Tom Stieghorst
It has been six months since Carnival Corp. debuted Fathom, its experiment in social impact cruising, in the Dominican Republic.
The brainchild of Carnival CEO Arnold Donald and a longstanding acquaintance, Tara Russell, Fathom became Carnival's 10th brand and its first to be created from the ground up since the 1990s.
Fathom, which alternates weekly between cruises to the Dominican Republic and to Cuba, has now completed 13 voyages to the company's new Amber Cove port near Puerto Plata on the D.R.'s north coast.
It issued a report card of sorts on the progress it has made, the type of update that no other cruise line can issue.
For instance, what other line can boast that it poured 40 concrete floors for families too poor to afford anything but a dirt floor beneath their feet? Or that it provided 17,500 hours of English instruction to students and parents in a country where English proficiency is the No. 1 driver of employment success?
Of course it isn't actually Fathom doing the work; the line is providing the opportunity for its customers to do it, which is what makes it different than any other line. Cruisers are the ones who planted 16,000 seedlings and plants in a reforestation project and made and installed 730 water filters to reduce instances of waterborne illness.
Fathom is attracting customers like Justin Walter, a writer from Los Angeles, who's quoted in a Fathom press release saying the trip "is not just about giving back, it's also about cultural immersion, discovering the beauty of the Dominican people/land, personal growth and, yes, having fun."
It doesn't hurt that the price is affordable: Fathom said weeklong sailings start at $299 per person, a sign that demand for the experience Walter extolls could be stronger.
So the jury may be out on Fathom as a business. But as a social enterprise it seems to be off to a good start.