LONG BEACH — Carnival Cruise Line has christened its newest ship, Carnival Firenze, with a star-studded ceremony in California.
Taking place at the ship’s new home, the Long Beach Cruise Terminal, the ceremony celebrated all things Italian with the help of the ship’s godfather, Hollywood actor Jonathan Bennet, and Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy. Festivities also included a performance of Puccini’s ‘Nessun Dorma’ by Carnival’s Playlist Productions cast, and Italian blessing by Father Charbel Grbavac of the Mary Star of the Sea Catholic church in nearby San Pedro, and a showstopping performance by Leslie Kritzer, Bennett’s co-star from the recent Broadway revival of ‘Spamalot.’
Carnival Firenze is officially named in Long Beach
As a ‘Carnival Fun Italian Style’ ship, the 5,000-guest Carnival Firenze is sailing year-round from the Port of Long Beach, joining two Carnival ships currently sailing year-round: the 5,100-passenger Carnival Panorama and the nearly 4,000-passenger Carnival Radiance. Launching just ahead of the busy summer travel season, Carnival Firenze is part of a significant expansion that added five ships to the Carnival fleet in the past 18 months. By next year, Carnival will embark more than 750,000 guests from Long Beach on more than 200 sailings, an increase of 100,000 more guests compared to 2019.
“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 receipt combining this ship’s beautiful Italian theme with the familiarity of our friendly team’s hospitality is, in a word, perfecto!”
Like sister Carnival Venezia, Carnival Firenze features new concepts and experiences that put an Italian twist on Carnival staples. It’s also the first ship in the Carnival fleet to harness artificial intelligence for optimal, energy-saving routes on each sailing. The ship’s captain and officers will be the first to utilize AI to Carnival’s voyage efficiency system, ahead of a fleet-wide rollout to begin later this year. Carnival Firenze is also the latest Carnival vessel to use shore power, joining Carnival Panorama and Carnival Radiance in connecting to the electric grid while docked in Long Beach instead of running its engines.
Built in 2020 and fresh off a 49-day dry dock in Cadiz, Spain during which ‘Carnival Fun Italian Style’ features were integrated, Carnival Firenze boasts notable additions like specialty restaurant Il Viaggio (‘The Voyage’), and a top-deck ‘street party’ called Festa Italiana. The ship will sail a variety of itinerary lengths, with three- to seven-day Baja Mexico and Mexican Riviera cruises open for sale now through spring 2026.
