JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Travel agents simply adore Carnival Cruise
Lines' Spirit-class ships. At least that's what retailers were
saying aboard last week's inaugural cruise of the Carnival Miracle,
the fourth and final ship in the Spirit series.
First and foremost, the 2,124-passenger Carnival Miracle, like
its sisters, features an abundance of outside accommodations.
Eighty percent of staterooms and suites are outside; of that
number, 80% feature balconies.
Travel agents also said these ships have a unique air of
sophistication.
"These are Carnival ships
for grown-ups," said Sandy Cleary, president of CruCon Cruise
Outlets in Boston, adding that her agents promote Spirit-class
ships because of their balcony staterooms and such elegant touches
as the supper-club restaurants.
Although the Carnival Miracle is virtually a replica of its
sisters from a hardware standpoint, it obviously has a distinct
design theme.
Joe Farcus, Carnival's inimitable interior architect, chose
fictional icons from novels, songs, poems, myths, films and theater
for the ship's theme.
One of his major objectives with this ship -- like all others,
Farcus said -- is to transport guests to a different world.
"Guests are coming on board to recharge their batteries," he
said. "I'm trying to create an environment that they don't see in
their normal life."
He hit a home run on this front. Each and every public room
makes a statement of some sort. Take, for instance, Nick and
Nora's, named for the fictional detectives Nick and Nora Charles
from Dashiell Hammett's "Thin Man" novel and the movies it
spawned.
The two-story supper club, located at the top of the ship's
atrium, is a gorgeous alternative to the main dining room that
features an oversized, black-and-white photo of New York from the
1930s.
The Mad Hatter's Ball show lounge, whose theme was inspired by
"Alice in Wonderland," provides guests with a fanciful take on the
book with three-dimensional depictions of the characters.
"I can't wait to have a cocktail party in there," said Joan
McCarty, president of Specialty Travel in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The ship now is operating a series of 12 three- to six-day
itineraries out of Jacksonville through April 17.
It will sail on seven-day cruises from Baltimore and New York
before repositioning to Tampa, Fla., Nov. 7 for year-round,
seven-day western Caribbean itineraries.
McCarty said she has already booked a group of 250 on the first
cruise out of Tampa. She'd like to be able to sell more, she said,
but space is at a premium.
To contact reporter Claudette Covey, send e-mail to [email protected].