Rendering of the Carnival Vista courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival Cruise Line has launched a fun social media photo contest to celebrate "Manhattanhenge," a twice-yearly phenomenon in which the sun aligns perfectly with New York City city's east-west grid and illuminates both the north and south sides of every cross street.
The contest also serves to highlight "The Queen of Breathtaking Vistas," the line's new flagship, Carnival Vista, which enters service in May.
This year, Manhattanhenge, a play on the name Stonehenge reportedly coined by American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, will occur on July 12.
The phenomenon sends New Yorkers into the streets to snap pictures - and now Carnival said the person who takes the most creative and original photo will win a free Carnival Vista cruise for two.
The event, also sometimes called Manhattan Solstice, will occur with the full sun at 8:20 p.m. EDT on July 12 and with half sun at 8:21 p.m. July 13. It last occurred May 29-30.
"For Manhattan, a place where evening matters more than morning, that special day comes twice a year, when the setting sun aligns precisely with the Manhattan street grid, creating a radiant glow of light across Manhattan's brick and steel canyons, simultaneously illuminating both the north and south sides of every cross street of the borough's grid," deGrasse Tyson wrote in a blog on the American Museum of Natural History website. "A rare and beautiful sight."
Carnival's contest asks participants to upload their Manhattanhenge photos to Instagram, Twitter or the contest website, using the hashtag #ShowMeYourVista. The Carnival Vista - a ship with a sassy personality and its own Twitter account - will announce the winner of the free cruise on July 15. All approved images will appear on the #ShowMeYourVista website and will be judged on creativity and originality.
Carnival's newest and largest ship, Carnival Vista is set to debut in Europe May 1, operating Mediterranean voyages before repositioning to New York for a series of cruises in November 2016. The ship then moves to Miami for year-round six- and eight-day Caribbean service.
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