by Sarah Kuta
Last updated: 11:45 AM ET, Tue May 7, 2024
Carnival Cruise Line is celebrating 30 years of sailing out of New Orleans.
On Monday, the cruise line held a celebratory event at Port NOLA as Carnival Liberty sailed into town. Emeril Lagasse, the cruise line’s chief culinary officer, was on hand for the festivities, as were Chris Chiames, Carnival’s chief communications officer, and Arnold Donald, the former CEO of Carnival Corporation.
Carnival Liberty will now join Carnival Valor in homeporting in New Orleans, where Carnival is the top cruise operator. It’s also the only line to homeport in the city year-round, transporting nearly seven million guests since 1994.
Emeril Lagasse, of Emeril’s, New Orleans. (Photo Credit: Carnival Cruise Line Media)
Carnival Liberty will offer week-long voyages to destinations in the Bahamas, Mexico and the Caribbean. The ship will also make several visits to Celebration Key, Carnival’s forthcoming private destination on Grand Bahama.
“It’s an honor to share this great milestone and build on our successful partnership with the city and the port of New Orleans,” says Christine Duffy, Carnival Cruise Line president. “We sail more than 400,000 guests from Port NOLA annually and for every one of them, our goal is the same: providing a fun and memorable vacation. That’s certainly a shared objective with the City of New Orleans, for all its visitors, which drives our partnership’s continued success.”
In honor of the anniversary, the cruise line donated $30,000 to the Emeril Lagasse Foundation to support New Orleans’ education and culinary programs for youth. Lagasse made the first cut in a special anniversary cake before showing students from the Belle Chasse Academy around the ship’s main galley.
“Even before joining the team, I knew well that Carnival has been a great partner to our incredible city,” Lagasse says. “We’ve all seen and enjoyed the growing popularity of cruising from our port over the years, which continues to bring more people here to enjoy all the rich culture our city has to offer. My restaurants, Emeril’s and Meril, are just a few blocks from the pier, and it’s also special getting to welcome a ship docking here for the first time. We’re proud Carnival Liberty and her great team are now calling New Orleans home.”
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