Carnival Cruise Watch

Carnival Fantasy Upgrades Coming

Cruise Critic is reporting that the Carnival Fantasy is the next Carnival ship to undergo major renovations as part of their "Evolutions of Fun" initiative.

The ship will entry dry dock this fall.

Read the full article.

Man Evacuated from Carnival Holiday

On Wednesday, a 79-year old male passenger on the Carnival Holiday cruise ship was evacuated by boat after complaining of abdominal pains.

Just last week, 143 passengers on the previous Holiday cruise, were inflicted with a stomach virus.

Another Carnival Jumper

In the second incident in two days, a man reportedly jumped from the Carnival Liberty just before midnight on Sunday, July 1st.

He was pulled from the water by Coast Guard crews about an hour later.

Read the full story.

TX Teen Goes Overboard on Carnival Ectasy

On Sunday, July 1st, an 18-year-old Texas teen was seen jumping over the railing of the upper deck of the Cozumel-bound Carnival cruise ship, Ecstasy.

The death of the teen, David Ritcheson, comes less than 3 months after surviving a beating with a pipe and testifying before Congress.

Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle.

Man Jumps Off Carnival Glory; Rescued 8 Hours Later

Man leaps from cruise ship; saved 8 hours later

His sister was preparing a funeral. The Coast Guard was embarking on a rescue.

Michael Mankamyer was 30 miles off Fort Lauderdale treading water in choppy seas.

About eight hours earlier, the 35-year-old Orlando, Fla., man had jumped from a cruise ship balcony - rescue officials were at a loss to say why, though they reported a witness said he was drunk. But salvation came at 8:45 a.m., when a lookout on the Coast Guard cutter Chandeleur, Petty Officer Ryan Coon, spotted Mankamyer in the fresh sunrise about 75 yards away.

An MRI technician at Florida Hospital in Orlando, Mankamyer was on the final leg of a week-long Caribbean cruise with his 16-year-old godson, Salvie Wega of Orlando, aboard Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Glory. They were scheduled to return to Port Canaveral Saturday.

Read the full story.

 

Carnival to Build $50 Million Terminal in Honduras

Carnival to build and operate cruise terminal in Honduras:

Carnival Corporation & plc has signed an agreement to build and operate a cruise terminal on the island of Roatan, Honduras. Development of the facility - to be called "Mahogany Bay - Roatan" - is expected to start in  fall 2007 and be completed by summer 2009 at a cost of $50 million.

The cruise facility will be situated on 20 acres on the Roatan waterfront and will consist of a two-berth cruise terminal capable of accommodating super post-Panamax vessels and up to 7,000 passengers daily.

Partnering with Carnival on the project is Jerry Hynds, a local business leader and a member of the Honduran Congress. He is also the owner of Coral Cay, a resort property located adjacent to the planned port facility.

Within five years of operation, "Mahogany Bay - Roatan" is expected to host 225 cruise ship calls and 500,000 passengers annually.

Carnival Chairman Nice 2006 Payday

Cruise Exec Arison Earned $5.4M in 2006:

Carnival Corp. chairman Micky Arison made more than $5.4 million in base salary, bonuses and other compensation in 2006, according to a filing Friday by the world's largest cruise operator.

Arison received $850,000 in base salary and $2.6 million in bonuses - an increase of $50,000 in base salary but $300,000 less in bonuses from 2005, according to Carnival's proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Arison's base salary was set at $850,000 for 2007.

Carnival Freedom on Maiden Voyage

Carnival Cruise Lines Welcomes New Ship:

Carnival Cruise Lines rolled out its new 110,000-ton Carnival Freedom ship for this first time earlier today (Ed. note: Feb. 28, 2007), marking the acceptance of the 22nd vessel in the company's fleet.

The new ship will sail its first voyage, a nine-day Mediterranean cruise from Venice, on March 5.

According to Cruise Lines International Association, the industry is poised to see 30 more vessels enter the sea before 2010.

A Little Carnival History

35 Years of Carnival:

Micky Arison says it's probably time to start looking ahead, like his father did before him, to the moment when he must find the next chairman of Carnival Corp.

"At this stage, I'm 57, and I have to start thinking about those kinds of things," Arison told The Associated Press in an interview for Carnival's 35th anniversary. "We have a lot of very talented executives around the world. And over time, we'll see how that all plays out."

Carnival Corp. is the world's largest cruise operator, ferrying 7 million passengers to ports of call around the world last year. The company, which controls 12 brands, reported a net income of $2.28 billion last year.

Blog Cruise Reviews #3

Carnival Cruise reviews from around the blogosphere:

Life with Jerin: Today is the first day of our 7 day western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Cruise line!

RussBLib: Jazz Cruise Day 1

Becci's Bungalow: Returning from our Twins Cruise II

Carnival Fantasy Hit by Barge

On the Mississippi River this past Saturday, a barge struck the Carnival Fantasy ship, forcing the cancellation of it's scheduled 5-day Caribbean cruise.

It's reported that the ship was struck while waiting to dock. The 2000 Fantasy passengers will be given refunds and a discount on a future cruise.

Carnival Names New Superliners

According to this press release from Carnival, they have named the two, new 130,000-ton superliners set to debut in 2009 and 2011.

"Carnival Dream" and "Carnival Magic" will be the largest ships in the Carnival fleet, holding up to 3,652 passengers.

Carnival Settles Suite Against Virginia Pilots Association

Carnival Corp has finally settled a lawsuit against the Virginia Pilots that was reported here back in June 2006.

An article in today's Virginian-Pilot indicates that terms of the agreement are confidential and will not be disclosed.

Two Die on Virus Infected Carnival Liberty

Carnival has confirmed that two men died on the recent Carnival Liberty trans-Atlantic cruise that was hit with a norovirus outbreak. Carnival did not identify the men. One was not a US citizen and his body was returned home during the cruise. The other man was identified by family members as 76 year-old David Lee Fitzgerald of Tarpon Springs, Florida.

Carnival said neither death was related to the virus, which had infected several guests before they boarded Nov. 3 in Rome and then spread to 536 guests and 143 crew members. "It is the opinion of our medical professionals that heart-related issues were the primary factors in both deaths," de la Cruz said in an e-mail statement.

Read the full aritcle at the Washington Post.

700 Sick on Carnival Liberty

The NY Times reports that about 700 passengers and crew members aboard a Carnival Liberty trans-Atlantic cruise fell ill this week. Carnival notified the C.D.C. on November 3. Three C.D.C. specialists joined the ship to oversee cleanup and to help investigate the outbreak's cause. The illness is believed to be the stomach flu. Read the full article.

Carnival Legend Fails Health Inspection

The Carnival Legend was to host the Florida Direct Marketing Associations monthly luncheon on November 16th.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports:

But in a relatively rare slip, Carnival Legend was inspected in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 14 and failed. On a scale of 1 to 100, ships must be graded at least 86 to be considered satisfactory. Carnival Legend received a 71, the second-lowest score of any ship inspected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control since 2004.

Most of the problems noted by inspectors related to food preparation, such as potentially hazardous foods like cream-based puddings that weren't adequately chilled after cooking. A report on the inspection said cooling of foods was not properly monitored, discard date labels were missing from some stored foods and chlorine sanitizing solutions in some galleys and bars were too weak or too strong when tested.

Read the full article.

Man Overboard from Carnival Conquest

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that late yesterday a man went overboard on the Carnival Conquest near the end of a seven day western Caribbean cruise.

A passenger on the Carnival Conquest reported seeing the 42-year-old man fall from a balcony about 11 p.m. The luxury liner was about 110 miles nautical miles southeast of Sabine at the time, Coast Guard officials said.

"The ship's command immediately initiated search-and-rescue procedures and notified (the) U.S. Coast Guard,'' Carnival Cruise Lines officials said in a statement.

Read the full article.

More coverage:

Passenger missing from Carnival cruise ship - KRISTV.COM
Passenger missing from Carnival cruise ship - WEAR-TV

Blog Cruise Reviews #2

Carnival Cruise reviews from around the blogosphere: Inane thoughts and insane ramblings: "Since the Inspiration is laid out just like the Fantasy from last year's cruise, we quickly regained our bearings on the ship." Blog Cruise Reviews is a periodic feature highlighting reviews of Carnival Cruises from across the blogosphere.

Carnival Expanding Wi-Fi Access

According to an article in Travel Weekly (free sub. req.), Carnival Cruise Lines will expand its wireless Internet access to all public rooms and suites in its fleet by the end of 2006.

“Guests view our ships as ‘floating hotels,’ expecting the same modern technology and conveniences found on land. The Internet has become an indispensable tool for staying abreast of the latest news and keeping in touch with the office and loved ones,” said Bob Dickinson, Carnival CEO.

Carnival Cruise Complaint Video

Here's a guy who created a video complaint of his Carnival Cruise and sent it on DVD to CEO, Bob Dickinson. Now it's on YouTube for everyone to watch: