After a fun cruise vacation, many passengers will look for a meaningful souvenir to help them remember the experience. This might come in the form of a refrigerator magnet, a shirt or hoodie, ornaments, or even jewelry.
But for avid Carnival cruisers, ceramic models of the brandโs more than 25 ships are particularly popular – with the Fun Shops on each ship usually selling a mini replica of the vessel of which they are onboard.
Each time cruise fans embark on a new Carnival ship, they can collect another model for their collection.
But unfortunately for one guest, who recently sailed aboard Mardi Gras, the item was out of stock in the Fun Shops – which is the only official place to purchase the models.
As the shops are typically only restocked at the beginning of each cruise, the store likely wouldnโt receive another shipment of the popular souvenirs until the ship returned to her homeport at the end of the voyage.
As a last ditch effort, the disappointed passenger reached out to Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald on his Facebook page to see if he could help her acquire the coveted model on her upcoming sailing onboard Carnival Freedom – which is a 4-night Bahamas cruise embarking from Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida, on February 6, 2025.
โWe collect the ceramic ship models of each ship we have sailed. We should have 5 but when we went in Mardi Gras this past August, we went to the fun shop on day 1 to find they didnโt have any on board,โ the guest explained.
โAfter disembarking, we contacted the company that stocks them and found out the ONLY way to get one is on board and they were sorry there were none for us to purchase in the shop that sailing,โ she continued.
The avid cruiser went on to politely ask if Heald knew of a way for the Mardi Gras model to be sent to Carnival Freedom so that she could purchase it in just a couple weeks, but unfortunately the brand ambassador couldnโt accommodate the request.
Why Carnival Canโt Supply the Model
While Heald always wants to make his followers happy, there are some situations that are simply out of his hands – and this is one of those times.
This is because Carnival doesnโt actually own the Fun Shops onboard its cruise ships. Instead, the stores are owned and operated by Harding, a UK-based cruise retailer.
โI totally understand your request and Iโm so very very sorry that we could not provide one for you during the cruise and indeed we canโt provide another ship model when you are on [Carnival Freedom],โ Heald apologized.
โYou see, we do not own the shops, they are different companies that own different shops on different ships and so Iโm afraid that is the reason why we canโt do anything at all,โ he went on to explain.
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Aside from joining Mardi Gras for another cruise – with the Excel-class ship currently alternating between Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries out of Port Canaveral – this woman’s best bet would likely be to check eBay or other Carnival groups on Facebook.
โThere is a [Facebook] page called Carnival Cruise Line Buy Sell & Swap. It may be able to help,โ another commenter helpfully chimed in.
Of course, this isnโt the first unique request Heald has received regarding the souvenirs available for purchase in the onboard shops.
At the end of 2024, one guest actually reached out to Heald because she was upset that she couldnโt find a dog-friendly souvenir for her puppy.
Healdโs assistant, Jacinta, thanked the guest for her suggestion of introducing canine-friendly souvenirs. But thus far, itโs unclear when or if these will be added to the Fun Shops’ inventories.