Carnival Vista: From Star To Shining Star
by Cheryl Rosen /Carrie Underwood performing on the Vista.
Carnival scored a coup in New York harbor this weekend on many levels, with a launch party and naming ceremony for the new Carnival Vista that featured a show by seven-time Grammy award winner Carrie Underwood.
Underwood, who just two days earlier was named Female Vocalist of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards, almost stole the show. But not quite.
For the travel press and travel professionals on board, of course, the real star was the ship herself—all 133,500 tons of her, “the future of the brand,” in the words of Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy. (And on a ship whose “vistas” are designed to include “beautiful views at every turn”—from the wraparound promenade deck to a dozen venues with outdoor seating to a SkyRide 150 feet above the waves to Havana rooms with expansive patios and porch swings—the ocean itself played a starring role.)
Vista's Havana rooms with its expansive patio.
Hosting her first naming ceremony since joining Carnival 18 months ago, Duffy noted the “great hardware—but our success comes from our software, and that’s the people, the 40,000 employees who work every day to make every guest feel special.”
More of a singer than a speaker, Underwood said cruising “is all about making memories and being with family”—and then proceeded to make some memories for all aboard.
The actual christening of the ship fell to another beautiful lady, Vista’s godmother, Miss USA Deshauna Barber. A captain in the U.S. Army Reserves from a military family that includes her parents and three brothers, she highlighted Carnival’s Operation Homefront program, which treats military families to a day on board and Underwood concerts around the country.
On the Vista, 15-year-old Bailey Lammers called the ship—and the show—“awesome” and noted he voted for Underwood when she started her career on American Idol. Carson Reinhardt, 11 years old, agreed: “It’s a really good ship; the SkyRide is really fun and there are so many things to do. I went on a Disney cruise four years ago and this is way more fun.”
The travel professionals on board seemed to agree as well. “The ship is beautiful and very different from the other Carnival ships,” said Nexion president Jackie Friedman. “It’s a little more understated, which is a positive, with a wide variety of food venues. I like the color scheme, the white on white. It’s a great product for the family market and for kids of all ages.”
Asked specifically how Carnival rates as a partner for travel agencies, Friedman said, “as far as their philosophy with their partners, some of the changes they have made are viewed very positively and we appreciate their holding the line on price.”
“There are a lot of activities—I love the product and would love to bring my kids,” agreed travel agent Anthony Hamawy. “It’s definitely a game-changer for Carnival—the activities are plentiful and the food and service appear to be top-notch. If this is the beginning of what’s to come from Carnival, that would be wonderful.”
Carnival’s Duffy thanked the military families for allowing us all “the freedom to travel” and noted that 50% of the U.S. population can drive to one of Carnival’s 15 homeports in less than five hours, and sail on “the friendly, unpretentious, have-fun-and-just-be-yourself cruise line, America’s cruise line.”
Jack and Arlene Spielvogel of Wesley Chapel, FL, obviously agree. On their 48th Carnival cruise, they had such a good time on the ship’s 23-day repositioning cruise—seven European ports in 10 days and then 13 days across the Atlantic—that they decided to stay on for the Friday festivities and then the 11-day Carnival Journeys itinerary in to the Caribbean.
“The Mediterranean part was awesome,” Jack said, “and we’ve never been to Amber Cove or Antigua, so we picked up the phone and said we want to stay, and they made it happen.”
Miss USA Deshauna Barber at the ship's christening last weekend.