Carnival Cruise Line has announced that the new Carnival Venezia, currently making its way to New York on its inaugural sailing after joining the Carnival fleet, will not have a godmother, but will be the first of the line’s ships to have a ceremonial godfather.

Late night talk show host and comedian Jay Leno will have the honor, and will christen the ship in a naming ceremony on June 14, 2023.

Carnival Venezia Godfather Named

Carnival Venezia will be the first-ever Carnival cruise ship to have a godfather, rather than a godmother, Carnival Cruise Line has announced as the ship is less than two weeks from its formal christening.

“Carnival Venezia originally entered service for our Italian sister brand Costa Cruises and was christened in 2019, so she already has a godmother,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

Costa Venezia’s godmother is Gan Beiye, the matriarch of a Chinese family who are fans of Costa Cruises and had been sailing with the line for several years before Costa Venezia debuted. As the ship was designed for the Chinese cruise market and debuted in Shanghai, the relationship was a natural one.

Now, as Costa Venezia prepares to debut in the Big Apple and bring “Carnival Fun, Italian Style” to cruise fans, it is only appropriate that the new ceremonial godparent be a New York native with Italian heritage.

“With Carnival Venezia joining the fleet and sailing from New York, we wanted to ensure a proper welcome for the ship and decided having a godfather would be both fun and appropriate,” said Duffy. “And when we thought of someone who would make a FUN godfather with Italian heritage, we knew Jay Leno would be the perfect godfather!”

Jay Leno and Carnival

Celebrated late night talk show host, comedian, and noted collector of vintage cars and motorbikes, Jay Leno is the ideal choice to welcome Carnival Venezia. He is a native of New Rochelle, New York, and the grandson of immigrants from Flumeri, Campania, Italy.

“I am truly honored to be named the godfather of Carnival Venezia. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse,” said Leno. “Carnival’s focus on FUN combined with the Italian theming of this ship is something that is truly unique. I’m also excited to have my very own cruise ship, although I think I’ll need a bigger garage!”

Leno is best known as host of the top-ranked late night talk show, The Tonight Show, from which he retired in 2014. He also produces and hosts the CNBC primetime series Jay Leno’s Garage, writes a regular column on car restoration and maintenance for Popular Mechanics, and is involved in multiple charitable causes.

Leno has also been involved with Carnival Cruise Line previously, having been part of the Carnival LIVE entertainment series.

The naming ceremony for Carnival Venezia will be Wednesday, June 14, 2023, in New York. Further details about the event have not yet been announced, but will include the traditional blessings for a new vessel to wish her and all who sail on her safety and fun.

The ship is currently in the midst of her first voyage, a 15-night transatlantic crossing from Barcelona to New York. Guests onboard the revitalized ship are enjoying port of call visits to Malaga, Spain; Gibraltar, UK; Lisbon and Ponta Delgada, Portugal; and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

It is a star-studded voyage indeed, not only with Jay Leno to join the ship in New York, but with Christine Duffy as well as Carnival’s Chief Culinary Officer, Emeril Lagasse, onboard for the beginning of the sailing.

New Vibes on a New Ship

Carnival Venezia has spent more than two months in wet and dry dock in Cadiz, Spain being refit into her new personality. While much of the ship’s Italian architecture has been preserved, new updates have incorporated Carnival Cruise Line’s unique and distinctive brand of fun aboard.

Now on the ship are popular Carnival venues such as Guy’s Burger Joint, Bonsai Sushi & Teppanyaki, the Fahrenheit 555 steakhouse, Camp Ocean, and more.

A new elevated Italian specialty restaurant, Il Viaggio, has also been added, offering regional specialties to bring authentic Italian fare to guests.

The ship’s exterior has also been updated to reflect her new cruise line, with new blue-and-gold livery to reflect Costa Cruises but with the patterning and graceful lines that match Carnival Cruise Line’s red-white-and-blue livery.

Carnival Venezia will remain homeported from New York sailing a variety of Bermuda, Bahamas, Canada, New England, and longer Caribbean itineraries through mid-December 2024, at which time she will be redeployed to Port Canaveral to offer Eastern, Western, and Southern Caribbean cruises as well as occasional Panama Canal sailings.

Guests booked on the upcoming June 3, 2023 departure of Carnival Panorama have been alerted to a delay in embarkation, as the ship will not be arriving on schedule on Saturday as planned when it returns to Long Beach.

Carnival Cruise Line has reached out to guests via text and email to notify them of the situation, and is urging guests to sign up for text alerts to stay informed.

Carnival Panorama Delayed

Carnival Panorama is currently experiencing a technical issue that impacts the ship’s maximum cruising speed, and because of this, will not be arriving back to its homeport of Long Beach, California on time on Saturday, June 3. Guests booked on the next sailing have received messages alerting them to the delay.

“The ship will be returning to Long Beach later than scheduled and this will impact embarkation for your cruise,” the email said. Carnival Panorama was scheduled to arrive and begin debarkation no later than 9 a.m.

At this time, the Vista-class ship is docked in Cabo San Lucas, the last port of call on its current 5-night “Mexican Riviera” itinerary, which left Long Beach on Saturday, May 27, and has already called at Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. Friday, June 2, is to be a day at sea as the ship returns to California.

The email to the next sailings’ guests does state that “our team is working on a repair plan” which indicates that repairs may not yet be underway. The issue may need further evaluation or specific parts may be required before work can begin.

What About Guests Onboard?

Guests onboard the current sailing were informed prior to embarkation that the ship’s maximum cruising speed is impacted, and that the port visit to Cabo San Lucas would be shortened by 30 minutes to help provide more time for the ship to return to Long Beach.

A letter delivered to guests’ staterooms on Wednesday, May 31, indicates the change in port call as well as when the ship is expected to return to Long Beach.

“We now expect to dock in Long Beach by 9:30 AM, Saturday,” the letter reads. “We apologize for this change of plans and thank you for your understanding.”

Current tracking data, however, shows the ship’s estimated time of arrival at Long Beach to be 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. It is possible this information does not reflect the most recent data, or else the ship’s arrival has been further revised and guests onboard are not yet alerted to the change.

Guests on the next sailing – an identical 7-night “Mexican Riviera” sailing – are being asked to sign up for text alerts and will receive more information by 6 p.m. on Friday evening.

Future Sailings Possibly Impacted

It is possible this issue may not be resolved for the next several cruises, which has happened in the past when different Carnival cruise ships have experienced engine difficulties. The ship’s safety and guest operations are in no way impacted, only the maximum cruising speed of the vessel.

Carnival Panorama joined the Fun Ship fleet in 2019, and her typical cruising speed is 18 knots (21 miles per hour / 33 kilometers per hour).

At maximum speed, the ship can reach as high as 22.6 knots (26 mph / 42 km/h). There has been no information shared about what the ship’s speed can be with this technical issue as a concern.

This is not the first time Carnival Panorama has had issues impacting is maximum cruising speed. In August 2021, the ship experienced a very similar issue on the same itinerary, with adjustments to the port time in Cabo San Lucas as well as a delayed arrival back to Long Beach.

Guests booked on upcoming Carnival Panorama sailings may want to reconsider their post-cruise travel plans, particularly any early flights from either Long Beach Airport (LGB) or Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), as well as other regional airports, just in case of delays on future sailings.

Authorities have ended search operations for a male passenger gone missing from Carnival Magic early on Monday, May 29. Search efforts were unsuccessful and the man was not recovered, despite the use of both air and water assets and with more than 5,171 square miles searched and over 60 combined hours of resource use.

Search Efforts Called Off

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) search efforts to find a 35-year-old male passenger confirmed overboard from Carnival Magic have not been successful, and the search operations ended on Wednesday evening.

The man was reported missing from the 130,000-gross ton Dream-class vessel late Monday afternoon, at which time security camera footage from the ship was reviewed and it was discovered that he had leaned over a stateroom balcony and “dropped into the water” at approximately 4:10 a.m. Monday morning.

“The Seventh Coast Guard District dispatched multiple search and rescue assets as soon as we were notified of the missing person. Our command center watchstanders provided search patterns to cutter crews and air crews who actively searched from Monday through Wednesday evening,” said Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Hooper, Coast Guard District Seven search and rescue mission coordinator.

“The decision to suspend the active search efforts pending further development is never one we take lightly. We offer our most sincere condolences to Mr. Peale’s family and friends.”

There is no explanation at this time as to why the man’s traveling companion, identified by some news outlets as his wife or longtime fiancé, failed to report him missing earlier in the day.

The USCG was contacted about the emergency and immediately deployed both air and water assets to the appropriate search area, 186 miles (300 kilometers) east of Jacksonville, Florida.

Search efforts continued through Monday night, all day on Tuesday, and through much of Wednesday using both air and water assets as available for the light conditions. A total of more than 5,000 square miles (12,950 square kilometers) was thoroughly searched without success. The combined asset resources amounted to more than 40 search hours.

Carnival Magic Continuing to Sail

Because the man was not reported missing for many hours after he was confirmed overboard, Carnival Magic was quickly cleared to resume its original course and itinerary, as the cruise ship had already passed well out of the applicable search range when the report was made.

The ship was at the end of a 5-night cruise that had visited both Nassau and Freeport in The Bahamas, and was to have a final day at sea on Monday before returning to Norfolk, Virginia on Tuesday, May 30.

The ship did return to its homeport on schedule as planned, and has already begun its next sailing, an identical itinerary to The Bahamas.

Guests onboard the cruise where the man went missing reported multiple public address announcements were made in an attempt to locate the passenger, but no further information was made available.

Investigation Ongoing

Social media posts after the cruise ended identified the missing man as Ronnie Lee Peale Jr., a Virginia resident who was apparently on his very first cruise.

Just hours after the cruise ended in Norfolk, the woman he was traveling with – Jennilyn Blosser, who identified herself as his “lover” – started a GoFundMe fundraiser asking for $20,000 to help with funeral expenses.

While it is possible for a physically fit individual to stay alive in ocean water for some time – a passenger overboard from Carnival Valor in late November 2022 was rescued alive after approximately 20 hours – Peale has been missing for more than 60 hours.

The fundraiser was discontinued after just one day, having only raised $1,055, according to its GoFundMe page.

Due to the as-yet-unknown circumstances of how the man fell from the cruise ship, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun an investigation, as is typical in these types of incidents. Cruise line authorities are cooperating in every way.

Cruise Hive’s thoughts are with the friends and family members of the missing man, as well as the Carnival Magic crew members impacted by this tragic occurrence.