Carwardine Delta

A ship that originally lasted from 1993-2020.

Construction
This ship started construction in 1991 by Meyer Werft. Being the first ship to start development after the Carwardine Alpha set sail, a lot of criticisms toward that ship were fixed, namely, the weird, inconvenient, and oftentimes jarring transitions from indoor to outdoor areas and vice versa. Ship layout designer Jimmy Barrera was sent to board the Carnival Fantasy and the MS Sovereign of the Seas in order to research how to fix the wonky layouts that plagued the previous three ships.

Initial Years (1993-1998)
The ship launched on June 19th, 1993 in Newport News, Virginia and started regular cruises out of Norfolk, Virginia starting July of 1993. The ship was heavily successful to the point where the relatively smaller Norfolk shipyard was swarmed with tourists, often ticking off Navy members who just wanted to do their duty. Starting for the peak summer season in 1994, the ship was now sailing out of the tourist-based Port Canaveral, Florida, which both lacks Navy involvement and can handle the ship's large crowding and lack of vacancy.

The ship was so successful, that even when bigger and newer ships came out by Carwardine Parks, people still boarded it, prompting the ship to be the first Carwardine ship to not receive an immediate drydock, but in January 1998, due to maritime law requiring ships to go to drydock every five years, the Delta would be sent to Mexico for a drydock, all passengers who booked before July 1997 for a date unavailable were given both a refund and a 50% off voucher for future sailings.

1998 Dry-Dock
In 1998, the ship was sent to Veracruz Kukulkan Shipyards in Mexico for some refurbishments.

Ports Sailed Out Of

 * Norfolk - 1993-1994
 * Port Canaveral - 1994-1998
 * Tampa - 1998-2003
 * Miami - 2003-2008
 * Fort Lauderdale - 2008-2010
 * Jacksonville - 2010-2011
 * Port Canaveral - 2011-2012
 * Fort Lauderdale - 2012-2014
 * Miami - 2014-2018
 * Jacksonville - 2018-2020
 * Aruba - 2021-present

Details

 * Owner: Carwardine Parks of Virginia, Inc.
 * Operator: Dire Dire Docks Maritime & Boating, Inc. (aka Carwardine Cruise Lines, LLC.)
 * Port of Registry: Panama City, Panama
 * Builder: Meyer Werft, Germany
 * Cost: US$470 million
 * Laid Down: June 15, 1991
 * Launched: December 21, 1991
 * Sponsored by: Hiroko Carwardine
 * Christened: June 19, 1993
 * Completed: August 1, 1992
 * Maiden Voyage: June 19, 1993
 * In service: July 1993-present
 * Tonnage: 68,420 GT
 * Length: 742 ft
 * Beam: 142 ft
 * Draft: 7.46m
 * Decks: 11
 * Speed: 23.5 knots
 * Serial Number: MW-06-92/3-1

Routes

 * 8 Day Eastern Caribbean (1993-1994)
 * 6 Day Eastern Caribbean (1994-1998)
 * 6 Day Western Caribbean (1998-2003)
 * 7 Day Western Caribbean (2003-2008)

1993-2003

 * Bronze Bricks - $119.99 ($254.95 today)
 * Silver Sees - $142.99 ($303.82 today)
 * Gold Views - $189.99 ($403.68 today)
 * Diamond Suites - $235.99 ($501.42 today)

2003-2010

 * Bronze Bricks - $119.99 ($200.22 today)
 * Silver Sees - $149.99 ($250.28 today)
 * Gold Views - $179.99 ($300.33 today)
 * Diamond Suites - $239.99 ($400.45 today)

2010-2021

 * Bronze Bricks - $144.99 ($204.15 today)
 * Silver Sees - $179.99 ($253.43 today)
 * Gold Views - $214.99 ($302.71 today)
 * Diamond Suites - $249.99 ($351.99 today)

2021-present

 * Bronze Bricks - $99.99
 * Silver Sees - $149.99
 * Gold Views - $199.99
 * Diamond Suites - $249.99

Bronze Deck

 * Bronze Bricks (Interior rooms)

Silver Deck

 * Silver Sees (Ocean view rooms)

Gold Deck

 * Gold Views (Balcony rooms)

Platinum Deck

 * Platinum Lobby (A lobby)

Diamond Deck

 * Diamond Suites (Suites with balconies)

Emerald Deck

 * Emerald Dining (A dining room)
 * The Carwardine Cruise Entertainment Band

Amethyst Deck

 * Amethyst Slots (A casino)

Ruby Deck

 * McDonalds
 * Ruby Pool (A pool)

Sapphire Deck

 * Roller Skater (The first 335m Roller Skater on the cruise line instead of 207m, this is mirrored and has a turntable station like the Gamma, repainted from brown track and gray supports to green track and black supports in 2008)
 * Water Slide (A ProSlide Pipeline that goes into the Ruby Pool, repainted from beige to green in 2008)

Silver Crystal Deck

 * Crystal Lounge (Bottom floor of the adults-only area, includes a spa, a salon, a massage area, a sauna, and formerly until 1995, a skeet shooting area)

Diamond Crystal Deck

 * Crystal Lounge (Top floor of the adults-only area, includes a lounging section, hot tubs, an adults only pool and a swim-up bar)

Launch (Bigger than Sensation)

 * Widen the beam.
 * One more deck of fun.
 * It'll get you to paradise faster.
 * Building was $220 million extra.
 * Double-decker lounge to take a break from the kids.

Trivia

 * During it's run at Tampa, Budweiser beer was not sold, due to negotiation issues between Busch Entertainment and Carwardine Parks. Coors and Guinness beer was sold instead during that era.
 * The "Bigger than Sensation" launch taglines are a parody of The Beatles "more popular than Jesus" incident.
 * Like the predecessor, the Carwardine Gamma, the Delta is based heavily on Celebrity's Horizon class.