Carnival Cruise Line today announced that the Carnival Victory will transform into the Carnival Radiance following a massive drydock, representing the final phase of a $2 billion fleet enhancement program, the company said.

The refurbishment of Carnival Victory will add the line’s culinary, bar and entertainment innovations and complete an “any ship, any port, any itinerary” level of service and offerings across its fleet of 26 ships, the company announced.

Following a 38-day dry dock in Cadiz, Spain, Carnival Radiance will enter service in 2020.  Homeport and itinerary details for the new Carnival Radiance will be announced in mid-November.   

“We have been investing in our products, amenities and experience offerings at unprecedented levels which are driving higher results in guest satisfaction, passenger yields and onboard revenue,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. 

“Our guests and travel agent partners can count on a high degree of consistency and quality vacation offerings across all our fleet and homeports regardless of what ship they’re sailing on. Ultimately, this effort is about driving demand by giving each and every guest a memorable vacation and offering a reason to come back to Carnival again and again.  And it’s clearly working based on extremely positive feedback from the more than five million guests we carry each year.”

New additions will include Carnival’s food and beverage options, speciality dining, shopping and personal care, youth and family activities, new entertainment and more. 

“Our guest satisfaction ratings continue to trend upward reflecting our ability to exceed our guests’ expectations by delivering an excellent experience,” Duffy said. “And our strong product offerings and outstanding facilities allow our friendly and attentive crew members to focus on delivering first-class customer service, which they do in unmatched ways every day.”

The Carnival HubApp is now available across all 26 ships in the fleet and running ahead of projections with regard to customer adoption, the company said.

More than 20 percent of onboard specialty dining and tour excursion purchases are placed using the HubApp, contributing to the double digit lift in onboard revenue since the HubApp was introduced, Carnival said.

This summer on its two new Vista-class vessels, 40 percent of guests purchased the HubApp’s onboard chat feature and the HubApp is also driving internet revenue, with penetration now averaging more than 50 percent of all guests across the fleet.

Carnival is now piloting a “pizza anywhere” delivery capability on select vessels with the eventual goal of allowing guests to order food and drink options directly from the HubApp for delivery to their location onboard. 

Along with the added HubApp benefits, Carnival is investing in an enhanced Wi-Fi infrastructure to bring more robust service across the fleet by 2021.

“We are excited by the exciting new choices added across our fleet, but more importantly by the positive reaction from our guests.  When you combine all the great amenities and offerings onboard with the best employees in the cruise industry, we have a recipe for success that will continue to fuel our growth,” said Duffy.