''Carnival Radiance'' (formerly ''Carnival Victory'') 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 shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This ...

. She became the last of the three ''Destiny''-class ships to undergo a refit and rename. The ship's refit was completed in October 2021, and she resumed service on 13 December.

Construction

''Carnival Victory '' was built by

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 ...

at its

Monfalcone Monfalcone (; Bisiacco: ; fur, Monfalcon; sl, Tržič; archaic german: Falkenberg) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Gorizia in Friuli Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, located on the Gulf of Trieste. Monfalcone means 'falcon mountain ...

shipyard in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy. ''Carnival Victory'' was launched on 31 December 1998 and later christened by Mary Frank, wife of Howard Frank, the then vice-chairman of Carnival Cruise Line. At the time of her launch, she was one of the largest cruise ships of her era. In April 2020 the vessel was supposed to begin a $200 million dry dock in Cadiz, Spain. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

the refit was delayed until mid-2021. After this dry docking the ship was renamed ''Carnival Radiance''. On 12 December 2021, ''Carnival Radiance'' was christened by Shaquille O'Neal's mother, Lucille O'Neal, in Long Beach, and the ship entered service the next day.

Design

Machinery

The ship is powered by four GMT Sulzer 16 ZAV and two GMT Sulzer 12 ZAV diesel-electric engines driving two

controllable pitch propeller In marine propulsion, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change the blade pitch. Reversible propellers—those where the pitch can be set to negative values—can al ...

s. She is fitted with two rudders (which can be individually controlled) as well as stabilizers.

Layout

''Carnival Victory'' is themed by American designer and architect Joseph Farcus to depict the different oceans and seas of the world. Like (formerly ''Carnival Triumph''), her architecture is different from sister ship (formerly ''Carnival Destiny''). The two newer vessels have additional balcony cabins on their

Lido deck In British English, a lido ( , ) is a public outdoor swimming pool and surrounding facilities, or part of a beach where people can swim, lie in the sun, or participate in water sports. On a cruise ship or ocean liner, the lido deck feature ...

s and various changes to placement and architecture of public areas. There are three large pools and a waterslide. She has a nine-deck atrium with four glass elevators, a two-deck lounge with seating for 747, and a total capacity of 3,400 passengers and 1,100 crew members. On 16 October 2018, Carnival Cruise Line announced that the ship will enter drydock on 18 March 2020 at Cadiz, Spain. She left for Cadiz on 4 March 2020 after her final voyage as ''Carnival Victory''. She was planned to leave drydock on 26 April 2020 after receiving a $200 million refurbishment, but work was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic until the end of the year. In August 2021, refurbishment on the ship resumed. On 1 October 2021, she left drydock and began her journey back across the Atlantic. During her dry dock, ''Carnival Radiance'' received the new livery that Carnival began rolling out in 2021, starting with the ''Mardi Gras'' and ''Carnival Magic''. She is the first of the class to receive the new wave livery.

Operation

Throughout her service, ''Carnival Victory'' has been based in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

in the United States sailing year-round on alternating three- and four-night cruises to Caribbean destinations. On 23 July 2020, Carnival announced that ''Carnival Radiance''s new homeport will be

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

instead of

Port Canaveral, Florida Port Canaveral is a cruise, cargo, and naval port in Brevard County, Florida, Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world with 4.5 million cruise passengers passing through during 2016. Over 5.4 m ...

as previously announced in 2018. In 2021, she took over the Catalina Island/ Ensenada itinerary previously served by both and .

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

*
Carnival Victory Photo Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carnival Radiance

Radiance In radiometry, radiance is the radiant flux emitted, reflected, transmitted or received by a given surface, per unit solid angle per unit projected area. Radiance is used to characterize diffuse emission and reflection of electromagnetic radiati ...

Ships built in Monfalcone 1998 ships Ships built by Fincantieri