Carnival Cruise Line celebrated the arrival and naming ceremony of the Carnival Panorama, the cruise line’s first new ship on the West Coast in 20 years, with Wheel of Fortune’s Vanna White. In a nod to her role on Wheel of Fortune, White turned a series of letters spelling out PANORAMA that triggered the release of a bottle of Moet champagne to officially name the ship.
The festivities also included a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Carnival Kitchen, a first-in-fleet culinary center that offers more than 15 different interactive cooking, baking and decorating demonstrations.
Joining Carnival President Christine Duffy at the ribbon cutting were Carnival’s culinary partners, including Guy Fieri, whose Burger Joint and Smokehouse Brewhouse are onboard Carnival Panorama, as well as Emeril Lagasse and Rudi Sodamin, who each will have new restaurants, Emeril’s Bistro 1396 and Rudi’s Seagrill, respectively, on the new Mardi Gras when it debuts next year.
Duffy and Sky Zone CEO Jeff Platt also celebrated the ribbon cutting for the Sky Zone, the ship’s two-level, 3,000-square-foot trampoline park at sea. The day also included a return of the Carnival AirShip, a 128-foot-long blimp emblazoned with the line’s Choose Fun tag line before the festivities finally concluded with a fireworks display that lit up the Long Beach sky.
Following an inaugural three-day cruise, Carnival Panorama will launch year-round seven-day Mexican Riviera service from Long Beach, CA, December 14, departing every Saturday on week-long voyages to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.
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