Freedom’s Arrival In Galveston Marked With $100,000 Donation

Posted on 25 February, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival Cruise Line marked the arrival of Carnival Freedom at its new year-round home port of Galveston, Texas on Saturday, Feb. 14, with a celebration honoring U.S. military personnel and their families.

In partnership with Operation Homefront service members and their families were treated to an overnight event featuring a variety of daytime activities, including a Carnival LIVE performance by music superstar Martina McBride, along with dinner and a full evening of entertainment, all compliments of Carnival.

Prior to McBride’s concert, Carnival presented a check in the amount of $100,000 to Operation Homefront.

“We’re excited to kick off Carnival Freedom’s year-round deployment from Galveston with a donation to an organization that touches so many lives and a special event for the brave men and women who serve our country,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “Martina McBride put on a fantastic show and we were thrilled to honor these deserving military families and provide them with an incredible day and night to remember.”

Carnival Freedom kicked off year-round departures from Galveston yesterday with a special six-day voyage to Mexico and will launch four- to seven-day cruises calling at ports throughout Mexico, the Caribbean, Bahamas and Florida beginning Feb. 21. Carnival Freedom joins Carnival Triumph and Carnival Magic in Galveston. Together these three ships will carry more than 600,000 passengers annually from Texas — more than any other cruise line.

“Performing for these military families was an incredible honor. And everyone really enjoyed the outdoor setting on the ship’s deck,” said McBride. “I hope that everyone who was there had a special Valentine’s Day experience; I’m so glad I was asked to be part of it.”

“We’re thrilled Carnival Cruise Line honored these service members and their families by providing a truly memorable day and evening of onboard fun and exciting activities,” said Tim Farrell, chief operating officer for Operation Homefront. “In that spirit, we’re also grateful for Carnival Cruise Line’s generous gift of $100,000, which will help military families here in Texas and throughout the country.”

For cruise lines, weddings mean varying locales, regulations

Posted on 23 February, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

A bridal couple aboard the MSC Divina.

In 1998, Princess Cruises introduced weddings at sea to the cruise industry, with the captain tying the knot aboard the Grand Princess. Since then, weddings aboard cruise ships have become an industry unto themselves, with cruise lines offering three types of legal weddings, plus symbolic ceremonies.

And last year, Celebrity Cruises introduced civil unions at sea for same-sex couples.

Weddings at sea are actually the least common of the three cruise-related ceremonies, according to wedding expert Barbara Whitehill, managing director of Imagine Weddings and Events and the Wedding Experience. Whitehill’s company runs the wedding programs for Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, MSC Cruises, Crystal Cruises and Costa Cruises. She has also handled the wedding programs of Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line and Princess.

“Everybody does weddings when the ship is in the embarkation port or in one of the destinations or shore-side in the destination,” she said.

Cruise wedding products vary by cruise line.

For example, Celebrity, Cunard, Royal Caribbean and Princess do legal weddings at sea. But Carnival, which does about 2,600 weddings annually, does weddings only in ports or destinations. Seabourn does no weddings at all.

Some cruise lines do both symbolic ceremonies and weddings at sea, while other lines do only symbolic ceremonies at sea.

Weddings conducted in the port of embarkation or at a port of call on a ship’s itinerary are conducted under the auspices of local laws, while weddings at sea are conducted according to the laws of the country under which the ship is registered. Typically cruise ships are flagged by the Bahamas or Bermuda, but they can be flagged by other countries, as well.

Celebrity is registered in Malta, which legalized same-sex civil unions on April 14.

All this means that couples can get married in a variety of exotic locales that, depending on the cruise line and the itinerary, can range from the beach to glaciers.

Couples can get married in European castles, on a gondola in Venice or in a white-topped villa overlooking the Aegean. But there are limits and little standardization.

“It completely varies,” Whitehill said.

Couples on international itineraries can get married at sea as long as they’re on a cruise line that offers weddings at sea and the ship is in international waters.

While some countries and ports are easier than others, Whitehill said the experience varies not just from country to country but from port to port.

For example, Santorini weddings can only be on land, not on the ship. That is because the mayor of Santorini performs the wedding and he only does them on land. Some destinations require couples to spend a certain amount of time in the destination before the wedding and do paperwork on site, while others do not.

Laws vary from island to island in the Caribbean. As islands realized the potential of destination wedding products, many changed their laws to capitalize on the trend. Some islands revamped their laws so they’re the same for locals and visitors; others created laws to accommodate tourists that don’t apply to locals, Whitehill said.

Even symbolic ceremonies can vary from destination to destination. For example, in Grand Cayman, a same-sex couple can have a symbolic ceremony onboard the ship but not on shore.

Getting married in a U.S. port of embarkation offers the advantage of including guests who are not going to go on the cruise. They can attend the ceremony, then disembark before the ship sails.

In states in which same-sex marriage is legal, same-sex couples can be legally married onboard the ship in port under the laws of that state.

Carnival Breeze and Liberty will sail from Galveston

Posted on 14 February, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

To make way for the new Carnival Vista when it is deployed in Miami in November 2016, Carnival Cruise Line will shift the Carnival Breeze to Galveston, Texas.

Also, Carnival will position the Carnival Liberty in Galveston in 2016. It has just repositioned Carnival Freedom to Galveston, where it is aggressively courting new business.

“Miami and Galveston are among our most popular points of embarkation, and deploying our newest, most innovative ships to these home ports speaks volumes about our confidence in growing these markets,” said Christine Duffy, Carnival’s president.

The Carnival Triumph and Magic, currently sailing from Galveston, will be redeployed with details to be announced at a later date.

Prior to the start-up of year-round service from Miami, Carnival Vista will operate a pair of voyages round trip from New York, beginning with a three-day cruise Nov. 4-7, 2016, followed by an 11-day voyage departing Nov. 7 and visiting Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua and St. Maarten.

Carnival Vista will then offer an 11-day transit cruise from New York to Miami from Nov. 18-29, with calls at Grand Turk, Bonaire, Aruba and St. Maarten.

Its first cruise from Miami will be a four-day cruise to Grand Turk, departing Nov. 29. Thereafter it will do alternating six- and eight-day Caribbean itineraries, mixed with a few one-time, one-off voyages, Carnival said.