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Family tradition to continue, serve as Godmother of cruise line

By Shamayita Bhattacharya

Cruise ships follow the time honoured tradition of launching their ship by respectable Godmother. It is believed that Godmother would bring luck and protect the ship, hence supposed to be present at the ceremony of Cruise launch.

As Carnival Sunrise makes her debut following US$200 million transformation, Carnival Cruise Line announced Kelly Arison, daughter of Carnival Corporation Chairman to serve as Godmother at an invitation-only ceremony in Manhattan Cruise Passenger terminal, New York on May 23.

Kelly will step into the godmother role previously held by her mother when the ship first entered service as Carnival Triumph, in 1999. Worth mentioning, Kelly’s grandmother Lin Arison served as godmother to Carnival Sunrise’s sister ship, Carnival Sunshine, in 2013.

“It is truly an honour to carry on my family’s touching tradition and join the well-regarded women who have so marvellously carried out their role as a Carnival godmother over the years,” said Kelly Arison. “This ceremony will not only serve as memorable way to officially introduce the spectacular Carnival Sunrise to the Carnival fleet but also raise awareness of an organization very near and dear to my heart, the Ehlers-Danlos Society,” added she.

The carnival will further make a donation to the Ehler’s Danlos Society. Carnival Sunrise’s inaugural season includes four- to 14-day voyages from Norfolk, Va., and New York to Bermuda, Canada and the Caribbean through September.

Guests enjoy variety of entertainments while sailing aboard passing through Carnival Cruise. The aqua park, sports section were the new attractions of the cruise. The interior of the Ship is well decorated.

A website was launched by the NCL cruises which ran a competition to win the opportunity of being the Godmother of their cruise ship. The winner will get a chance to become the Godmother of Norwegian Gem. Hence Godmother of cruise ships may change year after year but the essence of tradition remains the same. A cruise ship can have more than one Godmother as well.

All the ships are launched with the blessings of Godmother. The ships are inaugurated with a hope that they would return safely. The position of Godmother consequently holds a lot of responsibility.

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