Next Carnival Vista Ship Reaches Another Construction Milestone

by Doug Parker
Last updated: 7:00 PM ET, Wed May 18, 2016

Photo by Doug Parker

Carnival Cruise Line celebrated another milestone today in the construction of its unnamed ship, Vista 2, at Fincantieri shipyard outside of Sorrento, Italy.

On this beautiful day, many Carnival and Fincantieri executives gathered at the shipyard for a launch ceremony that featured a 100-meter forward-section of Carnival Vista 2 that was floated from dry dock and into the water. This launch event is a maritime tradition dating back centuries.

The section of the ship was launched in a traditional style where it was blessed by a priest and then sent into the water. Christine Duffy, President of Carnival Cruise Line, was handed and ax and got the honor of cutting the cord, which set the section of the ship rolling into the water. After quickly being launched off the platform into the water, the section of the ship was retrieved by a tugboat where it was escorted back to the dock.

This section of Vista 2 will stay at the shipyard for another week until it's next stop, where it'll get towed to another Fincantieri shipyard right outside of Venice. There, the section of the ship will join the rest of the construction of the 133,500-ton vessel.

The section of the ship that floated today, which was deck zero on the forward part of the ship, is 6,000 gross registered tons. Piece by piece this ship will come together and will be ready to take its first voyage in spring of 2018.

"I've only ever seen this kind of thing on TV. It was an emotional, jaw dropping moment," said John Heald, Brand Ambassador for Carnival Cruise Line.

"Cruise ships are built like Legos, parts are fabricated at different locations and then pieced together. The section that we launched today consisted of 15-20 pieces," Marco Lunardi, Project Manager at Fincantieri told us. Marco headed up the Carnival Vista project and now Vista 2.

Carnival Vista was recently launched on May 1st and is Carnival's biggest ship yet. The Vista ship includes nearly 30 food and drink venues, including the first brewery at sea, Red Frog Pub and Brewery. Currently, Vista is sailing in the Mediterranean. It will be relocating briefly to NYC in October for three sailings before heading to its new home, Miami, in December.

More details of Vista 2 will be released closer to the ship's launch. Carnival has hinted to new features and venues, which will be released when the ship debuts in 2018.

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