Tag Archives: Carnival Fantasy

Carnival Sells Two Ships, Provides Further Fleet Update

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Carnival Fantasy in Mobile

Carnival Cruise Line today announced it had sold the Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Inspiration. A buyer was not named.

Meanwhile, the Carnival Fascination and Carnival Imagination will move to a long term lay-up status, with no specific timeline identified for a return to operation.

The company also announced that its second Excel-class ship will join the fleet in November 2022 from Meyer Turku and sail out of PortMiami as previously announced.

The Carnival Sensation will move from Miami to Mobile and take up itineraries previously assigned to the Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Fascination, with guests on those two ships being re-accommodated on Carnival Sensation.

The Carnival Sunrise will move from Port Everglades to PortMiami and assume the itineraries previously operated by Carnival Sensation, providing a larger, upgraded ship for short itineraries with the many new features installed during Carnival Sunrise’s $200 million transformations completed in 2019. Guests booked on the Sunrise itineraries from Port Everglades will be automatically moved to sailings from PortMiami.

Carnival Inspiration

Carnival Inspiration.

The Carnival Fascination’s itineraries from San Juan and Barbados have been cancelled for 2020-2021 as the cruise line focuses its return to operations on mainland drive markets in the U.S., the company said.

Itineraries for the Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration from Long Beach have been cancelled through Apr. 19, 2021. Carnival Panorama will continue to operate 7-day cruises from Long Beach while Carnival Miracle will operate shorter itineraries from San Diego to Baja Mexico.

The Carnival Radiance will now move directly from Europe after its $200 million transformations and homeport in Long Beach in April of 2021, where it will assume the short Baja Mexico itineraries previously served by the Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration. Guests booked on Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration after April 22, 2021, will be re-accommodated on Carnival Radiance.

Carnival also said it notified its Australian guests that it has extended its pause of operations in that country, and has cancelled six cruises scheduled to operate between Sept. 25 and Oct. 29, 2020.

Carnival Radiance Cruise - Ship Review - Photos & Departure Ports ...
Carnival Radiance.

“We have used this pause in operations to think carefully about our fleet and to build a plan that gives our guests new choices and upgrades to current ship offerings,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “We have a great variety of ships across the Carnival Cruise Line fleet and we are thrilled to have been able to confirm a delivery date ahead of what we had anticipated for our second Excel ship, which is exciting news for guests interested in sailing from PortMiami on the sister ship to Mardi Gras! At the same time, we will continue to invest in the four remaining Fantasy-class ships that we are keeping in the fleet. We have many guests who prefer our Fantasy-class ships which work so well for shorter itineraries from smaller ports that cannot accommodate our larger ships. With a fleet that gives guests lots of choices in ships, homeports, destinations and features including a multitude of dining, entertainment and accommodation choices, we are very excited about the future for Carnival Cruise Line.”

Guests and travel agents are being notified directly about impacted sailings, guest re-accommodations and cancellations. Duffy thanked guests and travel agent partners alike for their continued patience, loyalty and support during this unprecedented time for the cruise industry. “With our future fleet plan resolved, we are focused on ensuring we are ready to return to operations once it is determined that the time is right to resume cruising in the U.S.,” she said.

Alabama port gets another chance to woo cruisers

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Carnival Cruise in Alabama,

You might think that a city with its own Carnival Museum, like Mobile, Alabama, would be a good bet for Carnival Cruise Line.

However, Carnival pulled out of Mobile five years ago, citing poor financial results. This year, the line decided to give the city another try, returning this week for at least a year with one of its oldest ships, the 2,056-passenger Fantasy, to offer 4- and 5-day cruises to Mexico.

The move will bring at least 100,000 visitors over the next year to Mobile, which has many of the same charms as New Orleans, and a lot to offer anyone who wants to tack on a pre- or post-cruise stay.

Take that Carnival Museum, for example. While New Orleans has the most famous and well-attended Mardi Gras in the United States, the Carnival celebration in Mobile pre-dates it and claims to be the oldest in the country. Like New Orleans, Mobile was in French and Spanish colonial territory until being annexed by the U.S. in 1813. There are many antebellum homes and seven historic districts within Mobile recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.

The No. 1 tourist attraction in Mobile, according to TripAdvisor, is the USS Alabama, a World War II battleship that became a museum after it was retired in 1962. It is about three miles from the cruise terminal.

New since Carnival last sailed from Mobile is the GulfQuest National Maritime Museum. Opened in 2015, the five-story attraction has more than 90 exhibits based on the Gulf of Mexico, and is walking distance from the dock.

Also new since 2011 are a Duck amphibious vehicle tour; an historic trolley tour; and a Mobile River/Port of Mobile boat tour from WildNative Delta Safaris that will run only on cruise departure days.

And baseball fans know Mobile’s minor league ballpark is named after native son Hank Aaron, but may not know that it hosts a Christmas light pageant in the off season.

Stacey Hamilton, vice president of marketing and communications for Visit Mobile, said the agency’s Very Important Cruiser program provides discounts to almost twenty attractions to anyone that shows a boarding pass.

Mobile is also trying to liven things up on Sunday for cruisers staying overnight before Monday departures.

Hamilton said Visit Mobile is working with the Mobile Arts Council and the Downtown Mobile Alliance to host an arts and crafts market in the historic Cathedral Square and has asked downtown area shops, museums and art galleries normally closed on Sundays to open on those days.

“We’ve branded this ‘Sunday Funday’ and will promote this heavily as a reason to come to town on Sundays and have some fun,” Hamilton said.

All of these additions helped make Carnival’s decision to return to the city.

“Since we were in Mobile in 2011, the Mobile officials have done a tremendous job of creating thousands of new jobs and business investments in the region,” said Terry Thornton, senior vice president of itinerary planning at Carnival.

Carnival Fantasy to sail Mexico cruises from Alabama

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Carnival Fantasy to sail Mexico cruises from Alabama

Carnival Cruise Line will move the Carnival Fantasy to Mobile, Ala., for a year-long series of four- and five-night cruises to Mexico, starting November 2016.

The move cements Carnival’s return to Mobile, a drive-market port that it pioneered and then abandoned in 2011.

The Fantasy will depart Thursdays for Cozumel on four-night itineraries, and depart Mondays or Saturdays on five-night itineraries that will visit either Progreso or Costa Maya.

“Carnival Fantasy’s four- and five-day cruises from Mobile provide consumers with an affordable way to visit stunning Mexican ports from a convenient homeport while offering our valued travel agent partners an exciting new short vacation option to market to their clients,” said Christine Duffy, Carnival’s president.

If current itineraries hold, Carnival will have ships based in Galveston, New Orleans, Mobile and Tampa for the 2016-17 winter season.

Before it starts service from Mobile, the Fantasy will be renovated, getting new venues such as Guy’s Burger Joint, Blue Iguana Cantina, Red Frog Rum Bar and Blue Iguana Tequila Bar.