The much-anticipated Carnival Venezia has set sail on her inaugural itinerary from Barcelona to New York, the very first crusing of the brand new, reimagined ship that brings a novel Venetian vibe to Carnival Cruise Line.
The 15-night cruise will go to a number of ports of name en path to New York, and can stay homeported from the Massive Apple via early December 2024.
Carnival Venezia Welcomes Friends for the First Time
Costa Venezia was first introduced to be becoming a member of the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in June 2022 as a part of the “Costa by Carnival” initiative, and now, almost a 12 months later, the renovated and up to date ship has lastly set sail with a complete new Italian spin on Enjoyable Ship cruises.
The inaugural crusing left Barcelona, Spain on Monday, Might 29, 2023, and can name on Malaga, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Ponta Delgada, and Halifax earlier than arriving in New York on Tuesday, June 13.
Alongside for the primary a part of the crusing are particular company within the cruise line’s management, Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, in addition to Emeril Lagasse, the cruise line’s Chief Culinary Officer, to provide company very particular greetings and enjoyable actions to start the momentous voyage.
“We needed to welcome the ship with ‘BAM’ by having Emeril be a part of me on board as we work together with company and showcase this stunning ship,” mentioned Duffy.
The VIP pair will host unique occasions on the vessel, together with the very first Sail Away Occasion, the Captain’s Venetian Toast, and a non-public cooking demonstration by Lagasse on Tuesday, Might 30. Reservations for the cooking demo will go to Carnival’s longtime charity associate, St. Jude Youngsters’s Analysis Hospital.
Superb Upgrades to Expertise
Earlier than welcoming company, Carnival Venezia has undergone an intensive moist and dry dock refit to replace, refresh, and renovate the vessel. Not solely did this embrace common upkeep and housekeeping work, as is widespread with all dry dock updates, however extra intensive updating was carried out so as to add acquainted Carnival fashion to the ship.
The previous Costa Cruises ship arrived in Cadiz, Spain for the refit close to the top of March, and has spent two months present process in depth updating.
Modifications to the Vista-class ship embrace the addition of standard Carnival favorites Man’s Burger Joint, the Fahrenheit 555 steakhouse, and Bonsai Sushi & Teppanyaki to the eating venue lineup, in addition to introducing Camp Ocean and Membership O2 for youthful cruisers.
The ship has not misplaced its attribute Italian aptitude, nonetheless, with particular touches all through to take care of the distinctive Venetian ambiance onboard.
Not solely does the ship retain wonderful Italian décor together with a full-size gondola, however further consideration has been paid to the Italian affect in distinctive methods, corresponding to including bocce ball and foosball to the SportSquare and making a “Venetian Masks Evening” occasion for company to get pleasure from, with custom-designed Venetian-style masks out there for buy onboard.
Of particular curiosity for the eating venues is the new “Il Viaggio” restaurant, a specialty eating possibility that includes elevated Italian fare evoking a culinary journey via Italy.
“Highlighting the varied Italian areas famend for sure specialties will invite our company to get pleasure from an immersive exploration of flavors – a meal that’s actually distinctive, scrumptious and provides an enriching expertise as effectively,” mentioned Lagasse. “Friends will discover their favourite Italian staples right here, and so they’ll even have the possibility to attempt genuine dishes and drinks that may simply turn into new favorites.”
Essentially the most seen replace to the brand new ship is, after all, the new blue-and-gold hull livery. The colours mirror the ship’s Costa Cruises origins, whereas the sleek strains match the brand new red-white-and-blue design being launched throughout the Carnival Cruise Line fleet.
As soon as she reaches New York, Carnival Venezia will start to supply a wide range of itineraries and cruise lengths, starting from 4-15 nights and together with standard locations corresponding to Bermuda, The Bahamas, Canada, New England, and numerous Caribbean ports of name on each Southern Caribbean and Japanese Caribbean itineraries.
In December 2024, the brand new ship will reposition to Port Canaveral to carry Italian fashion to the Sunshine State, with Japanese, Western, and Southern Caribbean sailings out there, in addition to choose dates for Panama Canal cruises.
Carnival Firenze Nonetheless to Come
The subsequent Costa by Carnival ship as a result of be a part of the fleet is Carnival Firenze, which for the time being continues to be crusing as Costa Firenze with Costa Cruises. The ship is at present crusing Northern European cruises, departing both from Kiel, Germany or Copenhagen, Denmark.
In January 2024, Costa Firenze is scheduled to finish her service with Costa Cruises. Shortly thereafter, the ship will enter moist/dry dock for her personal refurbishments to turn into Carnival Firenze, earlier than deploying to Lengthy Seashore, California and crusing Baja and Mexican Riviera itineraries together with her new Enjoyable Ship vibes.
