On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, Carnival Cruise Line christened its newest ship, Carnival Firenze, at the Long Beach Cruise Terminal in California.
The ceremony included a performance of Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” by Carnival’s Playlist Productions cast, an Italian blessing by Father Charbel Grbavac, and a performance by Broadway star Leslie Kritzer. The ship’s godfather, Hollywood actor Jonathan Bennett was named an honorary Italian for the evening and was joined by Captain Enzo Palomba in pouring champagne over the ship’s bell to officially christen the vessel.
The 5,000-guest Carnival Fun Italian Style ship will sail year-round from the Port of Long Beach. She joins the 5,100-guests Carnival Panorama and the 4,000-guest Carnival Radiance who are currently sailing year-round from the same port. Carnival Firenze arrived at the Port of Long Beach just ahead of the summer season as part of Carnival’s significant expansion that has added five ships in the last eighteen months bringing the cruise line’s fleet back to 27 active ships.
“We carry more guests than any other cruise line from California, and now this ship is giving us the opportunity to offer more fun to more people sailing from Long Beach,” said Duffy. “The recipe combining this ship’s beautiful Italian theming with the familiarity of our friendly team’s hospitality is, in a word, perfecto!”
Carnival Firenze just completed a 49-day dry dock in Cadiz, Spain before her repositioning cruise to Long Beach, California. Her dry dock integrated the Carnival Fun Italian Style concepts and experiences that guests found on her sister ship, Carnival Venezia. However, Carnival Firenze also has a new voyage efficiency system that optimizes energy-saving routes for her sailings. She also is the latest Carnival ship to use shore power and will join Carnival Panorama and Carnival Radiance in connecting to the grid instead of running her engines while in port.
Carnival Firenze will offer a variety of three- to seven-day Baja Mexico and Mexican Riviera cruises through the spring of 2026. She is currently sailing a seven-day cruise to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas.