-day cruises departing Mondays will visit Key West and Nassau and the four-day weekend voyages departing Thursdays will call at Freeport and Nassau.
Splendor joins the Mexican wave
June 15, 2007 - Carnival's 3,006-passenger Carnival Splendor will launch year-round seven-day Mexican Riviera cruises from Long Beach, California, beginning in March 2009, following its inaugural schedule of European and Caribbean voyages.
The 113,300-ton Splendor will further bolster the line's dominant position as cruise industry leader in Southern California.
With the arrival of Carnival Splendor, the line expects to carry approximately 650,000 guests annually on these highly popular West Coast cruises - almost twice the number of any other cruise line
More on Splendor in Mexico
Fantasy ships to be upgraded
May 9, 2007 - Carnival is to re-brand its eight Fantasy-class ships by adding the name Carnival to each ship's name along with the company logo.
The ships affected are Fantasy, Ecstasy, Sensation, Fascination, Imagination, Inspiration, Paradise and Elation.
As each ship goes into drydock to receive Carnival's Evolutions of Fun upgrades, signage on the ships' bow, stern and upper deck areas will be modified. All upgrades to the entire Fantasy-class will be completed by 2009.
Splendor debuts out of Dover
May 3, 2007 - The new 113,300-ton Carnival Splendor is to sail out of Dover next year on Carnival's first-ever Northern European cruise program.
There will be five 12-day voyages between July 13 and August 30 offering guests a diversity of shoreside experiences with visits to historic, centuries-old cities in Denmark, Germany, Finland, Russia, Estonia, and The Netherlands.
Following the Northern European voyages, Carnival Splendor will operate a unique 12-day London-to-Rome cruise on September 11, then sail on a series of 12-day Mediterranean voyages from September 23rd to October 17.
More on Carnival's first ever season in Northern Europe
Fun all the way in $250m Fantasy makeovers
April 7, 2007 - Expansive children's water parks, a new design style and features for the pool areas, and the creation of the Serenity adults only deck area will be part of a dramatic transformation of the open decks of Carnival's eight Fantasy-class ships.Ê
The new features are just part of a $250 million Evolutions of Fun program. These "extreme makeovers" are part of an overall initiative to upgrade all of the unique guest-pleasing features and design style of the Fantasy-class vessels in addition to providing guests with new and exciting shipboard amenities.
The expanded outdoor recreation areas will initially be incorporated onto the 2,052-passenger Inspiration and Imagination during upcoming month-long dry docks this fall and added to other Fantasy-class ships in 2008 and 2009 during scheduled drydock periods.
More about Carnival's Evolutions of Fun
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