PHOTO: Country star Martina McBride performs for military personnel and their families on Carnival Freedom. (Courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line)
Carnival Cruise Line celebrated the arrival of its third year-round cruise ship in Galveston in a big way - with a top-deck concert by country superstar Martina McBride and a free onboard overnight for military personnel and their families.
The Valentine's Day party was held on the Carnival Freedom, which departed Feb. 15 on its first voyage from Galveston, where it joins Carnival Magic and Carnival Triumph. The Freedom offers four- to seven-day cruises calling at ports in Mexico, the Caribbean, Bahamas and Florida.
The Freedom's arrival increases Carnival's capacity from Galveston by 38 percent, Jim Berra, Carnival's chief marketing officer, told reporters in town for the celebration. The line expects to carry about 600,000 passengers from Galveston this year.
Carnival starting sailing from Galveston in 2000, but it now ranks as the second- or third-largest homeport behind Miami - Galveston switches places with Port Canaveral as capacity shifts depending on the time of year, Berra said.
The vast majority of Carnival passengers on cruises from Galveston - a whopping 90 percent - drive to the island, Berra said. Most are from Texas, but they also hail from Louisiana and Oklahoma.
The festivities also marked the first major public appearance by Christine Duffy as president of Carnival Cruise Line. Previously CEO of Cruise Lines International Association, she moved to Carnival on Feb. 1.
She told TravelPulse she spent her first two weeks listening to Carnival employees, holding meetings with workers with a collective 1,672 years of experience at the Fun Ship line.
"We couldn't think of a better way to bring the Freedom to Texas than to celebrate the people who give us freedom," she said, referring to the 1,000 military people and their families who came onboard in partnership with Operation Homefront, a national non-profit organization that supports military personnel.
Prior to McBride's concert, Carnival presented a check for $100,000 to Operation Homefront.
PHOTO: Carnival President Christine Duffy and Senior Cruise Director John Heald, right, present a $100,000 check to Operation Homefront COO Tim Farrell. (Courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line)
McBride performed new songs and covers as well as her major hits appropriate for the occasion, "Valentine" and "Independence Day."
"I'm so honored to be able to do this concert, especially on Valentine's Day," McBride said. "Because I know that so many military and their families are apart on holidays - very special holidays - to bring everybody together and get to celebrate this romantic holiday onboard Carnival Freedom is just exciting. I want [our military members] to walk away having had a good time, having celebrated being with their family on Valentine's Day."
McBride has also is part of the Carnival LIVE concert program, which brings major performers to theaters that accommodate no more than 1,330 people on the cruise ships.
"It's really fun. It is a small venue and it's intimate, so I love that because I really can feel a connection with the audience," McBride told TravelPulse. "Plus everybody that's on the ship is in vacation mode - they're relaxed, they're happy - and you can really feel that as well."
Carnival Freedom recently underwent a $70 million makeover that added Fun Ship 2.0 enhancements, including the Seuss at Sea family program, marine-themed Camp Ocean children's center, Guy's Burger Joint developed with Food Network personality Guy Fieri, the Caribbean-inspired RedFrog Pub and the cocktail pharmacy-themed Alchemy Bar.
While Carnival Freedom will remain in Galveston for the foreseeable future, the Carnival Breeze and Liberty will replace Carnival Magic and Triumph there in 2016. Itinerary details haven't yet been announced for those ships.
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