CARNIVAL SPLENDOR
August 22, 2010 | Long Beach, California
Carnival Splendor (Carnival Cruise Line) is seen in Long Beach, California, on August 22, 2010, during her early years of service. The 2008-built ship was operating year-round Mexican Riviera cruises from Southern California, bringing one of Carnival’s newer and larger ships to its growing Long Beach operation.
Carnival Splendor is seen in Long Beach, California, on August 22, 2010, during the ship’s early years of West Coast service. At the time, the Carnival Cruise Line vessel was operating year-round Mexican Riviera cruises from the Long Beach Cruise Terminal.
Built by Fincantieri at Sestri Ponente near Genoa, Italy, Carnival Splendor entered service in July 2008. Her design is closely related to the Concordia-class ships built for sister company Costa Cruises, but Carnival Splendor became the only ship of her particular design to enter the Carnival fleet.
At approximately 113,300 gross tons and 952 feet long, Carnival Splendor was among Carnival’s largest ships when introduced. Her arrival on the West Coast brought one of the company’s newer and larger vessels to Long Beach at a time when Carnival was expanding its Southern California cruise operations.
Information List
Name: Carnival Splendor
Operator: Carnival Cruise Line
Builder: Fincantieri, Sestri Ponente, Italy
Entered Service: July 2008
Gross Tonnage: Approximately 113,300 GT
Length: 952 feet / 290 meters
Beam: Approximately 116 feet / 35 meters
Double-Occupancy Capacity: Approximately 3,012 guests
Crew: Approximately 1,150
Guest Decks: 13
Gallery Date: August 22, 2010
Gallery Location: Long Beach, California
History and Features
Development and Construction:
Carnival Splendor was built by Fincantieri at the Sestri Ponente shipyard near Genoa, Italy.
She entered Carnival Cruise Line service in July 2008.
Her basic design is closely related to Costa Cruises’ Concordia-class ships.
Carnival Splendor became the only vessel of this particular design operated by Carnival Cruise Line.
At approximately 113,300 gross tons, she represented one of the larger ships in Carnival’s fleet when introduced.
Design and Passenger Spaces:
Carnival Splendor was designed for approximately 3,012 guests at double occupancy.
A large retractable glass roof over the main pool area allows the space to remain usable in a wider range of weather conditions.
The ship was introduced with extensive spa accommodations and dedicated spa staterooms.
Dining, entertainment and recreation spaces were distributed across a large superstructure designed for high-capacity contemporary cruising.
Her size and passenger facilities represented a substantial increase over many of the Carnival ships that had previously operated regularly from Southern California.
Early West Coast Service:
After her introductory European and Caribbean operations, Carnival Splendor was repositioned to the West Coast.
Long Beach became an important homeport during the early part of her career.
The ship operated Mexican Riviera itineraries from Southern California, including calls at destinations along Mexico’s Pacific coast.
Her deployment gave Carnival one of its newest large ships in the Los Angeles-area market.
These August 2010 photographs document the ship during that early period of regular Long Beach service.
August 22, 2010 – Long Beach:
These photographs show Carnival Splendor at Long Beach on August 22, 2010.
The Long Beach Cruise Terminal occupies the former Spruce Goose dome beside the permanently moored Queen Mary.
The location has become Carnival Cruise Line’s principal Southern California homeport.
The presence of Carnival Splendor near the historic Queen Mary brought together two very different generations of large passenger ships within the same harbor.
At the time of these photographs, Carnival Splendor had been in service for just over two years.
The November 2010 Engine-Room Fire:
Less than three months after these photographs were taken, Carnival Splendor experienced one of the most significant incidents of her early career.
On November 8, 2010, an engine-room fire occurred while the ship was sailing off the coast of Mexico.
The fire disabled the ship’s propulsion and caused a widespread loss of electrical power.
Essential hotel services were significantly affected while the ship remained without normal propulsion.
Tugboats eventually towed Carnival Splendor to San Diego.
Passengers and crew were brought safely to port, and the ship subsequently underwent repairs before returning to Carnival service.
Because the Long Beach photographs were taken in August, they document Carnival Splendor during normal operations shortly before this major event in her history.
Later Carnival Service:
Carnival Splendor continued operating for Carnival following repairs from the 2010 fire.
Her later deployments included service from both the West and East Coasts of the United States.
The ship also operated from New York and other Carnival homeports during different periods of her career.
Carnival subsequently repositioned Carnival Splendor to Australia, where she became an important part of the company’s operations in the region.
Her Australian deployment gave the ship a substantially different role from the Southern California service documented in this gallery.
Evolution of Carnival’s Long Beach Operations:
Long Beach has continued to grow as one of Carnival Cruise Line’s major West Coast bases.
Later generations of Carnival ships followed Carnival Splendor into Southern California service.
The terminal itself was expanded and updated to accommodate larger vessels and greater passenger volumes.
Ships including Carnival Panorama, Carnival Radiance and Carnival Firenze have continued Carnival’s strong presence in the market.
The 2010 Carnival Splendor gallery therefore documents an earlier stage in the development of the company’s modern Long Beach operation.
Legacy:
Carnival Splendor occupies a distinctive place in Carnival Cruise Line history as the only ship of her particular design in the fleet.
Her early deployment from Long Beach brought a large, relatively new Carnival ship to the Southern California market.
After more than a decade of service from a variety of homeports, the ship took on a new role in Carnival’s Australian operations.
The August 22, 2010 Long Beach gallery preserves Carnival Splendor during an important early period in both the ship’s career and Carnival’s expanding Southern California presence.
OLP Social: Just over two years into service, this ship brought a design closely related to Costa’s Concordia class to Carnival’s Mexican Riviera operations, with a retractable glass roof covering her main pool.
