I am proud to tell you about the latest way Carnival is bringing their kind of fun to you………………have a read of this.
CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES UNVEILS GIANT, INTERACTIVE AQUARIUMS IN SIX U.S. CITIES
MIAMI (March 10, 2009) – Carnival Cruise Lines is introducing huge interactive computer-animated aquariums in six different U.S. cities this week, including Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C. The aquariums, which are located in vacant storefront spaces in high traffic pedestrian areas, are designed to engage passersby in a fun, spontaneous and highly entertaining interactive experience courtesy of the world’s most popular cruise line.
The Carnival-branded aquariums were created using computer vision technology, flash animation and mobile gaming software. They feature a variety of highly-stylized fish and plant life. Consumers can interact with the aquariums both via motion reactivity and mobile phone interactivity.
As pedestrians walk by, the vibrant undersea universe reacts with plant life swaying, water and bubbles moving and fish darting around in response to the human motion.
Signage invites passersby to dial a number on their cell phones to create their own, personalized fish. By making various sounds into their phones, consumers can customize their fish and then, using their keypad, swim them around the tank. By steering the fish to food, the custom creatures continue to morph in shape and size and do a variety of other fun and surprising things.
The aquariums also feature a mechanism that enables people to come back later and, using the same cell phone, retrieve their customized fish. Once finished with the interaction, consumers receive a text message inviting them to visit carnival.com/funville for additional fun activities and information.
“The interactive aquariums mirror the essence of the Carnival vacation experience in that they are designed to provide people with highly memorable and spontaneous fun,” said Jim Berra, Carnival’s senior vice president of marketing.
The aquarium concept was developed by the research and development lab of Carnival’s Boston-based advertising agency, Arnold Worldwide along with media buying and planning partner MPG. The Arnold R&D lab focuses on designing and developing reactive and interactive experiences that involve sensory design, physical computing, and computer vision to enable the agency’s clients to reach consumers in new ways.
“We’re excited to launch the digital aquariums using design and technology to bring the Carnival brand ashore. The experience is a modern take on fun that should engage and surprise all who participate,” said Pete Favat, chief creative officer, Arnold Boston.
The interactive aquariums will be in place in each city through the end of April. Exact locations by city are listed below:Baltimore – 111 S. Calvert St.
Dallas – 1933 Elm St.
Houston – 312 Main St.
New York – 100 Park Ave.
Washington D.C. – 908 F St. NW
Los Angeles – 7901 Melrose Ave. (aquarium site to be activated shortly)Carnival is the largest and most popular cruise line in the world, with 22 “Fun Ships” operating voyages ranging from three to 16 days in length to The Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Panama Canal, Canada, New England, Europe and Bermuda. The line currently has two new ships scheduled for delivery between now and 2011. The first of those, the 130,000-ton Carnival Dream, is set to debut Sept. 21, 2009.
For additional information or reservations, contact a travel agent, call 800-CARNIVAL or visit carnival.com.
Fantastic. I hope some of you from these areas go and visit and report back on your fun for all experience
And now have a look at this:
NEW CARNIVAL PROMOTION PROVIDES CASH BACK OF UP TO $240 PER STATEROOM ON VARIETY OF ‘FUN SHIP’ CRUISES THIS SUMMER
MIAMI (March 9, 2009) – Carnival Cruise Lines is launching a new promotion offering “cash back” of up to $240 per stateroom for a wide range of “Fun Ship” departures this summer.
The new promotion is available in conjunction with virtually all three- to eight-day summer departures, including voyages to the Caribbean, Bahamas and Mexico from 14 convenient North American homeports. Bookings must be made between March 9 – May 10, 2009, to qualify for the promotion, which is valid with the line’s “Fun Select” advance purchase discount fares.
The cash back option is provided in the form of a shipboard credit that can be redeemed once on board. Guests will receive a $100 per stateroom shipboard credit on three- and four-day cruises; $150 per stateroom shipboard credit on five-day voyages; and $240 per stateroom shipboard credit for six-, seven- and eight-day sailings.
The shipboard credit is automatically applied on guests’ Sail & Sign accounts when they board their cruise and can be redeemed toward shore excursions, spa treatments, supper club reservations, gift shop items and a variety of other shipboard purchases. Any unused funds at the end of the cruise will be returned to guests on debarkation day in the form of a check.
“A ‘Fun Ship’ cruise is already an affordable vacation option for today’s value-conscious consumers and this new promotion – which provides guests with cash back that can be used toward any shipboard purchase — makes the value of a Carnival cruise even more outstanding,” said Lynn Torrent, Carnival’s senior vice president of sales and guest services.
The new promotion is capacity controlled and applies to new individual bookings for stateroom categories 4A to 11. Guests must request fare code OCB when making the reservation.
Carnival is the largest and most popular cruise line in the world, with 22 “Fun Ships” operating voyages ranging from three to 16 days in length to The Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Panama Canal, Canada, New England, Europe, and Bermuda. The line currently has two new ships scheduled for delivery between now and 2011. The first of those, the 130,000-ton Carnival Dream, is set to debut Sept. 21, 2009.
For additional information and reservations on the “Fun Ship” vacation experience, contact any travel agent, call 1-800-CARNIVAL or visit carnival.com.
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wow that aquarium sounds like tons of fun! there is not one near me, sorry… i wish there was!
smiles, bonnie and prince charlie
It looks so cool… Set up the 7th one in Palm Beach County Florida please!!!
Hi John!
I will have to check the aquarium out in Dallas. Thanks for letting us know.
Take care!
David
Sounds brilliant! I wanna play with the fishies!!
The new billboards are amazing!! What a great concept! We saw two of the electronic billboards this weekend! The one I really loved was ‘Look… the sand just isn’t going to come to your toes…’ WONDERFUL!!
I got picked for a FunDay party!! WOOOOOOHOOOOO!! What fun!!!
Host Mach
Hey John,
We just got chosen for a HOUSE PARTY!
It is our Pre Cruise Party!
Catrin
wow , we live in a small corner of the world and likely will not get the chance to see this aquarium . We will just hopw to see a demo on line sometime . Carnival keeps on thinking and making very new and interesting things with technology.
never know whats going to hapen next
John what super new ways to introduce people to Carnival. Wow!!
Well we just returned from our cruise on The Carnival Glory. That is one of my favorite ships. And I want to thank you for the wonderful idea for my husbands 70th birthday.
I only had 2 days to pull all the pictures for the collage together, but I did it and with the help of our friends who sailed with us, I was able to smuggle it onto the Glory and get it to Butch (who is absolutely brilliant). Butch used it on his Thursday morning show and my husband was so suprised!!! I would love to send you a picture but I know you don’t know how to do it and even though I have sent you one picture before I don’t remember how to do it either.
John Please Reply
Could you please have Stephanie e-mail me at carolannjohnston@msn.com and tell me how to send you a copy of what I did for my husband. It has a great picture of you when you were the CD on it.
Back to Butch – He was one of the most energetic CD’s, since you, that we have sailed with. How he kept up the pace I will never understand.
I was able to talk to him several times and each time he made me feel extra special. It was hard to talk to him with out my husband around but I finally did on Wed. evening, and he got so excited when he found out that it was me who had made the collage that he almost blew the surprise. Thursday night we ran into him at the past guest party and he made us promise to sail with him on what ever ship he will be on and include his picture for Bob’s 75th. We promised!!
We are ready to take the next cruise but since we both still work we have to wait until we have built up enough time to take off.
Heidi looks wonderful with her bump thingy growing. She has such a glow about her and the scones look great.
I have to go but I send all my love for you and cruising your way.
CruisingGrandma
CarolAnn
Sounds awesome – I’ll be visiting the one in Dallas also.
I’ll be on the Valor March 29th so can’t do the party, but I did get the Carnival survey,
We’ve got 3 cruises booked, a 5 day cruise, an 8 day cruise, and a 9 day cruise booked, but won’t qualify for the on board credits for any of them because they were booked before March 9……….. BOOGER! Double BOOGER
Countess
John – I just got chosen for the House Party – its going to be my pre-cruise kick off – Yeah! Carnival Fun Day Sunday comes to Boston..Erin
Sounds very cute–none near me either. I just saw the commercial about pushing the horn button–that is very funny. Its probably been out for awhile but I’m still playing catch up.
When we were on the Carnival Glory in June, they held a Walk for the Cure. I participated in this and really enjoyed it. I would like to know if the Carnival Freedom will be doing this also. We are sailing in April. Also, can you share with us how much Carnival guests have contributed to the Koman Foundation through these Walks.
Hi John:
Please reply:
I was just selected as a host for the Carnival Sunday Fun Day on March 29th and wanted to know if you would like to come join us? We would love to have you if you feel like visiting Gator Country! My question is, if we have friends at our party that want to book a cruise, should we give them our PVP info or will Carnival have a special group set up for those that went to the parties. We love Carnival and are looking forward to sharing our love for cruising with all of our friends. I hope my house is large enough! Any information you have would be highly appreciated.
BTW, I was disappointed that you are going to be on the Freedom when you return after the Thingy is born. I read awhile back you were going to be on the Glory, which we had already booked and were thrilled that we might actually get to sail with you. If you get bored on the Freedom, hop over to the Glory for our sailing on 9/5!
I want an aquarium here in Gainesville too! Hey, would you send me one for the party? Doesn’t hurt to ask…
Hope you have a wonderful week on board!
YEAH JOHN,
I just received an email from Carnival letting me know that I am a hostess for the Carnival Fun Day on March 29th. NOW ALL WE NEED TO MAKE THIS PARTY PERFECT IS FOR YOU TO ATTEND!! PLEASE SAY THAT YOU WILL COME! Since you will be on the west coast anyway, this would be perfect! I am only 40 minutes north of San Francisco. I am so excited and have already sent out my invitations. HOPE TO SEE YOU HERE!!
Sheryl
P.S. John,
I forgot to say that a bunch of the folks that are joining us for the group cruise in Oct. on the Dream that is honoring policemen, firemen, paramedics, doctors, nurses, teachers and their family and friends will be there. So, we are all hoping that you will honor us with your presence!
Sheryl
This sounds very cool–I will be in Manhattan in a couple of weeks and be sure to check it out!
Oh–guess who got picked to host a Carnival Sunday Fun Day–yes, me! I’m so excited about this!
I do hope the new aquariums aren’t catch and release?
PLEASE REPLY!! THANKS!!
John, my husband & I sailed with you on the Carnival Freedom last year during your bloggers cruise. It was our first cruise…we went for 2 weeks and weren’t sure what to expect…BUT YOU WERE FANTASTIC!! We see from your Cruise Director schedule that you are scheduled to be on the Carnival Valor w/o March 15th…..We hope so as we will be on that sailing!!!
Hope to see you there!!
Amy & Bruce Norman
I can’t wait to see the aquarium in Houston! And I really can’t wait to host the Carnival Sunday Fun Day House Party….woohoo!!!
Hello John.. **Please respond***
I am a travel agent that has a group that will be sailing on the Freedom on 3/28/09. This is our 3rd time sailing as a group together. We sailed this same route in 2007 on the Liberty and they took away the Nassau stop before we sailed. We are 18 days away and there are still no shore excursions listed for the Nassau stop. I have called Carnival 3x’s and have been told they had to be entered by hand and would be online by the 6th. They are still not listed.
There are a couple people in my group that keep asking me about this and are worried that the stop will be taken away again. Can you check to see if there will be any excursions in Nassau? Thank you…
Tim
Please Reply
John,
We noticed the aquarium in Baltimore over the weekend. It really brightens up the street. It is only a couple of blocks from my office so I will be sure to go check it out.
I’ve got a question about local cruises. Since we live within walking distance of the Baltimore cruise terminal, I was wondering: are there are ever last minute cruise deals available? It would be so much fun to wake up one morning and decided to hop on a ship rather than go to work.
Thanks for the help and the great job you do with the blog,
Gary
We were also chosen for a House Party! Come to Winnsboro, Texas…..WooHoo!
This is soooo cool, but not one close to me…..
oh well will have to be happy with the ports being close by…. If you could get a vidio of them being played, that would be great too!
thanks for the peek at the fun
Heidi-Beth
the one
and only 1
John:
LOVE this concept!!
Wish I lived close enough to one of these destinations to see it in person.
Linda
Hi John, please reply, i was wanting to know if they have the same shows on every ship?? like last time they had living in america, do they change shows after awhile. what shows are on the Valor??
Best wishes to u and your wife and upcoming baby
sincerely
Bobby
John,
Your blog must have brought us luck, as the wife and I have been chosen to be a Sunday Fun Day host in Lexington, KY. We have a bunch of friends we’ve been trying to get to go with us on our other cruises, so I’m hoping this will be a lot of fun for all of us – sort of a mini-cruise to tide us over until the Dream in October.
You mentioned last year’s Kentucky spring breakers in a previous blog. Was that on the Triumph last March, along with a crazy group of Parrot Heads??? If so, then we HAVE cruised with you before and I just let it slip through my swiss-cheese memory. My wife swears it was a different ship, but I’m pretty sure it was ours. If I’m wrong, oh well. It’d just be nice to know if my memories are out of whack.
Thanks,
Ted
How fun! Too bad they’re all so far away for me to check them out
(
Hi John,
What a super idea! We will definitely check in out prior to our boarding the Pride in Baltimore on May 10th -
Debs
Wow!!! Can’t write much now. On my way to see the Carnival fishes at 111 S. Calvert St. in Baltimore.
Whoo Hoo! thanks Carnival!
BBL OTSTF
(Be Back Later. Off to See the Fishies. )
Dang…Atlanta needs one! And W Palm Beach…way cool!!!
Duchess Sandy
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I always wanted to run away with the circus — but this canival could even be better.
John,
We’re in!!! We were selected as hosts of a Carnival Sunday Fun Day at the Good Ship Franklin! I might even reprise my role as Frank Sinatra–or Dastardly! Either way, we are gonna make the house rock. Can you say KARAOKE? I may put on my best fake British accent just for fun. Now we just need DETAILS!!!
We’re leaving in 4 days for the last West Coast sailing of the Carnival Pride. We will miss her tasteful displays of nudity EVERYWHERE, but we will be on the Splendor in May, so maybe we’ll have a new favorite.
Much love to you, Heidi and Thingy
Rus Franklin
The aquarium sounds very cool! Definitely going to have to take my son to visit the Houston one. Too bad I don’t work downtown anymore!
The aquarium thingy sounds great – we need one in or around Atlanta GA. I hope our fairly new aquarium downtown didn’t discourage this.
So sorry I couldn’t have a Carnival party as I’ll be getting off a cruise that day and home too late to party – boogers.
Hi John, Heida,
We were on the June 07 cruise with the Freedom in Europe. This summer we tried to cruise again with Carnival in Europe. But……… no vessels in Europe. Why??
Please keep trhonwig these posts up they help tons.