The record will show that in Monday Night Football this week, the winners were the Detroit Lions. The disappointing Lions went into New Orleans and beat the equally disappointing Saints 35-27.
But the Lions weren’t the only winners, thanks to Carnival Cruise Line, which saw to it that a lot of New Orleans people did not go away as empty-handed as their Saints.
As the local football team’s “official cruise line” Carnival will provide more than 75,000 meals to hungry families and/or homeless people in the Louisiana mecca during the
Volunteers from the Second Harvest Food Bank work on world’s largest Carnival cruise ship made of cans. (Photo by Peter G. Forest)
holiday season, in a joint initiative. It didn’t happen overnight — neither did MNF’s win and loss for the NFL teams — and it involved students from New Orleans-area schools. Carnival and the Saints provided the incentives (from pizza parties to autographed footballs free cruises for the schools that collected the most cans of food).
Monday night was the celebration, at half-time.
To mark it, Carnival volunteers created “the world’s largest cruise ship built of canned food.” The 17,000 cans of food were part of the haul that will go to the Second Harvest Food Bank in time for Christmas.
There are currently two Carnival ships based in New Orleans — the Dream and the Elation — with the Triumph arriving in the spring to replace the smaller Elation. So the cruise line has a vested interest in being the good corporate citizen. At Christmas, many people in The Big Easy are grateful for that.
In the news…
• Disney drops Greece, Turkey from 2016 Mediterranean cruises
• Grounding damages Windstar’s Star Pride in Panama; cruise canceled
• Carnival Corporation to use 100 per cent cage-free eggs on ships
Today at portsandbows.com: Diana Ross on the Carnival Breeze
Carnival Inspiration
4 nights
February 29, 2016
Los Angeles (return): Catalina Island, Ensenada
Inside: $179
Cost per day: $44
www.carnival.com
