Carnival Cruise Line’s new Fun Ship 2.0 initiative will dramatically transform the line’s on-board guest experience. The multi-year $500 million effort will be rolled out to the line’s entire fleet through the end of 2015. Personalizing the initiative to each individual vessel, a variety of the new branded features will be added on a ship by ship basis.
“Through breakthrough partnerships with some of today’s biggest talents and most popular entertainment brands, plus our very own new branded experiences and on-board destinations, Carnival fans and those new to our cruises are destined for an incredible vacation experience” said Gerry Cahill, president and CEO of Carnival Cruise Line.
First up for transformation is the Carnival Liberty, undergoing the process right now. When the ship emerges later this month, Carnival will have added:
- RedFrog Rum Bar
- BlueIguana Tequila Bar
- Alchemy Bar
- EA Sports Bar
- Guy’s Burger Joint
- Blue Iguana Cantina
- The DJ IRIE element, upgrading and standardizing the onboard music experience
New Carnival Breeze will debut in June 2012 with the Fun Ship 2.0 program already in place and feature:
- RedFrog Rum Bar
- BlueIguana Tequila Bar
- Library Bar
- Guy’s Burger Joint
- BlueIguana Cantina
- Punchliners Comedy Club & Brunch presented by George Lopez
- Hasbro, The Game Show- a new onboard kids programming effort
- Playlist Productions- a new, fresh look at onboard entertainment programming, drawing on some of Broadway’ best producers
- DJ IRIE
Finishing out program implementation for the rest of 2012, four more Carnival ships will get new features. Here are the ships, what’s being done with them and when those transformations are set to take place.
Nearly-new Carnival Dream will be transformed during a scheduled dry dock from September 8-22, 2012, emerging with these features added:
- RedFrog Rum Bar
- Blue Iguana Tequila Bar
- Punchliners Comedy Club & Brunch presented by George Lopez
- DJ IRIE
Following the Carnival Dream application the going gets harder as Carnival begins work on older ships. Carnival Conquest will be transformed during scheduled maintenance from October 14 to 28, 2012 adding the largest number of features yet to an existing ship:
- RedFrog Rum Bar
- Blue Iguana Tequila Bar
- Alchemy Bar
- EA Sports Bar
- Guy’s Burger Joint
- Blue Iguana Cantina
- Punchliners Comedy Club & Brunch presented by George Lopez
- Hasbro, The Game Show
- Playlist Productions
- DJ IRIE
Another older ship, Carnival Glory gets the same treatment from November 2-15, 2012. That’s two Conquest-class ships now, suggesting this will be the standard features package added to Carnival Valor and Carnival Freedom later. Look for Carnival to tweak this program as it goes along too. While the line is focused on rolling out the Funship 2.0 initiative, that focus comes from a keen interest in providing that FunShip experience guests are looking for. If that changes, you can bet they’ll change elements of this new initiative.
Carnival Splendor, the one and only ship in it’s class, will complete the list of ships to get the Fun Ship 2.0 in 2012 adding
- RedFrog Rum Bar
- BlueIguana Tequila Bar
- Punchliners Comedy Club & Brunch presented by George Lopez
- DJ IRIE
Carnival’s last major program, the Evolution of Fun, was $250 million to enriching all eight of their Fantasy-class ships with even more features, guest services and ways to have fun.
Fun Ship 2.o is like Evolution of Fun on steroids.
Coming up in 2013, Carnival Destiny, Carnival Legend, Carnival Pride and Carnival Victory will get Fun Ship 2.0 elements added. In 2012 it’s Carnival Elation, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Triumph and Carnival Valor’s turn then in 2015 Carnival Magic gets another look as well as Carnival Paradise. It’s an exciting program, sure to please existing Carnival guests for years to come and draw in those who may have never tried a Carnival cruise.
It might very well also bring in guests who may have tried pretty much any Norwegian Cruise Line ship and not cared for the pay-as-you-go Freestyle Cruising option. Those who have sailed Royal Caribbean’s newer ships with multiple for-a-fee branded venues will find these new, free, Carnival options refreshing.
Coming up next: Carnival Funship2: The Ultimate Poolside Experience
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