Delivery Of Carnival's Festivale Set For Dolphin Cruise Line
MIAMI, March 29 -- Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) and
Dolphin Cruise Line have jointly announced that April 28 has been set as the
delivery date of Carnival Cruise Lines' Festivale to Dolphin Cruise Line.
Dolphin will begin operating the vessel as the IslandBreeze beginning May 10,
1996.
The delivery date coincides with the start-up of service of Carnival's
newest SuperLiner, the MS Inspiration, which will take over the Festivale's
seven-day southern Caribbean itinerary.
During a ten-day repositioning cruise from San Juan to New York, any
necessary changes to the IslandBreeze will be made before entering service
under the Dolphin insignia. The IslandBreeze then begins two- and five-day
cruises from New York City May 10. The two-night cruises- to-nowhere will
sail every Friday while the five-night voyages depart every Sunday and will
call in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Portland, Maine and Newport, Rhode Island.
According to Captain Paris Katsoufis, president of Dolphin Cruise Line,
travel agent and consumer reaction to the IslandBreeze have been extremely
positive. "This will be the largest vessel to operate a full season from New
York and there has been tremendous interest since the initial announcement of
the new itinerary. Bookings have been particularly strong during the past
several weeks. We expect to have a very busy and successful season," he said.
Howard Frank, vice chairman of Carnival Corporation said he was not
surprised at the strong booking activity.
"The Festivale is a very well-known ship in the travel agent community. It
is a classic vessel from the liner era but has been updated to include all the
amenities that today's cruise vacationers expect. We have no doubt that, as
the IslandBreeze, she will be extremely successful for Dolphin," Frank said.
Frank added that Carnival will provide full financial support to the
IslandBreeze's operation in New York and later in the year out of Montego Bay.
In addition, Carnival will manage the casino and other operations on the
ship.
Following its New York season which runs through October 4, the
IslandBreeze will sail on a seven-night repositioning cruise departing October
6 with stops at Charleston, South Carolina, Cape Canaveral, Florida, Playa del
Carmen and Cozumel, Mexico and Montego Bay, Jamaica. Beginning October 13, the
ship will offer seven-night cruises from Montego Bay to Cartagena, a partial
transit of the Panama Canal, San Blas Islands and Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.

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