By
Rebecca Gibson |
Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Victory is to be transformed into Carnival Radiance in 2020, marking the final phase of the company’s multi-year US$2 billion fleet expansion and enhancement programme.
First launched in 2011, Carnival’s fleet expansion and enhancement programme was created to ensure that all ships in the fleet offer enhanced dining, entertainment, accommodation and amenities. Carnival has now refurbished more than 20 ships as part of the programme, debuted three new ships and ordered three more for delivery between now and 2022.
All ships now feature casual and speciality food and beverage venues, including the poolside Guy’s Burger Joint, Guy’s Pig & Anchor Smokehouse Bar-B-Que, BlueIguana Cantina & Tequila Bar, RedFrog Rum Bar, an upgraded Lido Deck buffet, The Deli, Swirls self-serve ice cream stations, coffee bars, The Chef’s Table, cocktail pharmacy-themed Alchemy Bar and more. In addition, they offer the Cherry on Top sweet shop, Pixels photo galleries, expanded retail outlets, renovated fitness and spa facilities, new WaterWorks Aqua Parks, the Serenity adults-only area, new miniature golf courses, games arcades, dedicated areas for younger passengers, and more theatre productions and live entertainment options.
Carnival Victory will be fitted with all of these amenities during her 38-day dry dock in Cadiz, Spain, before she relaunches as Carnival Radiance in 2020.
“We have been investing in our products, amenities and experience offerings at unprecedented levels, which are driving higher results in guest satisfaction, passenger yields and onboard revenue,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “Our guests and travel agent partners can count on a high degree of consistency and quality holiday offerings across all our fleet and homeports regardless of what ship they’re sailing on. Ultimately, this effort is about driving demand by giving each and every guest a memorable holiday and offering a reason to come back to Carnival again and again. And it’s clearly working based on extremely positive feedback from the more than five million guests we carry each year.”
Carnival will now focus “more intensely” on improving the onboard guest-facing technology. It has already rolled out the Carnival HubApp to allow all guests to check-in online, stay up to date with ship news, see daily activities, communicate with fellow cruisers and book dinners at restaurants, spa treatments and shore excursions. Meanwhile, the NextGen Connectivity solution has been implemented to provide guests with faster wi-fi connections so they can access social media applications, news, e-mail and the internet, or stream multimedia content.
Currently, the line is piloting a ‘pizza anywhere’ delivery capability on select vessels, which will eventually be rolled out to all ships so guests can order food and drinks directly from the HubApp and have them delivered to any onboard location.
“We are excited by the exciting new choices added across our fleet, but more importantly by the positive reaction from our guests,” said Duffy. “When you combine all the great amenities and offerings onboard with the best employees in the cruise industry, we have a recipe for success that will continue to fuel our growth.”