The godmother for Carnival Cruise Line's
new West Coast ship, the Carnival Panorama, will be Los Angeles resident Vanna
White.
Vanna White
The letter-turning model from the game show "Wheel of Fortune"
will officially name the Panorama on Dec. 10 in Long Beach, Calif.
The vessel is the first new ship Carnival has deployed to
the West Coast in 20 years, and is Carnival's third and last Vista-class ship. The line's first Excel-class ship, the Carnival Mardi Gras, debuts next year.
In an interview, White said she's a big fan of cruising, and
was on a river cruise in France earlier this year.
She said she's looking forward to seeing the Carnival
Kitchen on the Panorama, the first dedicated space on a Carnival ship for
cooking classes. "I'm excited about that. I think there's a lot of people out
there that are interested in cooking, and it's something new."
Asked if she knows any other ship godmothers, White cited
Queen Latifah, Katie Couric and Kathie Lee Gifford, godmothers respectively of
the Carnival Horizon, Carnival Valor and Carnival Celebration and Ecstasy
(Gifford was a godmother twice).
White has appeared in more than 7,000 Wheel episodes over 37
years. White hosted the show for the first time earlier this month when Pat
Sajak had emergency surgery. Because the
show is taped in advance, those episodes won't air until about the time White
is christening the Panorama.