Carnival to debut longer, more exotic itineraries – Cruise News – Mar. 6, 2015

Carnival to debut longer, more exotic itineraries

Cruise News – Mar. 6, 2015

Carnival Cruise Line is dipping a big toe into the long-cruise market, with plans for 40 nine- to 15-day Carnival Journeys cruises over the next few years.

Some of the line’s newest ships will be involved in the program, including Carnival Vista, which debuts in spring 2016. The longer cruises will embark from eight U.S. homeports, including Miami, Los Angles, and New York, and visit such out-of-the-way places as Bonaire, Grenada, and Martinique in the Caribbean; La Paz and Ixtapa in Mexico; and ports in Hawaii.

“We think this will be attractive to first-time cruisers,” Terry Thornton, Carnival’s senior vice president of itinerary planning, told Porthole. There is the convenience of going from a homeport, itineraries to unique destinations, and the ‘Wow, Carnival is doing this with the onboard experiences we think are fun.’”

In between playing on waterslides and sipping the line’s ThirstyFrog Red beer, passengers on Carnival Journeys sailings will find lectures on local food, digital photography, celestial navigation, and social media.

There will also be cooking demonstrations by local chefs, opportunities to tour local markets with the chef, a new onshore dining program, local entertainers performing on board, and other firsts for the line.

Just don’t expect dry intellectual stuff. “I guarantee we’ll do it in the Carnival style,” Thornton said. “It’s not going to be boring. It will be a fun entertaining style, which is us.”

The longer cruises will debut a 1987-inspired “Throwback Seaday” with retro pool and deck games, old-school dining options (such as Baked Alaska for dessert), and a gala midnight buffet.

Passengers will also have opportunities to learn about shipboard life through Q&A sessions with officers and crewmembers. A crew talent show will also be a feature of every Carnival Journeys sailing.

The program will kick off with an 11-day cruise on Carnival Dream from New Orleans to San Juan, embarking October 4. That sailing will be the first from New Orleans to visit Bermuda, in addition to Nassau, San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten, Thornton said.

 


Photo: Carnival Cruise Line


[spb_column width=”1/2″ el_position=”first”] [impact_text include_button=”yes” button_style=”standard” title=”< Previous: Crystal Sold” href=”https://porthole.com/staging/sold-crystal-cruises-cruise-news-mar-6-2015/” color=”accent” target=”_self” position=”cta_align_bottom” alt_background=”alt-two” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [/impact_text] [/spb_column] [spb_column width=”1/2″ el_position=”last”] [impact_text include_button=”yes” button_style=”standard” title=”Next: Queen Naming Britannia >” href=”https://porthole.com/staging/queen-elizabeth-to-name-britannia-cruise-news-mar-6-2015/” color=”accent” target=”_self” position=”cta_align_bottom” alt_background=”alt-two” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]

[/impact_text] [/spb_column]



Don’t miss the next Porthole Cruise News: