As part of Carnival’s comprehensive emergency preparedness plan, the company last week trained nearly 400 employees on various reservations and IT technology housed within a Mobile Recovery Unit situated adjacent to its Miami headquarters.

The Mobile Recovery Unit included 20 computer terminals and telephones which were linked directly to Carnival’s computerized reservations network. 

It was a seamless process as the company’s reservations and telephony systems software were made available via satellite within the Mobile Recovery Unit, allowing reservations personnel to take live bookings within the off-site center.

The annual training exercise is part of Carnival’s wide-ranging contingency plan that would allow the company to continue operations in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency.

          Sharon and Quentin Foster from Waldorf, Md., are pictured here with Carnival Cruise Lines’ Senior Cruise Director John Heald who surprised Foster with a free seven-day “Fun Ship” cruise during the line’s nationwide House Party event held this weekend.

            Foster was one of a thousand past Carnival guests who signed up to host Carnival-themed parties for family and friends. Each host received a Fun Day Sunday kit with party favors and a wide variety of Carnival logo items and was also entered into a drawing for a free seven-day Carnival cruise.

            Designed as a fun and creative way to raise awareness of the Carnival vacation experience, the House Party promotion attracted thousands of participants who enjoyed a variety of fun activities and giveaways.

Carnival Cruise Lines has launched “Your Choice Dining” which provides a selection of three different dinner seating options for guests aboard the line’s 22-ship fleet. In addition to Early or Late assigned seating, the cruise line is rolling out “Your Time” open seating to accommodate individual guest preferences. Also, under the new Your Choice Dining program, dining assignments will be confirmed at the time of booking.

Your Time open seating, currently available on five ships, will be implemented one vessel at a time over the next several months as modifications in dining room table configurations are completed on each ship.

An additional eight ships are scheduled to be converted by the end of year and the balance of the fleet by summer 2010.  Confirmed dining assignments are now being offered fleetwide.

At the time of booking, guests will be asked to choose from among Early dining at 6pm, Late dining at 8:15 pm or Your Time dining which allows guests to dine at any time between 5:45pm and 9:30pm (if applicable depending on ship and sailing date). Dining assignments will be accommodated on a first-come, first-serve basis according to when guests made their reservation.

If the preferred dining choice is not available, guests may confirm an alternate choice and be placed on a waitlist for their first preference.  Waitlists will be cleared prior to sailing and guests will be notified via email of their confirmed seating assignment.

As Your Time dining is implemented on each ship, guests already booked will be contacted via email or through their travel agent and provided the opportunity to switch to Your Time dining or retain their original choice.  

Your Time guests are able to request any table size or waiter and are typically seated immediately when arriving at the dining room.  However, if a modest wait time is required, guests are given a pager so they are free to relax elsewhere on the ship until their table is ready.

Additional options available under Your Choice Dining include extensive poolside eateries offering a wide variety of cuisine choices in a casual environment and, on a number of ships, elegant, reservations-only restaurants serving fine quality dry-aged U.S.D.A. prime steaks and other dishes in an intimate, upscale atmosphere.     

Below is a timetable for the introduction of Your Time open seating throughout the Carnival fleet:

*  Already implemented:  Carnival Legend, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Sensation, Carnival Paradise, Carnival Miracle

*  End of April: Carnival Conquest, Carnival Elation, Carnival Pride

*  Mid-June:  Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Spirit

*  Late September:  Carnival Dream

*  Mid-October:  Carnival Ecstasy

*  Mid-December: Carnival Glory

*  February 2010: Carnival Fascination

*  By summer 2010: Carnival Imagination, Carnival Inspiration, Carnival Destiny,   Carnival Triumph, Carnival Valor, Carnival Splendor, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Victory

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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The 2,056-passenger Carnival Fantasy — which underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation last fall as part of the line’s “Evolutions of Fun” product enhancement program — has been earning rave reviews from guests, travel agents and journalists alike.

The MSBNC.com article by Anita Dunham Potter entitled “Some Cruise Ships Get Better with Age” highlights the upgraded features and facilities of the 70,000-ton “Fun Ship.”

New Releases posts will go here…

            Carnival Cruise Lines’ towel animals are back, this time with a Valentine’s Day edition of Towel Animal Theatre.

            The link also features a mechanism for visitors to forward the e-card and spread some love to their friends and family.

            Towel Animal Theatre is featured on Carnival’s “Funville” web site and encompasses a series of short whimsical video vignettes depicting the line’s signature towel animals engaged in amusing conversations while the stateroom’s occupants are away.

            Since its debut, Towel Animal Theatre has become extremely popular with several million views on various on-line channels and social networking sites. 

          Journalists sailing on the John Heald Bloggers Cruise aboard the Carnival Fantasy hosted a question-and-answer session for more than 150 Bloggers Cruise participants. 

            The panel was comprised of eight journalists, including:  Anita Dunham-Potter of MSNBC.com and expertcruiser.com; David Molyneaux of travelmaven.net; Paul Motter of cruisemates.com; freelance writers Lynn and Cele Seldon; Gene Sloan of USA Today; freelancer Alan Whitt; and Susan Young of southerncruising.com and Travel Agent Magazine.

            Moderated by Heald, the 90-minute session included spirited discussions on topics such as the state of the cruise industry, an overview of the Carnival product, and the future of the media and its role in today’s society.

            The media Q&A panel was one of a wide range of activities for participants in the Bloggers Cruise, which departed from New Orleans on Saturday and ends tomorrow. 

            The cruise gathered together hundreds of fans of Carnival’s Senior Cruise Director John Heald, whose popular blog has garnered nearly 4 million views since being launched in March 2007.

            Fans of John Heald’s blog gathered in New Orleans this weekend, to help spruce up a neighborhood park in the Big Easy.  More than 100 bloggers joined in the volunteer service day in advance of the Bloggers Cruise which is being held on a five-day cruise of the Carnival Fantasy.

            Teaming up with the Beacon of Hope Resource Center, a non-profit organization in New Orleans, the park was transformed with the volunteers painting benches, columns and lamp posts, and clearing debris throughout the facility.

            In addition to the “sweat equity” provided by the Bloggers Cruise volunteers, Carnival Cruise Lines donated $5,000 to the Beacon of Hope Resource Center to help fund future hands-on community service projects throughout the city.

            The John Heald Bloggers Cruise gathers together fans of the senior cruise director’s popular blog, which has attracted nearly 4 million views since being launched in March 2007.