Carnival sees a new Vista ahead

P&O might be coy about revealing the name of the new cruise ship they plan to launch in 2015, but sister company Carnival has no such qualms.
Their 4,000-passenger vessel scheduled to debut in 2016 will be called Carnival Vista, the company’s chief marketing officer, Jim Berra, revealed to a media briefing on board Carnival Sunshine in the Mediterranean this weekend.
In a welter of sales-speak, he promised the ship would be “extremely connected to the ocean” with vistas from many spaces on board an important element for the passengers’ experience.
Berra cited last year’s newly-launched Carnival Breeze – which has a full wrap-round promenade deck – as an example, he said: “We’re starting to use the names as a touchstone for how we think about the design.
“A lot of what we are thinking in terms of inspiration is the views out to the ocean. At the end of the day, that is why people are cruising. They want the salt air. They want the ocean breeze. They want to look out and see the ocean.”
I somehow doubt that Carnival Saltaire will be on the list of possible future names.
Neither Berra nor chief executive Gerry Cahill was prepared to reveal further specific details of their plans. Probably because, having come up with the general concept, the rest is still being worked on back at Miami head office and in the Italian shipyard where the vessel will be built.
After a rash of new ships – Magic, Dream and Breeze within three years, Carnival has cut back on its order book. Vista will be the 25th ship in its fleet – the world’s largest.
It is, however, pulling out of Europe for the time being. Carnival Sunshine, which was given a £100 million transformation earlier this year, leaves the Mediterranean in October. It will spend the winter sailing out of New Orleans, and from next April will be based in Port Canaveral.
Cahill blames the high cost of air fares for deterring US passengers from flying to Europe. Although some Mediterranean sailings of Breeze in 2012 and Sunshine this year had 50 per cent of their passengers from the UK, the average is much lower.
“We would have to make a significant investment to raise our profile in Europe,” said Cahill. “We will be back, but I can’t yet say when.”
VANDALISM was partly responsible for delays in bringing Carnival Sunshine back into service after its transformation from the 17-year-old Carnival Destiny, Cahill revealed.
He said damage to electrics and plumbing in a section of new cabins was discovered only 24 hours before the ship was due to sail on its first voyage after the refit, which also added new restaurants, a water park, Serenity adult-only deck space, and a completely revitalised theatre/nightclub.
He declined to go into further detail about the damage, which happened while the vessel was at the Trieste yard of shipbuilders Fincantieri.