Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Splendor has simply accomplished her practically three-week dry dock at Sembcorp Marine’s Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore, and she or he’s crusing not solely refreshed and refurbished, however with a complete new look.
Because the ship has left the shipyard, she’s revealed her model new red-white-and-blue hull livery. That new colour scheme first debuted with Mardi Gras in 2021, and has been rolled out to all the fleet as completely different ships have steadily undergone dry dock refurbishments.
Carnival Splendor‘s final dry dock was in 2019, earlier than the brand new livery was launched. Due to this fact, her just-completed dry dock renovation on August 5-23, 2024, was the primary alternative to repaint the traditional white hull with a extra colourful sample.
It isn’t simply the colours which have been added to the 113,573-gross-ton Carnival Splendor, nevertheless. As she sailed out of dry dock, the ship revealed a brand new and one-of-a-kind characteristic on her midship hull – a stylized swoop with stars, an interpretation of the Southern Cross.
The Southern Cross is an iconic constellation within the southern sky, situated on the southern finish of the seen portion of the Milky Approach. 5 vivid stars kind the cross sample – Acrux, Mimosa, Gacrux, Imai, and Ginan – which as been instrumental in guiding Australian sailors for hundreds of years.
“Carnival Splendor has departed Singapore following dry dock and we’re thrilled to disclose her beautiful new livery!” introduced Carnival Cruise Line Australia on social media.
“She now proudly sports activities the pink, white, and blue hull launched by Carnival in 2021, together with a particular Southern Cross design—a nod to our deep connection to Australia. The Southern Cross constellation has guided sailors to Australia for hundreds of years, and now Carnival Splendor shares this symbolic paintings together with her soon-to-be sister ships, Pacific Journey and Pacific Encounter.”
The 2 P&O Cruises Australia ships, Pacific Journey and Pacific Encounter, have a really comparable star sample on their bows however, for the second, lack the remainder of the hull coloration that now characterizes the Carnival fleet.
No affirmation has been fabricated from whether or not or not the 2 ships could obtain new hull livery when they’re transformed to Carnival Journey and Carnival Encounter earlier than becoming a member of the Carnival fleet in March 2025, although such updating does appear probably.
As a particular notice, the Southern Cross can be featured prominently on Australia’s nationwide flag and is a well-recognized image of the proud and distinctive nation.
Carnival Splendor is homeported year-round from Sydney, providing a spread of Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, and South Pacific itineraries. She will be able to welcome 3,012 friends per crusing at double occupancy, and can be residence to greater than 1,100 worldwide crew members.
The ship is presently crusing a 16-night itinerary calling on ports in Indonesian and Australia as she travels again to Sydney for her arrival on September 9.
Extra Distinctive Carnival Hulls
For a few years, Carnival Cruise Line’s ships sported easy plain white hulls with the ship’s names and no different adornments. As a substitute, the cruise line used the traditional “whale tail” funnel that debuted with Tropicale in 1982, the primary new-build for the younger cruise line, as its iconic structural assertion.
With the debut of Mardi Gras, nevertheless, the cruise line opted for the extra colourful hull however nonetheless stored the red-white-and-blue coloration so carefully related to “America’s Cruise Line.”
Just one different ship within the Carnival fleet has a novel hull characteristic, nevertheless. When she first floated out throughout building in July 2023, Carnival Jubilee revealed the Texas Lone Star on her bow, symbolizing her connection to the Lone Star State and her Galveston homeport.
As many cruise ships shift homeports a number of instances all through their a long time of crusing, it’s considerably uncommon to place a particular icon on the hull that connects to a single homeport.
Learn Additionally: Beneath the Floor – Exploring the Cruise Ship Hull
After all, hulls may be repainted if essential, and simply because a ship has distinctive hull iconography doesn’t imply she’ll by no means transfer to a special crusing area.
Whereas Carnival Cruise Line has not introduced any plans to additional customise different ships within the fleet, it is going to be enjoyable to see if extra vessels get distinctive designs within the years to return.
