By
Alice Chambers |
Carnival Cruise Line celebrated the 50th anniversary of its maiden voyage from PortMiami in Miami, Florida, USA, on 11 March 2022.
To commemorate the occasion, Carnival donated $50,000 to World Central Kitchen to support Ukrainian relief efforts in the name of its 300 team members from the country, and also presented the same amount to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami, a nonprofit mentoring organisation in South Florida.
Delegates from the corporation were present at the anniversary celebrations, such as Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line; Micky Arison, chairman of Carnival Corporation; Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation; and Daniella Levine, county mayor of Miami-Dade.
“On this very day, 50 years ago, history was made when the first Carnival Cruise Line ship, the TSS Mardi Gras, embarked on her maiden voyage from right here at PortMiami,” said Duffy. “For half a century, we have made cruising available to everyone and have provided millions of people with fun and memorable vacations. It’s an honour to be celebrating our five decades of sailing with so many of our partners. We look forward to what the next 50 years holds.”
Carnival has made cruising accessible for more than 90 million passengers since its inception with approximately six million passengers setting sail from 14 US homeports each year. As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations, the operator organised 17 commemorative ‘Sailabrations’ cruises, featuring at-sea ship meet-ups and special onboard entertainment.
Carnival has contributed significantly to Miami’s economic development over the past 50 years and continues to do so by investing in the expansion of Terminal F at PortMiami. The facility, which will serve as the homeport for Carnival Celebration, will be completed in autumn 2022 and be ready to provide shore power in 2023.
Carnival Celebration will be the second Excel-class ship to be powered by LNG and have an onboard roller coaster. The first, Mardi Gras, is already operational and the third, Carnival Jubilee, will join the fleet in 2023 and homeport in Galveston, Texas.
Over the years, Carnival has also provided 195 scholarships (valued at $4 million) since 2007, and hosted hundreds of high-school students at its headquarters as part of the Carnival Scholarship and Mentoring Program.
Carnival’s restart programme will be completed in summer 2022 with its entire fleet back in operation.