It's official. Carnival
Cruise Lines named the 23rd ship in its fleet the Carnival Magic at the Port of Venice on May 1.
"This ship is the best in our fleet yet," said CEO Gerry Cahill. "And this is a good city for the venue, because Venice is the city of magic."
The 3,600-passenger Magic also is the 100th ship in the Carnival Corp. family of cruise brands, Cahill noted, so its naming ceremony is "momentous" for the company.
A dance spectacular and a magician entertained several hundred invited guests and passengers at the start of the indoor naming ceremony in the ship’s Showtime Theater. The master of ceremonies was John Heald, senior cruise director. (Watch Heald's video blog from the Magic at the bottom of this page.)
The ship was named by its godmother, Lindsey Wilkerson, who survived childhood cancer thanks to treatment she received at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., when she was 10 years old.
Carnival established a relationship with the hospital last year when it launched Care to Play: Carnival For St. Jude Kids, a program that encompasses a variety of shipboard fundraisers fleetwide. Carnival's goal is to raise $3 million over a three-year period, said Cahill.
At the naming ceremony, Wilkerson, now 29 and a volunteer specialist for St. Jude, accepted a $50,000 check on behalf of the facility from Carnival. She named the Magic while guests watched a live video of a champagne bottle being broken on the ship’s bow.
"On behalf of all of the children of St. Jude, I'm honored to serve as godmother to the beautiful Carnival Magic," said Wilkerson, who wished the ship "smooth sailing and calm seas."
Wilkerson and her family were guests on the ship's inaugural nine-night Western Mediterranean cruise that departed Venice a few hours after the ceremony.
Cahill noted that the positioning of the Magic is Carnival's return to Europe, where the cruise line sailed its last full season in 2008.
"It's great to have a ship here, and I hope we will continue to in the future," Cahill said.
Following its maiden voyage, the Magic will sail a series of seven-, nine- and 12-day cruises out of Barcelona until mid-October.
In November, the Magic will reposition to Galveston, Texas, for seven-day Caribbean cruises.