Carnival add new ship to fleet

The Carnival Valor anchored off George Town

Captain Giovanni Cutugno, of the Carnival cruiseship,
(left) Valor, together with one of the ship’s officers,
Duncan Puttock, presents a Valor ship’s plaque to the
Port Authority’s Joseph Woods

A member of the Valor’s crew stands inside ‘Paris
Hot,’ one of the ship’s 22 themed bars and lounges

Friday,  February 4, 2005

A new cruise ship in the Carnival fleet, the ‘Valor,’ visited the Cayman Islands for the first time on Thursday, 27 January.

The Carnival Valor is the largest Carnival ship ever out of the Port of Miami. It is an 110,000 ton, 2,974 guest vessel and the 20th in Carnival Corporation’s ‘Fun Ship’ category.

‘Heroes and Heroics’ is the central theme of the new ship, which has led to an imaginative design with a rich diversity of décor: There are 22 lounges and bars, each one named either after a different ‘hero,’ such as the Winston Churchill Cigar Bar, or an emblem of American national pride, such as the Eagle Bar, resplendent with pictures of eagle feathers on the carpet as well as the ceiling.

The ship was designed by Carnival Cruise Lines’ Joe Farcus, one of Carnival Corporation’s founders, who set his heart on designing ships from a child, when his most treasured book was, “How to Draw Ships in the Merchant Marine.”

Mr Farcus’ design for the Valor has been influenced by some of Miami’s Art Decor architects, and is reflected in the theme employed throughout the ship often giving the visitor the impression of stepping into a scene from an old time silent movie.

Heroic days gone by are represented in the Ivanhoe theatre, decorated with suits of armour. The theatre is capable of seating over 1,400 guests and staying with historical heroes, there is also a Joan of Arc wine bar.

Bringing things into the 20th Century, a large model of the Spirit of St Louis sits in the Charles Lindenburg lounge, commemorating the aircraft in which Mr Lindenburg made his historic solo flight across the Atlantic.

An even more recent hero and crucial event are celebrated on the vessel in the One Small Step bar which commemorates Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon.

The ship’s Captain, Giovanni Cutugno, spoke of his pleasure at being able to return to the Cayman Islands, and also at seeing how quickly the recovery effort is going, before presenting Joseph Woods from the Cayman Islands’ Port Authority with a ship’s plaque.

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