WHY IT RATES: In a celebration of summer, Carnival Cruise Line's #ChooseFun AirShip takes to the skies to encourage public social media engagement that also benefits its humanitarian efforts. - Laurie Baratti, TravelPulse Associate Writer
Carnival Cruise Line's #ChooseFun AirShip is heading east to celebrate the start of summer and the New York debut of the totally transformed Carnival Sunrise, kicking off its month-long tour with an appearance at the ship's official naming ceremony at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal on May 23.
Over the subsequent four weeks, the 128-foot-long AirShip will visit locations across all five New York boroughs, New Jersey and Philadelphia, flying over many popular landmarks and events. AirShip's first week will include visits to Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn followed by classic summer vacation hot spots Fire Island, Coney Island and Staten Island for Memorial Day weekend, and a week in Long Island. AirShip will then spend the first week of June flying over New Jersey before concluding its northeast tour in The Bronx and Brooklyn.
"Seeing how successful our West Coast journey was earlier this year, we knew we had to get the East Coast in on the fun," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "We plan to do New York in a big way this summer as we take the region by sea and air with summer sailings of the beautiful Carnival Sunrise and AirShip enticing fun seekers to Choose Fun with a Carnival cruise."
Carnival's AirShip has a bigger and better charitable component than ever before, as well. Encouraging fans to engage with AirShip on social media, for every person who posts a photo of the colorful blimp using the hashtag #ChooseFun, Carnival will make a $10 donation to its longtime charitable partner St. Jude Children's Research Hospital®, up to a maximum donation of $20,000, helping in the ongoing fight against childhood cancer.
Consumers will also have the chance to win a free cruise or weekly drawings for cash gift cards when they enter the AirShip Sweepstakes that kicks off May 23 at carnival.com/choosefun.
Carnival Sunrise will spend the summer in New York operating four- to 14-day voyages before repositioning to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for a winter schedule of Caribbean and Bahamian cruises beginning in October 2019. Carnival Sunrise then heads back to New York for another season of cruises in spring 2020.
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