Port of New York & New Jersey celebrates the inaugural sailing and naming of Carnival Horizon
On Wednesday, May 23, the Carnival Horizon arrived in the Port of New York and New Jersey at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, Pier 88, to host its official naming ceremony, the company said in its press release.
To commemorate its inaugural U.S. sailing and naming, Assistant Director of the Port Department, Bethann Rooney, presented Captain Luigi De Angelis, a 21-year veteran of the Carnival Cruise Line, with a special a plaque on Tuesday, June 5th.
Carnival Horizon, the 26th ship of the Carnival Cruise Line fleet, is the second of three ships in the Carnival Vista Class. She will operate a summer schedule through September consisting of four-day Bermuda and eight-day Caribbean sailings before transitioning to a Miami-based fall schedule.
To date, the Carnival Horizon, is the largest cruise passenger vessel ever to call the Port of New York and New Jersey — with a berthing capacity of 5,150 passengers and an additional 1,450 crew. The ship has 15 decks and is 1,062 feet long and 122 feet wide.
Assistant Director of the Port Department, Bethann Rooney, pictured above with Captain Luigi De Angelis
Ms. Rooney spoke with Captain De Angelis about the opportunities and challenges of handling a vessel of this size in the different berths around the world. He also spoke of the importance of the coordination of terminal developers and the cruise ship lines to ensure that the terminal infrastructure can accommodate the growing volume of passengers and expanding size of cruise ships. In addition, the Captain addressed the navigational challenges of larger vessels in harbors and the need of having up to date tide and current information to help ensure safe navigation. Given that is was the first voyage for this brand new ship, the stakes were high. Captain De Angelis happily remarked that their transit to and through New York Harbor was “flawless” and the “coordination of all port partners and stakeholders extraordinary.”
