On April 4th, Port Nola’s newest cruise ship, “Carnival Triumph,” celebrated with a fun charity event on board benefiting four local music organizations. The cruise line hosted an entertaining charity event with representatives from four local music organizations that competed for $35,000 in donations to the charities. The latest capacity increase of Triumph will result in 450,000 Carnival Cruise passengers annually from New Orleans – the most of any other cruise operating lines.
Carnival Triumph kicked off its New Orleans-based program on April 4, 2016 with a four-day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. This four-day “long weekend” cruises depart Thursdays for Cozumel while five-day sailings depart Mondays and Saturdays to visit Cozumel and Progreso. Carnival Triumph will also offer a special three-day round-trip cruise from New Orleans on April 8-11, 2016.
Trumpeter/vocalist Shamarr Allen, competing on behalf of the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Jazz Camp; singer Robin Barnes, competing for the Tipitina’s Foundation; saxophonist Derek Douget, representing The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Foundation; and Rebirth Brass Band Drummer and Roots of Music Co-Founder Derrick Tabb participated in a series of hilarious “Minute-To-Win-It” games with Tipitina’s Foundation taking home first prize of $15,000. The other groups split $20,000 in runner-up contributions toward the charities each were representing.
Officials from Carnival Cruise Line, including Carnival Triumph Captain Alessandro Iemmi, Vice President of Commercial Port Operations Carlos Torres de Navarra and Vice President of Field Sales Mike Julius, along with Port of New Orleans President and CEO Gary LaGrange hosted a traditional maritime plaque exchange to commemorate the ship’s arrival at the port.
Carnival Triumph represents a 34 percent capacity increase on the line’s four- and five-day cruise program from New Orleans. Together with Carnival Dream, which operates year-round seven-day voyages, Carnival is expected to carry 450,000 passengers annually from the renovated Erato Street Terminal, representing the largest ever capacity commitment by a cruise line in New Orleans. Carnival is the only cruise line to operate year-round from New Orleans and offers the widest variety of cruise durations and itinerary choices from the Big Easy, visiting tropical destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean and The Bahamas.
Carnival Triumph has undergone an extensive enhancement program that added a number of innovations including: Guy’s Burger Joint (developed in tandem with Food Network star Guy Fieri); poolside watering holes: BlueIguana, Tequila Bar and RedFrog Rum Bar; the BlueIguana Cantina Mexican eatery; cocktail-pharmacy-themed Alchemy Bar, and Cherry-On-Top (a “candy and more” store). Carnival Triumph also features more than 500 staterooms and suites with private balconies.