Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines and the Port of Miami have announced that the line’s newest ship, the 130,000-ton Carnival Breeze, will launch year-round six- and eight-day Caribbean cruises from Miami beginning in November 2012.
The 3,690-passenger Carnival Breeze will be the sixth Carnival Cruise Lines ship homeported in Miami. Collectively, these vessels are expected to carry roughly 1 million guests annually — the most of any Carnival homeport.
“The Port of Miami is a long-standing and valued partner and we’re pleased to build upon that relationship by basing the Carnival Breeze in Miami year-round,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival president and CEO.
“Our company has been based in Miami since it was founded nearly 40 years ago and we can’t wait to welcome this exciting and innovative new ship to our hometown,” Cahill added.
“The cruise industry supports thousands of jobs in our community. This newest addition to our port’s fleet builds upon our longstanding partnership with Carnival,” said Miami-Dade County Commission chair Joe Martinez. “Miami-Dade County looks forward to welcoming the Breeze to the Port of Miami.”
Port director Bill Johnson noted that Carnival is the Port of Miami’s largest cruise line.
“The Carnival Breeze adds to an already distinguished fleet that includes some of the most modern and exciting ships on the seas today,” Johnson said.
As Carnival’s newest “Fun Ship,” Carnival Breeze will offer a host of exciting innovations, including expansive top-deck areas such as WaterWorks, an aqua park with exhilarating water slides and other attractions; SportSquare, an open-air recreation complex with a ropes course, mini-golf, and outdoor fitness area; The Lanai, a wraparound promenade with whirlpools extending over the ship’s sides, and a 270-square-foot poolside LED screen displaying movies, and other programming.
Carnival fans can learn about the Carnival Breeze’s many features and view its colorful new stateroom designs at <www.carnival.com/breeze>.
As part of its innovative Miami-based cruise schedule, Carnival Breeze will offer a year-round three-port, six-day cruise program operating Sundays-Saturdays beginning Dec. 2, 2012.
This schedule will be offered on alternating weeks and will feature visits to three popular ports of call: Grand Turk, BWI; Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and Nassau, The Bahamas.
Expanding upon its role as the leader in Caribbean cruising, Carnival Breeze will offer two distinctly different four-port, eight-day itineraries year-round from the Port of Miami operating Saturday-Sunday beginning Nov. 24, 2012.
Each of the eight-day cruises from Miami will provide guests with ample opportunities to sample the best that the Caribbean has to offer, from sunning and relaxing on gorgeous beaches to shopping for duty-free bargains and savoring delectable island cuisine.
The Saturday-to-Sunday rotation is particularly attractive as it maximizes consumers’ vacation time, with eight full days of cruising across two weekends. The schedule includes an eight-day southern Caribbean itinerary that will feature Grand Turk, La Romana (Dominican Republic), Curacao, and Aruba, along with an eight-day eastern Caribbean route visiting St. Thomas/St. John, Antigua, Tortola and Nassau.
Combined with its six-day cruises, Carnival Breeze guests are offered unprecedented opportunities to visit a diversity of sunny, tropical Caribbean destinations, with nearly a dozen ports of call featured among the various itineraries. Prior to the launch of year-round Caribbean service from Miami, Carnival Breeze will debut with a summer schedule of 12-day Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona operating June 3 to Nov. 6, 2012.
