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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Carnival Cruise Lines Announces New Ship Deployments

Carnival Cruise Lines today announced new ship deployments taking effect in 2014 in several key markets resulting in exciting new product offerings from Port Canaveral, Fla., and New Orleans. Carnival will now feature the widest selection of seagoing vacation choices in these markets aboard some of the most innovative ships in cruising.

Carnival Sunshine, which recently completed a massive $155 million transformation, will be repositioned from New Orleans to Port Canaveral beginning in April 2014. This move will allow Carnival to continue to offer attractive new options from Port Canaveral and marks the first time the line will have a ship in Central Florida featuring all of the fantastic Fun Ship 2.0 bar, dining and entertainment innovations.

In turn, Carnival Dream will reposition from Port Canaveral to New Orleans to operate year-round seven-day Caribbean cruises beginning in April 2014, representing a 22 percent capacity increase on week-long sailings from the Big Easy. The 130,000-ton Carnival Dream is from the line’s newest and largest class of ships and offers an array of on-board facilities and features. Carnival is the only cruise line to operate two year-round ships from New Orleans and will carry more than 400,000 guests annually from this important Gulf Coast homeport.

Carnival will also increase capacity in Port Canaveral by 30 percent when Carnival Liberty launches year-round five- to eight-day Caribbean cruises in May 2014, adding a second Fun Ship 2.0-equipped vessel to the Space Coast. The ship’s many popular features include Guy’s Burger Joint, developed in tandem with Food Network Star Guy Fieri, along with BlueIguana Cantina, RedFrog Rum Bar, EA Sports Bar, BlueIguana Tequila Bar and the award-winning Alchemy Bar.

Guests will now have the widest variety of cruise vacations available from Port Canaveral including five cruise durations -- from three to eight days -- offering seven different itinerary options and the chance to visit 14 exciting destinations throughout The Bahamas and Caribbean. Carnival will be the only cruise line to offer three year-round ships from Port Canaveral, providing fun and memorable cruise vacations to over 600,000 guests annually.

Eataly Announced for MSC Divina

Following the successful launch of the first two Eataly restaurants at sea onboard MSC Preziosa, MSC Cruises is now extending the partnership and launching two new Eataly restaurants and a marketplace onboard MSC Divina.

In the area that previously hosted the Tex Mex specialty restaurant, MSC Divina will now feature two unique dining venues; upscale Ristorante Italia and spectacular regional steakhouse, Manzo, fashioned after the famed restaurant in Eataly’s Manhattan location.

A boutique Eataly marketplace will also be available for guests to purchase authentic Italian products, including olive oils, dried pastas, artisanal sweets and aged balsamics.