A new four- and five-day cruise option featuring day-long calls at Cabo San Lucas will be added to the Carnival Elation’s existing schedule from San Diego in July 2009, complementing the ship’s popular three- and four-day Baja program. 

            Carnival Elation – which emerged from a multi-million-dollar renovation last week with a host of new features — will operate the West Coast’s only three-, four- and five-day schedule, expanding upon the line’s industry-leading short cruise offerings.  Roughly half of the “Fun Ship” fleet offers voyages of five days or less in length.

            On its new schedule, Carnival Elation will operate a year-round series of four- and five-day cruises for a two-week period followed by another two weeks of three- and four-day Baja departures.

Four- and Five-Day Cruises to Cabo San Lucas

            Beginning July 2, 2009, Carnival Elation’s four-day “long weekend” cruises will depart Thursdays and visit Cabo San Lucas. Two different five-day itineraries will also be offered. Five-day cruises departing Saturdays will feature the industry’s only itinerary that includes two full days in Cabo San Lucas, providing guests with a unique opportunity to enjoy one of Mexico’s most spectacular destinations. Five-day cruises departing Mondays will feature both Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada.

New Departure Days for Three- and Four-Day Cruises

            The Carnival Elation’s three- and four-day cruises which currently depart on Thursdays and Sundays, respectively, will be changed to Fridays (three-day cruises) and Mondays (four-day cruises) starting with the July 20, 2009, four-day departure.  These new departure dates offer guests an even more convenient option on these popular short cruise itineraries from San Diego.

            The 70,000-ton Carnival Elation – the only cruise ship operating year-round from San Diego – offers a host of new facilities and features following an extensive renovation, as part of the line’s product enhancement program for its eight 70,000-ton Fantasy-class vessels. 

            Carnival Elation’s refurbishment included the addition of Serenity, an exclusive adults-only retreat, a new Circle “C” club geared to 12- to 14-year-olds, and expanded Lido-area dining options, including a new Mongolian Wok custom stir-fry station and an updated deli and dessert station.  The Carnival Ecstasy’s suites were also remodeled and cosmetic enhancements were made to a variety of shipboard areas. 

            These features complement the ship’s myriad resort-style amenities, including 12 lounges and bars, three restaurants, four swimming pools, a 115-foot-long water slide, a 12,000-square-foot health and fitness center, an Internet café, and ship-wide Wi-Fi access.

            Reservations are currently being accepted for all of the Carnival Elation’s three-, four- and five-day sailings from San Diego.  For additional information and reservations contact any travel agent, call 1-800-CARNIVAL or visit carnival.com.

Two Carnival Corporation & plc port projects – the Grand Turk Cruise Center (GTCC) and Puerta Maya Cruise Center in Cozumel — have been recognized for excellence by the readers of Porthole Magazine.

The Grand Turk Cruise Center earned the “Best Cruise Center” award and Puerta Maya Cruise Center “Best Comeback Port” honors based on surveys of thousands of Porthole readers.

The awards were presented earlier this week at the Seatrade Cruise Shipping Miami convention, an annual gathering of cruise line executives, vendors and suppliers.

In the photo at left, Carnival’s Senior Vice President of Port and Destination Development Giora Israel (far left), Porthole Editor-in-Chief Bill Panoff (second from left); GTCC General Manager Mike Reimers (second from right) and Carnival’s Director of Operations and Port Development Graham Davis pose with the Grand Turk award.

In the photo at right, Carnival’s Senior Vice President of Port and Destination Development Giora Israel (far left), Porthole Editor-in-Chief Bill Panoff (second from left); Puerta Maya General Manager Alberto Uch (second from right) and Carnival’s George Abuabara Director of Port Operations are shown with the Puerta Maya award.

Carnival’s popular new “Fun Director” TV campaign continues with the debut of a new 30-second commercial entitled “Horn.”

In the spot, improvisational comedian Matt Fisher interacts with Captain Giorgio Pagano on the bridge of the Carnival Splendor “testing out” various equipment.

The “Horn” spot is running through March 23 in various markets, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Diego.

For the first time ever, Carnival Cruise Lines will operate a schedule of seven-day Alaska cruises round-trip from Seattle beginning in May 2010. 

In total, 17 week-long Alaska cruises will operate from the Port of Seattle from May 11 to Aug. 31, 2010 departing Tuesdays aboard the 2,124-passenger Carnival Spirit. 

Port calls on these voyages include the popular Alaskan destinations of Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan, as well as Victoria, Vancouver Island, and cruising Tracy Arm Fjord. 

Each of these destinations offers a rich history and culture, along with awe-inspiring natural wonders, including calving glaciers, magnificent fjords and native sea and animal life. A wide range of shore excursions – from helicopter flightseeing and rainforest canopy tours to hiking, canoeing and kayaking expeditions – are also available.

The Carnival Spirit also features an on-board naturalist who educates guests on the region’s colorful history and points out animal and marine life from the ship’s bridge.

Prior to the start-up of the new program, Carnival Spirit will operate two special voyages – a six-day Inside Passage voyage from Vancouver to Seattle departing May 5, 2010 and a seven-day Glacier Bay cruise from Seattle to Vancouver Sept. 7, 2010.   Both voyages include a cruise through the Inside Passage along with port calls at Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan; and the seven-day cruise also includes a day of cruising in spectacular Glacier Bay. 

Carnival Spirit is the ideal ship for Alaska, with 80 percent of staterooms featuring an ocean view or balcony – perfect for viewing the passing scenery — along with indoor and outdoor promenades, a 14,500-square-foot health and wellness center and 16 themed lounges, bars and nightspots.  

Dining venues include the two-level Empire Restaurant with specially prepared “Just For Alaska” menu items featuring local fish, game and other ingredients, as well as the La Playa Grille, a casual eatery featuring a 24-hour pizzeria, and the Nouveau Supper Club, an intimate reservations-only restaurant offering prime steaks and other gourmet cuisine.

Kids sailing on Carnival Spirit can enjoy three different children’s programs – Camp Carnival for ages 2-11, Circle “C” for ages 12 to 14, and Club O2 for 15- to 17-year-olds – with facilities and counselors dedicated to each group.  Many activities in these programs feature fun, educational activities with an Alaska theme.

Carnival Cruise Lines is introducing huge interactive computer-animated aquariums in six different U.S. cities this week, including Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C.  The aquariums, which are located in vacant storefront spaces in high traffic pedestrian areas, are designed to engage passersby in a fun, spontaneous and highly entertaining interactive experience courtesy of the world’s most popular cruise line.

The Carnival-branded aquariums were created using computer vision technology, flash animation and mobile gaming software. They feature a variety of highly-stylized fish and plant life.  Consumers can interact with the aquariums both via motion reactivity and mobile phone interactivity.    

As pedestrians walk by, the vibrant undersea universe reacts with plant life swaying, water and bubbles moving and fish darting around in response to the human motion.

Signage invites passersby to dial a number on their cell phones to create their own, personalized fish.  By making various sounds into their phones, consumers can customize their fish and then, using their keypad, swim them around the tank. By steering the fish to food, the custom creatures continue to morph in shape and size and do a variety of other fun and surprising things. 

The aquariums also feature a mechanism that enables people to come back later and, using the same cell phone, retrieve their customized fish.  Once finished with the interaction, consumers receive a text message inviting them to visit carnival.com/funville for additional fun activities and information.

The aquarium concept was developed by the research and development lab of Carnival’s Boston-based advertising agency, Arnold Worldwide, along with media buying and planning partner MPG.  The Arnold R&D lab focuses on designing and developing reactive and interactive experiences that involve sensory design, physical computing, and computer vision to enable the agency’s clients to reach consumers in new ways.

The interactive aquariums will be in place in each city through the end of April.  Exact locations by city are listed below:

Baltimore – 111 S. Calvert St.

Dallas – 1933 Elm St.

Houston – 312 Main St.

Los Angeles – 7901 Melrose Ave.

New York – 100 Park Ave.

Washington D.C. – 908 F St. NW

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            Carnival Cruise Lines is launching a new promotion offering “cash back” of up to $240 per stateroom for a wide range of “Fun Ship” departures this summer.

            The new promotion is available in conjunction with virtually all three- to eight-day summer departures, including voyages to the Caribbean, Bahamas and Mexico from 14 convenient North American homeports. Bookings must be made between March 9 – May 10, 2009, to qualify for the promotion, which is valid with the line’s “Fun Select” advance purchase discount fares.

            The cash back option is provided in the form of a shipboard credit that can be redeemed once on board.  Guests will receive a $100 per stateroom shipboard credit on three- and four-day cruises; $150 per stateroom shipboard credit on five-day voyages; and $240 per stateroom shipboard credit for six-, seven- and eight-day sailings. 

            The shipboard credit is automatically applied on guests’ Sail & Sign accounts when they board their cruise and can be redeemed toward shore excursions, spa treatments, supper club reservations, gift shop items and a variety of other shipboard purchases. Any unused funds at the end of the cruise will be returned to guests on debarkation day in the form of a check.

           The new promotion is capacity controlled and applies to new individual bookings for stateroom categories 4A to 11. Guests must request fare code OCB when making the reservation.

Montrose Travel, a California-based travel agency that was formed 53 years ago and has continually adapted its business model to meet consumers’ vacation needs, has been selected as Carnival Cruise Lines’ “Agency of the Year” for 2008.

Montrose Travel was selected from among more than 30,000 cruise-selling travel agencies throughout the U.S. and Canada.  Travel agencies that demonstrate exceptional professionalism, enthusiasm, and innovation in sales and marketing techniques were nominated by Carnival’s business development managers who work in partnership with travel agents.

Carnival also recognized the following travel agencies as “Regional Agencies of the Year”:

• Southeast Region – Legendary Journeys (Sarasota, Fla.)
• Central Region – Nexion (Southlake, Texas)
• Northeast Region – Cruise Planners/Bogert (Williamsport, Penn.)
• Canadian Agency of the Year – Expedia CruiseShipCenters (Vancouver)

 The following organizations were also recognized for excellence by Carnival:

• Strategic Partner of the Year: Signature Travel Network
• Partner of the Year – Western U.S. – Costco Travel
• Partner of the Year – Eastern U.S. – Cruise.com
• Canadian Tour Operator of the Year – Air Transat
• International Travel Agency of the Year – Foster & Ince Cruise World (Barbados)

 “Carnival works with a wide range of travel agent partners – from traditional retail outlets to on-line travel sellers to home-based agencies – all of which possess their own exceptional skills and represent a variety of business models,” said Lynn Torrent, Carnival’s senior vice president of sales and guest services.  “Montrose Travel is certainly a deserving candidate for the ‘Agency of the Year’ honor as they offer a high level of service as well as tremendous knowledge and enthusiasm for cruising,” she added.

Montrose Travel was founded as a small storefront travel agency in 1956 and has grown to become one of the travel industry’s largest and most successful companies, with more than $110 million in annual sales and 11 operating divisions housed in four self-owned buildings encompassing 40,000 square feet. 

Although the family-owned company has grown tremendously by continually reinventing itself, one constant has been its commitment to personalized service, even in the advent of the Information Age, with teams dedicated to such areas as groups, leisure travel, honeymoons, credit card loyalty rewards programs, and corporate/incentive travel, among others.

Through the efforts of owners Joe and Julie McClure and Andi McClure-Mysza, and their talented 150-member team, Montrose Travel experienced a 73 percent sales increase over the past year through a combination of superior service, product knowledge, innovation and professionalism.

“We would like to congratulate Montrose Travel on being named our Agency of the Year and thank all of our travel agent partners who continue to support Carnival Cruise Lines and provide our guests with their valued expertise and service,” said Torrent.

            As part of a pilot program, a huge, new inflatable laser tag arena is being periodically placed on the stage of the Carnival Valor’s main lounge.

            The on-board attraction operates at various times throughout the day (and even a few night sessions) and thus far hundreds of guests have challenged their friends and fellow guests to a thrilling round of laser tag.

            Each session allows four players at time – either individually or in teams of two — to battle it out against each other in a fog-filled dome for an exciting five minute session. The cost is $5 per person.

            Based on guest feedback, Carnival may roll out the new laser tag attraction to other ships in the future.

            The new 3,006-passenger Carnival Splendor is shown here rounding Cape Horn in South America on its way to its permanent homeport of Long Beach, Calif., from where it will operate year-round seven-day Mexican Rivera cruises beginning April 5.  Carnival Splendor will be the largest “Fun Ship” ever deployed on the West Coast. 

            Too large to fit through the Panama Canal, the 113,300-ton SuperLiner embarked on a series of 14- to 18-day South America voyages which will serve to position the vessel on its new California-based program.

            Representing a new class of ship, Carnival Splendor offers a host of innovations, highlighted by a 21,000-square-foot Cloud 9 Spa – the line’s largest – featuring a thalassotherapy pool, elaborate thermal suite and 17 VIP treatment rooms.  Adjacent to the facility are 68 spa staterooms and suites – a first for Carnival.

            Other features include a 5,500-square-foot children’s play area – the largest in the “Fun Ship” fleet – a water spray park and a sliding sky dome over the mid-ship pool which also houses a massive LED screen displaying movies, concerts and other programming.

          The second John Heald Bloggers Cruise aboard the Carnival Fa ntasy attracted more than 400 enthusiastic participants, including Matt Meisenhelder, a Wilson, N.C., resident who was awarded a free stateroom as part of an on-line contest sponsored by Porthole Cruise Magazine. 

            The John Heald Bloggers Cruise brings together fans of the senior cruise director’s blog (www.johnhealdsblog.com) which has garnered nearly four million views since being launched two years ago.

            The contest posed the question “What would you do if you were a cruise director for a day?”

            Meisenhelder’s idea of a “futuristic cruise day” — with cruise passengers and staff dressing up as robots and other fun events and giveaways — was deemed the winner.  In addition to a free ocean view stateroom on the five-day Carnival Fantasy cruise, Meisenheld was included in a variety of exclusive events and activities hosted by Heald.

            Two more John Heald Bloggers Cruises are planned for 2009 – an eight-day voyage from New York departing Nov. 15 and a nine-day sailing from Port Canaveral, Fla., departing Dec. 3.