''Carnival Horizon'' is a operated by

Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel (ship), funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue colo ...

. She is the 26th vessel in the Carnival fleet and is the second of Carnival's ''Vista'' class, which includes and . The ship has a tonnage of and a capacity of 3,960 passengers. In 2019, she and her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, ''Carnival Vista'', were both superseded as the largest Carnival ship by their sister, the ''Carnival Panorama''.

History

Planning and construction

On December 19, 2014, Carnival Corporation announced a new order with

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

for a second ship to be similarly designed to her

, ''Carnival Vista'', making her the 26th vessel in the fleet. On July 29, 2016, Carnival announced the name of its second ''Vista''-class vessel as ''Carnival Horizon''. Construction of the ship took 30 months, which included the steel cutting in March 2015, the

keel laying Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

in April 2016, and the

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s in November 2017.

Delivery and christening

On March 28, 2018, Fincantieri delivered ''Carnival Horizon'' to Carnival Cruise Line. On March 1, 2018, Carnival announced

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...

as the godmother of ''Carnival Horizon.'' She christened the vessel on May 23, 2018 upon her arrival in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

from a 14-day

transatlantic crossing Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between Western Europe and North America. Centuries ...

Itinerary

Carnival Horizon off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico

''Carnival Horizon'' embarked on her maiden voyage on April 2, 2018 from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

for a 13-day

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

sailing, visiting ports of call in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. The ship continued a series of cruises for a short season in the

before re-positioning to

in May for the remainder of summer 2018. From New York, she operated sailings to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

before re-positioning to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

in September, where she offers year-round six-night cruises to the Western Caribbean and eight-night cruises to the Eastern and Southern Caribbean.

Incidents

On March 16, 2022, a male passenger jumped from the 11th deck into the water around 7pm after departing Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos. The ship immediately initiated search and rescue procedures. The US Coast Guard was notified and the body of the passenger was located at approximately 9pm. On November 15, 2019, a passenger fell four stories off a balcony to his death from a lower deck of the ship just as it was returning to

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. The medical staff on board the ship responded to the incident; however, they could not revive him. According to the medical examiner's office, it was revealed that the passenger's death was due to blunt force trauma and not a suicide.

References

External links

Carnival Cruise Line: ''Carnival Horizon'' official site
{{Carnival Cruise Line

Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...

Panamax cruise ships Ships built by Fincantieri Ships built in Venice 2017 ships