Carnival Cruise Lines broke open the world’s largest piñata yesterday in Philadelphia and is donating its entire contents – 8,000 pounds of candy – to local non-profit organizations, including Philabundance, the YMCA, Ronald McDonald House, Dignity Housing,The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Travelers Aid Family Residence Center, among others.

            The candy had been housed within a six-story piñata in South Philadelphia since a television commercial shoot and a “Fun Crowd” event for the public took place there last week.

            Verified as the world’s largest by Guinness World Records last week, the jumbo-sized piñata stood at 60 feet, 4 inches long, 23 feet, 10.5 inches wide and 61 feet, 10.25 inches tall and was the highlight of a block party the cruise line held for local residents.

            Although the piñata was scheduled to be broken open during the event, it was postponed due to safety concerns based on an unexpectedly large number of attendees.

  

Carnival Cruise Lines successfully set a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest beach ball during a “Fun Crowd” event hosted by the cruise line in downtown Dallas on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008.  Two of the giant beach balls, officially measuring 36 feet in diameter as determined by a professional surveyor, were dropped from the tops of buildings and into a crowd of more than 2,500 people.  At approximately 1 p.m., Guinness adjudicator Danny Girton, Jr. officially announced that the record had been set.

The event, which was emceed by Carnival’s Senior Cruise Director John Heald, also featured live music, free food, street performers and a variety of giveaway items including a drawing for five free cruises on the Carnival Ecstasy, which operates year-round Mexico voyages from Galveston.

The Fun Crowd event in Dallas is to be followed next weekend by another one in Philadelphia during which the cruise line will attempt to break the Guinness record for the world’s largest piñata.  Both events are serving as a kick-off to the cruise line’s new branding campaign designed to capture the truly unique essence of the Carnival vacation experience, which embodies spirited and spontaneous fun.  As part of the new campaign, the line has introduced a new tag line – ‘Fun For All. All For Fun.’

In just under 24 hours Carnival Cruise Lines will attempt to make history and set a Guinness World Record for the “World’s Largest Beach Ball” at Pegasus Park in downtown Dallas, TX at 12 p.m. CDT on Sunday, October 26, 2008.

 For more information visit carnival.com/funcrowd