Carnival Cruise Line has announced the senior leadership team for the totally transformed Carnival Radiance, set to debut in Europe on April 29, following an extensive $200 million refurbishment in Cadiz, Spain.
Currently sailing as Carnival Victory, the ship will depart Miami on March 2 for a 38-day dry dock and emerge as Carnival Radiance featuring all of the line?s culinary, beverage and entertainment innovations added as part of the line?s $2 billion fleetwide ship enhancement programme. Among its many offerings will be the first-ever Big Chicken at sea restaurant created by the line?s chief fun officer, Shaquille O?Neal.
Captain Bonica will command the ship during dry dock while Captain Mazzi will take over once the vessel begins service in the U.S. Bonica attended Istituto Tecnico Nautico Caio Duilio in Messina and joined Carnival as a third officer in 2000. He was named captain in 2017 and has served on virtually every ship in the fleet during his two decades with the company. Hailing from La Spezia, Italy, Mazzi served in the Italian Navy and joined Carnival Cruise Line as a deck cadet in 2000.
A 25-year Carnival veteran, chief engineer Giovanni Lombardo followed in the footsteps of his father, also a chief engineer with the company, when he joined Carnival as a third engineer aboard Carnival Ecstasy. After working on a number of vessels across the fleet, he was named chief engineer in 2007 and has served in this capacity primarily aboard the line?s Destiny-class ships.
Born in Cork, Ireland, hotel director Caroline Bourke is a 16-year company veteran and was part of the inaugural team that introduced Carnival Radiance?s sister ship, Carnival Sunrise, last year. Bourke joined the company in 2004 and was promoted to guest services manager in 2009 before being named hotel director in 2016.
The ship will begin its inaugural voyage, a ten-day sailing from Barcelona, on April 29, kicking off a schedule of nine- and 12-day Mediterranean cruises. It will then reposition to New York to offer four- to nine-day cruises to Bermuda, the Caribbean and eastern Canada, as well as five- to seven-day voyages from Norfolk.
In November, the ship shifts to Port Canaveral for six- to eight-day Caribbean voyages through May 2021 after which it will move to Galveston, significantly expanding the line?s offerings from that port.
New offerings aboard include Guy?s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse created by Food Network star Guy Fieri, Cucina del Capitano family-style Italian restaurant, Bonsai Sushi and the Caribbean-inspired RedFrog Pub. All of the ship?s spaces will be transformed including the water park, youth facilities, retail shops, Cloud 9 Spa and a new Liquid Lounge home to the cruise line's Playlist Productions shows.
