Meyer Turku holds coin ceremony for Mardi Gras

The hull's assembly actually began few weeks ago with the arrival of the floating engine room unit from another Meyer shipyard, Neptun Werft, in Rostock.

Meyer Turku's second LNG-powered newbuild

Mardi Gras is the second LNG-powered cruise ship being built at Meyer Turku.

It will have attractions including the Ultimate Playground with waterslides, a ropes course and the first roller-coaster on a ship. The French Quarter neighborhood will have New Orleans-inspired cocktail bars and restaurants. At the heart of the ship, Grand Central is a large, open three-deck space for entertainment and relaxing with a floor-to-ceiling glass front.

'We have been very excited to design and now finally to start assembling Carnival's Mardi Gras. All these different features on board require a lot of engineering and design expertise which we have been happy to provide to our customer,' Meyer Turku CEO Jan Meyer said.

'Historic day for Carnival'

Carnival's Ben Clement, SVP newbuilds, called it a historic day for Carnival as assembly begins for a ship that will 'usher in an exciting new chapter for our company and introduce so many guest-pleasing innovations.'

Also present at today’s ceremony were Mardi Gras Capt. Giuseppe Giusa, Chief Engineer Ferdinando Ruocco and Hotel Director Pierre Camilleri, along with Carnival brand ambassador John Heald.

Benefits of yard's €200m investment program

Mardi Gras is benefiting from parts of Meyer Turku’s €200m investment program. The yard's steel halls are going through a major rebuilding with new machines and IT systems, along with new processes to build the ships with newly trained employees.

'We are seeing the benefits already and will continue to see more benefits later this year,' Meyer said. 'Already our automated steel pre-treatment facility and storage have been up and running for some time now and supporting the steel construction of Mardi Gras.'

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