The Concordia class is a class of cruise ships that are operated by Costa Cruises and Carnival Cruise Lines , subsidiaries of Carnival Corporation & plc .
28-537: Carnival Splendor is a Concordia -class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line . As she is the only Concordia -class ship in the Carnival fleet, she is also referred to as a Splendor- class ship. Her other sister ships are part of the Costa Crociere fleet. The ship was originally designed and ordered for Costa Cruises but she was transferred to Carnival Cruise Line during construction. She has
56-1083: A blogger for the cruise line. He first became a Carnival cruise director in 1990. In 2004, he was named the senior cruise director of Carnival. Heald blogs about the daily occurrences in his career as a cruise director. Heald introduced his blog during the first sailing of the Carnival Freedom in March 2007. He was asked by Carnival's management to write a blog. The blog was initially planned to be several months long, but Heald's "engaging personality" and "candid commentary" were so well received by his readers that he continued blogging. Heald plans to blog "as long as it stays fresh and people keep tuning in". Every day, Heald answers about 60 questions about cruising . The blog has received more than 17 million hits by October 2013 —up from 4.5 million in February 2008—and many of Heald's daily posts receive from 50 to 60 comments. Heald's blogs are about his passengers and
84-482: A wine steward and a bar waiter . He is the first Carnival Cruise director who did not begin working in the entertainment aspect of cruising. John Heald became a cruise director at Carnival in 1990. By 2004, he was promoted to the position of senior cruise director. As the senior director at Carnival, John Heald is appointed the director of most new Carnival ships during their first sailings. Before each new voyage, he creates videos , telling his passengers about
112-482: A "welcome aboard reception", a tea session with him, and several meetings where he answered questions. During one of these cruises, he and 100 of his passengers on Carnival Fantasy helped paint a school that was struck by Hurricane Katrina . On "Bloggers Cruise Community Service Day", Heald and his companions helped plant trees and clean up waste in New Orleans . "Big Ed" is the moniker of Ed Konefe, who
140-594: A 24-day transpacific cruise to Singapore, where she was dry docked to undergo renovations before being homeported in Sydney. Stops along the voyage included Maui , Oahu , Guam , Kota Kinabalu , and Ho Chi Minh City . This was the longest voyage ever offered by Carnival, and was Carnival Splendor ' s final voyage out of Long Beach. From 30 October to 24 November 2019, Carnival Splendor underwent renovations prior to sailing to her homeport in Sydney. In February 2022, Carnival announced that due to uncertain times in
168-537: A different funnel design than her sister ships. The 113,323 gross tonnage (GT) ship entered service on 2 July 2008 as the largest Carnival ship until Carnival Dream debuted in September 2009. Carnival Splendor ' s godmother is Myleene Klass , who on 10 July 2008 christened the vessel in Dover in a ceremony where she played Sailing on the piano, while a Royal Navy diver climbed up five decks on
196-460: A rope, and broke the bottle of champagne on the bow by hand. Carnival Splendor ' s inaugural season began on 2 July 2008 with a cruise from Genoa , Italy to Dover , England, followed by cruises to Northern European ports. On 3 November 2008 she transited to Fort Lauderdale, Florida . In January 2009, Carnival Splendor moved to Long Beach, California , a journey which took 49 days. The ship's post- Panamax size made it too wide to navigate
224-458: Is marketed as a Splendor -class ship. Including Carnival Splendor , there are currently five ships sailing in the Concordia class. Carnival Splendor experienced a fire in her engine room on November 8, 2010, resulting in a loss of all electrical power and stranding the vessel with almost 4,500 on board. Costa Concordia sank on January 13, 2012, after running aground shortly off
252-626: The Panama Canal at the time, so it made the journey by sailing around Cape Horn . It was the first Carnival ship to have ever made this voyage. From Long Beach, she sailed year-round cruises to Mexico. In March 2009, Carnival Splendor was the host ship for Mayercraft Carrier 2 , a four-day cruise from 27 to 31 March, from Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas , Mexico hosted by musician John Mayer and featuring music and comedy shows. In February 2013, Carnival Splendor sailed again around South America, re-positioning to New York City to cruise to
280-533: The Australian cruise industry, Splendor would have her Australia based cruises canceled through September 2022, with the ship expected to return to the US and a new homeport will be announced in the coming weeks. It was announced that Splendor will sail from Seattle, Washington , taking over Carnival Freedom , alongside Carnival Spirit . In March 2022, it was announced by Carnival's Brand Ambassador John Heald that
308-751: The Caribbean and Bermuda. In November 2014, Carnival Splendor was re-positioned to Florida to offer seasonal seven-day cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean. In March 2014, Carnival announced Carnival Splendor would sail seasonally out of Norfolk, Virginia before heading back to New York beginning in 2015. In October 2015, Carnival announced that Carnival Splendor would be re-positioned to China in 2018 offering year-round short cruises. However, Carnival subsequently announced in November 2016 that Carnival Splendor would instead relocate to Long Beach for
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#1732775368797336-692: The Panamanian Maritime Authority. The report into the cause of the fire was released on 15 July 2013. On 23 February 2012, while in Puerto Vallarta port, Mexico, 22 passengers on the Carnival-organized "City and Jungle Tour" were robbed by an armed bandit. Passengers lost money, cameras, purses, passports, other documents and valuables. No shots were fired and everybody escaped without injuries. On 2 March 2017, while 50 miles (80 km) offshore of Puerto Rico,
364-525: The aft engine room and three in a forward engine room. Each generator is connected to two switchboards. The failure of a single engine or generator should not normally cause a total power loss. Clark Dodge, former chief engineer for Washington State Ferries , said, "If things were designed properly, all the power shouldn't have gone out." The investigation into the fire was carried out by the United States Coast Guard in conjunction with
392-596: The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan . Splendor was escorted by, and received aid and security assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau . Carnival Splendor arrived in San Diego under tow around sunrise on 11 November, and docked around noon. Carnival promised to refund all passengers for ticket and travel expenses along with a voucher for a free cruise of equal value to their cruise on Carnival Splendor . The ship has three 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 12V46C medium-speed diesel generating sets in
420-556: The bill for Heald's and his friends' meal. Heald characterized it as "love at first sight". In May 2009, John and Heidi had a daughter, Kye. Kye's name means "beautiful ocean". In June 2015 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy, Kye officiated over a ceremony where coins were fused to Carnival Vista to commemorate the finishing of the new ship's exterior. Carnival anointed her the ship's "godchild". USA Today said six-year-old Kye
448-518: The cheapest excursions. Heald has a contract with Carnival, in which he works for six consecutive months followed by two months off. He oversees the entertainment aspect of the ship, including the dancers and the orchestra . John Heald was the cruise director of the Carnival Splendor , when the ship's engine room caught fire, stranding the passengers at sea off the coast of Mexico for more than three days. On his blog, he discussed
476-400: The coast of Tuscany , resulting in 32 fatalities (33 including the later death of a salvage worker). The ship had departed from Civitavecchia on a seven-day Mediterranean cruise with 3,229 passengers and a crew of 1,023. The grounding caused a 50-metre (160 ft) gash in the hull, flooding the ship, causing her to list and drift toward the shore, where she later capsized and sank. Although
504-549: The events that occur to him while he is cruise director. His blog has a disclaimer , saying that the "views and opinions represent my own". He has been nicknamed " Bill Bryson at sea". Gene Sloan of USA Today wrote that Heald is "famously irreverent" and "known for his candid, funny and sometimes outrageously inappropriate daily missives about life at sea". Heald was a commodity banker for Lloyd's of London in England . In 1989, he began working for Carnival Cruises as
532-430: The fire", adding it was isolated to the aft generator room. The fire was extinguished by the afternoon, and no one was injured. Nearly 4,500 passengers and crew members were on board at the time. The crew was unable to restore power to the engines, and the ship was towed by tugboat to San Diego . Without power for air conditioning and refrigeration, passengers were fed rations delivered via U.S. Navy helicopters from
560-529: The incident, which the Los Angeles Times ' s Mary Forgione called a "lurid personal account of being stranded at sea". In September 2007, Carnival gave Heald the "Sea Going Employee of the Year" award. In January 2008, Heald led his first "bloggers cruise", called John Heald Bloggers Cruise, which was a week-long cruise attended by 700 of his "hard-core fans". He entertained the attendees with
588-438: The main pool. The main pool features a glass exterior on both sides of the ship. A retractable magrodome was also added for the main pool. Another notable difference is the enlargement of its spa facilities. Each ship has a 21,000 sq ft (2,000 m ) wellness facility. Additional spa cabins were also included into the Concordia class. Carnival operates only a single vessel in this class, Carnival Splendor , which
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#1732775368797616-637: The second time in January 2018, offering cruises to the Mexican Riviera. To move to Long Beach from the Caribbean, she sailed through the Panama Canal and became one of the largest ships to cross through the new locks. In February 2018, Carnival announced Carnival Splendor would sail to Australia in December 2019 to operate year-round out of Sydney . On 5 October 2019, the ship embarked on
644-459: The ship experienced a catastrophic failure of the No. 5 diesel generator which started a fire in her aft engine room . The fire spread to the overhead electrical cable runs in the aft engine room. The fire in the cable runs caused extensive damage to the cabling and contributed to the ship losing all electrical power. According to Carnival president, Gerry Cahill, a "crankcase split, and that's what caused
672-413: The ship experienced engine trouble requiring operation on a single engine. Carnival canceled the remaining portion of the cruise and returned to Miami. Carnival offered a 50% refund off the cost of the cruise, free internet use for the remainder of the voyage, and a 50% discount off a future cruise. On 20 May 2023, a passenger of Carnival Splendor died while swimming at Mystery Island , Vanuatu . The ship
700-523: The ship had sunk only partially and next to the shore, the evacuation was chaotic and her captain was subsequently arrested on preliminary charges of multiple manslaughter in connection with not only causing a shipwreck, but also failing to assist 300 passengers and failing to be the last to leave the wreck. John Heald John Heald (born 22 January 1965) is the Brand Ambassador and senior cruise director of Carnival Cruise Lines and
728-474: The vessel would take a 23-day cruise from Seattle to its homeport in Sydney on September 6, 2022. On 2 May 2 2022, Carnival Splendor became the final ship of the brand to return to service, marking Carnival's full return to service. In 2024, the ship got the new livery. On 8 November 2010, at approximately 06:00 Pacific Time , on the second day of a voyage from Long Beach to the Mexican Riviera ,
756-475: Was on a 9-day trip around the South Pacific and returned to Sydney on May 24. It was believed that the passenger died while snorkeling. Concordia-class cruise ship The ship's design is based on the design of Carnival's Conquest class fleet of ships. However, their design from lido (pool) deck up to the top deck was enlarged and redesigned. The most notable difference is the structure around
784-577: Was the first poster on Heald's blog and who is "arguably the most notorious participant". During the bloggers cruise, Konefe said, "We started as bloggers, went from there to being friends, and now we're family." John Heald was born in Essex , England on 22 January 1965. In 1995, John Heald met his wife, Heidi, then a flower market auctioneer, when he was eating at a restaurant in Amsterdam . He sent her and her comrades wine , and Heidi and her friends paid
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