Carnival Cruise Line and the Canaveral Port Authority hosted a special event earlier today to celebrate the arrival of the Space Coast’s newest ship, the 130,000-ton Carnival Magic.
Today also marked the official grand opening of the Magic’s new Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse designed by Food Network star Guy Fieri.
The invitation-only event was highlighted by the carving of a massive, six-foot-long pulled pork sandwich by officials from Carnival and the port to commemorate the debut of Fieri’s new BBQ venue which was installed during a multi-million-dollar dry dock last month.
The event also included a traditional maritime plaque exchange between Carnival Magic Captain Antonio Marchetti, Carnival’s Vice President of Commercial Port Operations Carlos Torres de Navarra and Captain John Murray, chief executive officer of the Canaveral Port Authority.
Carnival Magic is the newest Carnival ship to sail from Port Canaveral, joining Carnival Victory and Carnival Valor on year-round departures from the Space Coast, as well as the Carnival Sunshine which operates seasonal sailings.
Together, these four ships will carry more than 650,000 guests annually from Port Canaveral – more than any other cruise operator. Carnival operates more than 200 three- to eight-day cruises annually from Port Canaveral, providing the widest variety of year-round cruise choices from the Space Coast.
“Port Canaveral is one of our most popular and fastest-growing homeports. We now have four exceptional ships based there offering our most highly-rated guest features, a huge array of staterooms and suites with private balconies, and a wide variety of itinerary choices,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.
“For 20-plus years, Carnival Cruise Line has sailed from Central Florida’s port providing their guests with an enjoyable ‘Fun ship’ experience,” Murray said. “We are delighted to continue to be a popular homeport for Carnival guests.”
The new Fieri-designed BBQ venue was among the many new features added during an extensive makeover that also incorporated the new cocktail pharmacy-themed Alchemy Bar, the RedFrog Rum Bar, BlueIguana Tequila Bar, BlueIguana Cantina Mexican eatery, and Guy’s Burger Joint — also designed by Fieri.
Carnival Magic offers a variety of family-friendly features as well, including a WaterWorks aqua park highlighted by a 312-foot-long Twister slide, supervised activities and play areas for kids in three age groups, and the Seuss at Sea program which includes the ever-popular “Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast with The Cat in The Hat and Friends” and the “Seuss-a-Palooza Story Time and Parade.”
Carnival Magic departed this afternoon on its inaugural cruise from Port Canaveral with a three-day voyage to Nassau and will launch year-round seven-day sailings from the Space Coast April 23, 2016.
Carnival Magic will offer two distinctly different week-long itineraries from Port Canaveral – a western Caribbean route featuring Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay (Isla Roatan) and Costa Maya; and an eastern Caribbean option calling at St. Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk and Nassau, or Amber Cove.
