The former Costa ship rounds out the 'Carnival Fun Italian Style' product line.

The making of a godfather

Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy, helped by a third engineer from Tuscany, showered Bennett with Italian gifts including a football jacket, espresso beans, bottles of chianti and Aperol, a Gucci scarf and bag, a huge wheel of Parmesan and holy water from Rome.

'Nessun Dorma' accompanied by violins, at left, and, at right, Jonathan Bennett becomes an honorary Italian

Then Bennett ('Mean Girls,' 'Spamalot') was joined by Capt. Crescenzo Palomba, who translated the godfather's blessing of Carnival Firenze into Italian before they jointly poured Champagne on the ship's bell. A toast and confetti capped the proceedings before a performance by Leslie Kritzer, Bennett's co-star from the recent Broadway revival of 'Spamalot.'

27th Carnival ship

The evening began with officers and crew of other Fun Ships wishing 'Benvenuta' to this 27th addition to the fleet. Carnival brand ambassador John Heald and Cruise Director Joey Boyes sang a humorous song to the tune of 'That's Amore,' instead using the words 'On Firenze.'

Against a dramatic Colosseum backdrop, the ship's Playlist Productions cast in rich purple gowns sang Puccini's 'Nessun Dorma' accompanied by violins.

Acknowledgments and thanks

Duffy acknowledged officials from Long Beach, Los Angeles, Avalon (Catalina Island), Baja California and Ensenada, Federal Maritime Commissioner Louis Sola, Carnival Corp. & plc executives including EVP Jan Swartz and senior leaders from Carnival Cruise Line, among them Lars Ljoen, Adolfo Perez, Sarah Beth Reno, Domenico Rognoni, Richard Morse and Sean Kenny. Lisa Bauer of Starboard Cruise Services and travel advisor partners from Avoya, Uniglobe and Expedia Cruises were welcomed.

Duffy thanked Carnival's ship refurbishment team led by Hampton Dixon for overseeing the conversion of Costa Firenze into Carnival Firenze at Navantia in Cádiz and Nick Krauss for leading the IT team.

And she showered praise on Carnival Firenze's senior officers and 1,400 crew.

Carnival Firenze's senior officers on stage with Christine Duffy and ship's godfather Jonathan Bennett

California cruises since 1979

Carnival has been sailing from the West Coast since 1979 and has homeported in Long Beach since 2002. Duffy said the line carries more guests from California than any other, adding that 2025 would offer 200 sailings on three ships with capacity for more than 750,000 passengers, up by 100,000 from 2019.

Five new ships in 18 months

Carnival Firenze's inauguration wraps an 18-month stretch of incredible capacity growth, with five Fun Ships ushered into service starting with Carnival Luminosa, Carnival Celebration, Carnival Venezia and Carnival Jubilee.

'This is a double-digit capacity increase with beautiful, beautiful, beautiful ships for our guests,' Duffy said.

And at least two more to come: additional Excel-class newbuilds in 2027 and 2028.

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