Tom Stieghorst
With the delivery of the Carnival Horizon last month, the Carnival Cruise Line fleet has grown to record size, both in number of ships and carrying capacity. The addition gives Carnival 26 ships with a double-occupancy capacity of over 70,000 passengers.
It took Carnival 24 years to acquire or build its first 13 ships. And it has taken 23 years to build the next 13. From that perspective growth, it could hardly be steadier.
Carnival's ships are getting bigger, obviously. While the fleet has doubled since 1996, the capacity has increased more than threefold.
But the really notable difference between 1996 -- when the Carnival Inspiration was delivered -- and today is the design and amenities of the ships, which have come a remarkably long way in a quarter-century.
The 2,056-passenger Inspiration was one of eight Fantasy-class ships that dominated Carnival's orderbook in the 1990s. The Horizon is the second in a new class of ship that began in 2016 with the Carnival Vista.
The Inspiration was one of the last Carnival ships designed with the lifeboats hanging from davits at the top of the ship. On the Horizon, the lifeboats are cradled much lower, on Deck 4, below the Promenade.
It was also one of the last ships to have conventional propeller shafts before Carnival started experimenting with 360-degree rotatable propeller pods.
The Inspiration was designed before alternative restaurants, which Carnival only adopted with the Carnival Spirit in 2001 (cover charge $15). The Horizon will have a half-dozen extra-charge venues, including the Fahrenheit 555 steakhouse (cover charge $35).
The Inspiration has a seven-story atrium, bedazzled with reflective panels, green and red neon bands, and topped by a glass skylight. The Horizon, following the Vista plan, will not have a skylight topped atrium flanked by glass elevators.
The design mastermind behind all of the Fantasy-class ships, including the Inspiration, was Carnival's go-to architect, Joe Farcus, who gave the ship features such as purple tube sprouts on the ceiling of the buffet restaurant. The Horizon's design was a committee affair and much more subdued.
Readers were treated on the Inspiration to the 43-seat Shakespeare Library, with a Farcus interpretation of Elizabethan style. On the Horizon, the library offers libations at what is called the Library Bar.
Balcony cabins are scarce on the Inspiration, but can be found in abundance on the Horizon.
There is a 1,300-seat Paris Theater show lounge on the Inspiration. The main theater on the Horizon, the Liquid Lounge, has a smaller permanent seating capacity. But the ship makes up for it with the addition of an IMAX theater and a giant LED movie screen above the pool.
The contrasts go on and on. The Inspiration's godmother was Mary Ann Shula, the wife of then-Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula. The Horizon's godmother is entertainer Queen Latifah. But the point is that, while Carnival's core theme of Fun for All and All for Fun has endured since it started in 1972, the way the fun is delivered has changed a lot.