Miami-Based Carnival's Largest Cruise Ship, Mardi Gras, Arrives At Port Canaveral
PORT CANAVERAL (CBSMiami) – The largest ship ever built for Miami-based Carnival Cruise Line pulled into its home part of Port Canaveral on Friday morning.
The Mardi Gras isn't just the company's newest luxury ship, it's also the first cruise ship with an onboard roller coaster.
It's called "Bolt" and it's not quite a traditional roller coaster. Instead of riding on a train, passengers sit in a smaller vehicle shaped like a motorcycle that rides along a track. The cars aren't powered by downhill inertia but instead use electric motors. That means riders will get to decide how fast they go.
Carnival also says the Mardi Gras is the first in the Americas to be powered by liquefied natural gas, a cleaner-burning fuel.
The ship is 1,130 feet long, has 21 decks, 2,641 staterooms, and features six themed zones and restaurants from Guy Fieri, Emeril Lagasse, Rudi Sodamin and Shaquille O'Neal.
Cruise ships haven't starting sailing with passengers out of Port Canaveral or other U.S. ports since March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, a handful of test sailings will soon start taking place as part of an effort by cruise lines to get federal clearance to sail with paying passengers this summer.