Renowned late-night talk show host and comedian Jay Leno was honored as he participated in the vibrant 'Fun Italian Style' celebrations of Carnival Venezia ship in NYC New York.
During the event, John Heald, the Carnival Brand Ambassador, presented Leno with a large, yellow bottle of 'Jay Leno-cello,' a clever twist on the traditional Italian liqueur known as limoncello.
At the Teatro Rosso of Carnival Venezia, Leno, accompanied by Christine Duffy, the President of CCL-Carnival Cruise Line, ceremoniously unveiled a massive bottle of Aperol by cutting the ribbon, which ignited a dazzling display of sparks shooting into the sky. The stage was adorned with captivating showgirls who gracefully strutted around Leno and Duffy.
In a lighthearted moment, Leno shared with the audience that his grandfather used to carry a newspaper clipping featuring a legislator complaining about the significant influx of Italian immigrants to the USA. With a humorous tone, Leno recounted the lawmaker's statement, envisioning a future where pizza consumption would become the norm if Italian immigration continued at its current pace: "If they keep coming, in 50 years, we'll all be eating pizza."
The 2019-built (as Costa Venezia) Carnival Venezia was Costa Cruises' first liner constructed and designed specifically for China's market. Venezia and the sistership Costa Firenze (2020) were both produced by the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri - Venezia at Monfalcone Shipyard (near Trieste), Firenze - at Marghera Shipyard (near Venice). Each vessel has volume 135,500 GT-tons, 2116 staterooms and passenger capacity 4200 (max / double-occupancy 5260 pax).
Under the "COSTA by CARNIVAL" brand, the vessel (IMO number 9801689) is currently Bahamas-flagged (MMSI 311001253) and registered in Nassau. Costa Venezia was Portugal/Madeira-flagged (MMSI 255963000) and registered in Funchal.
From the same series (Vista-Class sisterships) are also the CCL-Carnival liners Vista (2016), Horizon (2018) and Panorama (2019).
Carnival Venezia became CCL's 25th ship in the fleet.