Floating Paradise Lost: Carnival's Original MARDI GRAS

In 2021, Carnival Cruise Lines will take delivery of its biggest ever ship, the new MARDI GRAS. However, this video is dedicated to the original MARDI GRAS, the ship that started it all for the world's largest cruise line. Despite what some have written, she was a beautifully designed ship with loads of teak-lined open deck space, a user-friendly layout and handsome public rooms paneled in rich wood veneers.

Built in 1961 as the two class ocean liner EMPRESS OF CANADA for Canadian Pacific Line’s Liverpool to Montreal service and off season cruising, the Mardi Gras was bought by Carnival Cruise Line’s founder and CEO Ted Arison in 1972 and after a rocky start, became the most popular cruise ship in the Miami-based seven day cruise market.

In 1993, I flew to Port Canaveral to document the MARDI GRAS and her equally historic sister, the CARNIVALE. During my visit, I was able to capture nearly all of her public areas, which are shown here, along with vintage images of what they originally looked like when the ship was the EMPRESS OF CANADA.

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