All ships have a Godmother, but for the first time, Carnival Cruise Line has named a Godfather.
Late night talk show legend Jay Leno did the naming honors as well as performing a comedy routine at the June 14 renaming of Carnival Venezia in New York.
The 4,200-guest ship built in 2019 for Costa Cruise Line is moving to the Carnival fleet to offer what the line calls Carnival Fun Italian Style that adds Carnival’s signature attractions to the Italian theming of the ship.
That’s not to say Carnival is completely breaking with tradition. The ship also has a Godmother, Gan Beiye, who presided over the original christening for Costa in 2019.
But with the transfer and deployment from New York, ‘We wanted to ensure a proper welcome for the ship and decided having a Godfather would be both fun and appropriate,’ Carnival President Christine Duffy said. And when they thought of someone who would make a fun Godfather with Italian heritage, we knew Jay Leno would be perfect, she added.
Leno has performed on Carnival ships in the past as part of the Carnival LIVE entertainment series. ‘It was an offer I couldn’t refuse…. I’m also excited to have my very own cruise ship, although I think I’ll need a bigger garage,” said Leno, who is an avid car collector.
In Carnival Venezia’s Teatro Rosso, Leno and Duffy pulled the ribbon on a giant bottle of Aperol, sending sparks shooting into the air. Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald presented the comedian with a giant yellow bottle of Jay Leno-cello, a play on limoncello.
Leno is the grandson of immigrants from Flumeri, Campania, Italy. He began his entertainment career in stand-up comedy, which led to his nearly two-decades-long role as host of top-rated The Tonight Show until 2014.
Leno told the audience his grandfather used to carry a news clipping with a lawmaker complaining about the high rate of Italian immigration to the US: If they keep coming, in 50 years, we’ll all be eating pizza. “Mission accomplished,” Leno quipped.
Costa Venezia was originally built to sail in Asia from Shanghai. But the pandemic short-circuited that plan and Costa Cruises transferred the ship to the Mediterranean after the lockdown. It was transferred to the Carnival fleet with a new livery to do cruises from New York to Bermuda and the Caribbean.
Another former Costa ship, Carnival Firenze, will be added to the Carnival Italian-style fleet in 2024, sailing from Long Beach, Calif.
