Carnival Cruise Line christened its newest ship, Carnival Firenze, at its new home, the Long Beach Cruise Terminal, on 24APR.
The christening of the Carnival Firenze was a grand affair, with Hollywood actor Jonathan Bennett taking on the role of the ship's godfather. He and Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy celebrated the ship's Italian theme with the help of a Broadway star, a Puccini aria, and a dramatic entrance by a Catholic priest who made a running jump onto the stage to deliver a blessing.
Launching just ahead of the busy summer travel season and amid the continued growth of cruise vacations' popularity, Carnival Firenze is part of an expansion that added five ships to the Carnival fleet in the past 18 months.
By next year, Carnival will embark more than 750,000 guests from Long Beach on more than 200 sailings, an increase of 100,000 more guests compared to 2019.
"We carry more guests than any other cruise line from California, and now this ship is giving us the opportunity to offer more fun to more people sailing from Long Beach," said Duffy. "The recipe combining this ship's beautiful Italian theming with the familiarity of our friendly team's hospitality is, in a word, perfecto!"
Bennett was made an honorary Italian during the event, which included a performance of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" by Carnival's Playlist Productions cast, an Italian blessing by Father Charbel Grbavac of the Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church, and a performance by Leslie Kritzer, Bennett's co-star from the recent Broadway revival of "Spamalot."
Carnival Firenze is the first ship in the fleet to introduce new technology and artificial intelligence that creates guides for the most energy-efficient routes on each sailing. The ship's captain and officers will be the first to use this new system, which is expected to be rolled out to the entire fleet later this year.
The 2020-built Carnival Firenze just finished a 49-day dry dock in Cadiz, Spain, that integrated Carnival Fun Italian Style features into the ship's design.
The ship is scheduled to embark on various cruise itineraries of different lengths. Currently, three- to seven-day Baja Mexico and Mexican Riviera cruises are available for booking until the spring of 2026.
Firenze departed on a seven-day cruise to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, and Cabo San Lucas Thursday (25APR).
