Naming Carnival Dream and Talking with the President of Costa Cruises

Carnival Dream came to New York this week for her official naming ceremony and I had the good fortune to attend. The ship is Carnival Cruise Lines’ largest ship to date and while she is ultimately based upon the Carnival Destiny design, the increase in size gives the ship more-eye pleasing proportions than her predecessors. Inside, the design is more restrained than earlier ships but still with the distinctive style of architect Joe Farcus.

The ceremony was held in the ship’s theater, which was indeed fortunate because outdoors NewYork was in the grips of a pre-winter cold snap and there was a steady rain. Carnival’s Senior Cruise Director and master blogger John Heald conducted the ceremony with his typical charm and good humor. He emphasized that a goal was to get away from the traditional stuffiness of ship naming ceremonies and it was kept fast-paced and light-hearted. Carnival President and CEO Gerry Cahill spoke, Dr. Henry Belin delivered the benediction and Marcia Gay Harden acted as godmother to the ship. I have put together some photos along with excerpts from the various speakers and posted it at: http://beyondships.com/CarnivalDream-art-naming.html
Following up on last week’s story about Costa Atlantica, I was able to ask Maurice Zarmati, President and CEO of Costa Cruises North America, a series of questions about Costa. Costa is a relatively old line and very well known in Europe but in recent years, its North American operations have been primarily in the Caribbean. Now that Costa is offering cruises in and around Canada and New England, I thought it would be a good to give the line the opportunity to re-introduce itself and talk about its cruising style. My interview with Mr. Zarmati appears at: http://beyondships.com/CostaAtlantica-art-Zarmati.html

Returning to Carnival, the line featured prominently in the news this week.

Carnival’s oldest ship, the Holiday, has now left the fleet. She is to be replaced as the Carnival ship sailing out of Mobile, Alabama by the Carnival Fantasy. Taking the Fantasy’s spot in New Orleans will be the Carnival Triumph. Both ships inaugural cruises from their new homeports were delayed a day due to the approach of Hurricane Ida. (As she moved north, the remains of Ida closed the port of Baltimore thus preventing Grandeur of the Seas from returning as scheduled).

Carnival also announced that Carnival Fantasy will be homeported year-round in Charleston, South Carolina beginning in May 2010. She will be replaced in Mobile by sister ship Carnival Elation.

Two other Fantasy-class ships, Carnival Ecstasy and Carnival Fascination, will be going in for major refurbishments, which will include the addition of 98 balconies and the installation of water parks and adults-only retreats. These ships will be the fifth and sixth Fantasy-class ships to be so retro-fitted.

Meanwhile, Oasis of the Seas arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, her new homeport, on November 13, 2009. The giant ship was delayed two days on her crossing from Finland due to hurricane-force winds and 80-foot seas. Her next milestone will be her naming ceremony on November 30.