Monday, July 28, 2014

Beer + Football + Carnival Cruise Lines = Fun

Got Beer?

In recognition of the growing popularity of craft beer in the U.S., Carnival Cruise Lines has entered into an exclusive agreement to offer Tampa-based Cigar City Brewing’s craft beers on all of its Florida-based ships. Cigar City’s Florida Cracker Belgian-Style White Ale and Invasion Pale Ale is now available on 13 Carnival ships sailing from five Florida homeports. Combined, those ships carry more than two million guests each year.

“Carnival continues to seek high-quality brands to enhance our guests’ experience, and Cigar City Brewing has been rated among the top craft breweries in the world,” said Eddie Allen, Carnival’s vice president of beverage operations. Allen also noted that Carnival also offers its own private label draught beer, ThirstyFrog Red, which is available throughout the fleet.

Unlike most U.S. craft breweries, Cigar City Brewing packages most of its beverages in aluminum cans, the most widely recycled containers in the United States. From a beer drinker’s perspective, cans have zero light penetration to better preserve the integrity of the brew, they chill faster, are easier to store and have a longer shelf life than bottles. Cans also are shatterproof and therefore are allowed where bottles are not—such as poolside.

Are you ready for some Football?

Carnival, which is the largest cruise operator sailing from Texas, has entered into an exclusive, multi-year partnership with “America’s Team”—the Dallas Cowboys, making Carnival the Official Cruise Line of the legendary NFL franchise and expanding the cruise operator’s wide-ranging commitment to the Texas market. In its new role as the Official Cruise Line of the Dallas Cowboys, Carnival will add fun and memorable fan experiences to tailgaters at home games with its new “Fun Crew,” which tours the lots at AT&T Stadium on golf carts and offers prizes to Cowboys fans, including the chance to win one of many cruise vacation giveaways.

“We’re thrilled to bring Carnival Cruise Lines aboard as our Official Cruise Line,” said Jerry Jones Jr., chief marketing officer of the Dallas Cowboys. “We look forward to enhancing the game-day experience for every Cowboys fan with the unique brand of fun and entertaining activities Carnival will be bringing to our home games.”

The Dallas Cowboys partnership coincides with the line’s upcoming deployment of a third year-round ship, Carnival Freedom, to Galveston in February 2015. With the addition of Carnival Freedom, which recently underwent an extensive multi-million dollar makeover, Carnival expects to carry more than 600,000 guests a year from Texas, the most of any cruise operator. Carnival Freedom will join Carnival Magic in offering 7-day Caribbean cruises and Carnival Triumph, which sails on 4- and 5-day voyages to Mexico.

Image Courtesy of Carnival Cruise Lines

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