Mobile, Ala., gets larger cruise ship to replace aging Holiday

MOBILE, Ala. - Carnival Corp. will replace its Mobile-based Holiday cruise ship with the larger Fantasy vessel next year, boosting its capacity at the Alabama port by 42 per cent.

Carnival spokesman Terry Thornton said the 2,056-passenger Fantasy will undergo improvements this fall while in dry dock, turning some open decks into water parks with a 91-metre spiral slide. The ship, normally based in New Orleans, will move to Mobile in November 2009.

The 1,452-passenger Holiday, Carnival's oldest vessel, will operate from Mobile until then, when it will be transferred to Iberocruceros in Spain.

The Holiday has been based at Mobile since 2004 when the city entered the cruise market.

Mobile approved spending US$3 million to upgrade the cruise terminal to handle a larger vessel and continues to search for a second ship for the city.

Since its arrival, the Holiday on average has sailed full, according to Carnival, and the Fantasy will bring more tourism dollars.

With the Fantasy based in Mobile, Carnival expects to carry about 170,000 passengers annually from the port.

Meanwhile, the cruise industry expects to benefit from the rising cost of air travel, Thornton said. He said airlines could cut capacity this fall.

The Fantasy runs four-and five-day cruises to the west Caribbean.