We just wrapped up our epic journey on board Carnival Firenze. We were honored to be invited to the naming ceremony and had the absolute privilege to sail for the inaugural cruise, the original inaugural cruise, and the inaugural “junior” cruise as we’ve been calling it. Getting to sail on this ship back-to-back-to-back allowed us to capture so much content and so many memories. Today, we want to recognize the many crew members that made our cruise extra special!

The Crew

Talk to any regular Carnival cruiser, and they’ll tell you the reason they come back again and again: Carnival has cornered the market on fun! But, a quick follow up to that is ALWAYS, “But it’s the crew that makes the cruise so special and why we keep coming back.” We agree! While you can have fun on any cruise line, there’s nothing like the Carnival crew. They make you feel like you’re part of the family. If you see any of these folks on Carnival, please tell them their extended family Mark and Rocky say hello! 😉

Dining Staff

From our first meal to our last, the dining room staff took such good care of us! Rendra, I Dewa, and Dibakar in the Medici Dining Room served us on our first sailing. They always called us by name, knew our love for butter and spicy food, and always had a recommendation on what to try. We received phenomenal service from Adi and Kevin at the Diamond Party on board. They smiled and laughed with us the entire meal and just made our day extra special. Emilio in the Medici Dining Room wasn’t even our server, but recognized me from a previous sailing and made it a point to say hello (wow!) and Samir, Deepa, and Setyawan were our serving team on our third sailing where we had Any Time Dining. Samir called each of us by name (no matter where we sat) and worked with us on our food requests. The team was always so happy to see us and made us want to return every night to the dining room! We consumed so many calories on board because of all of these wonderful humans pictured above.

Bar Staff

Speaking of calories consumed, we did manage to spend some time at various bars on our 3 sailings! But… because we wanted to capture the ship and get a lot of videos out while on board, we didn’t get to spend near as much time enjoying a beverage as we normally would. With that said, when we did, we always had a great time at Amari bar. We’ve sailed with Carolina and Alan before; they both recognized us and always made it a point to stop what they were doing to and say hello and chat with us – even if we weren’t ordering a drink! Alan also worked the Diamond Party and took the best care of us!! Truly, find these two on board and they will make sure you don’t go thirsty; we promise. Drazen (A.K.A. Dr. D.) hosted our Martini Tasting class which was a lot of fun. He knows a thing or two about tending a bar, so you’re in good hands if you book his class! Finally, Meiyun is a treasure. She took care of us at our Reunion Parties. She even found us one night to let us know she’d be working the last party and to make sure we sat in her section so she could take care of us. Absolutely amazing service.

Entertainment

Wow. I don’t even know where to begin when talking about the entertainment on board Carnival Firenze. What I can promise you is this: You are in for an AMAZINGLY FUN cruise! The crewmembers pictured here made our vacation extra special and we highly encourage saying hello to them if you see them on board. The Fun Squad was always out and about – hosting trivias, shows, managing water shuttles, and making sure our debark was smooth on our final day. Vanessa and Trevor on the Fun Squad always made it a point to say hello and chat with us wherever they saw us.

Adding to the fun: The shows on board are AMAZING. If you get a chance to see Color My World or Dear Future Husband, GO! We met Victoria (lead female vocalist) at the Naming Ceremony and then got to interact with her multiple times across our 3 sailings. Victoria, you are a legend and we are absolutely humbled that you took time out of your day to grab coffee and just chat with us across the sailings.

Eric (male lead vocalist) always made it a point to say hello and chat with us. He’d come out after the shows and ask about our day, tell us about port manning duties, and was just always so awesome.

If you’re looking to laugh, and JC Coccoli is on your sailing, go to every show. Yes, even the PG ones. I promise, she will have you laughing, clapping, and retelling jokes after her set. We even saw her in port and she made some fantastic recommendations on food and drink. She is an ICON and I hope you get to sail with her.

The face of all entertainment on any cruise ship is the cruise director. I’ve had the chance to sail with Joey before, so I knew his style and humor – but he’s amped it up for the inaugural season of Carnival Firenze! ‘Ello Joey and Cheerio are two things that we’ll be saying for a long time. Also, give this guy a stand-up spot at comedy; he will definitely have you rolling!

Of course, good entertainment requires a strong Entertainment Director. Gordon is just that. He’s approachable, funny, and works hard to ensure the cruise is extra fun with activities for all. We got to sing “Happy Birthday” to him as he rang in his special day at sea. Thank you for always saying hello, knowing our names, and making sure we were laughing.

Finally, the Playlist Cast on board Carnival Firenze is amazing. We had the true fortune to see the Welcome Aboard Show, Color My World, and Dear Future Husband across all 3 sailings. We never miss a show time – and they always delivered. Despite some technical glitches and an emergency overhead page, the show always went on. This cast has gelled very well together and you are in for a treat whatever show you get to see them entertain you in!

Room Steward

Thank you to our room steward Nengah for taking care of us across 17 days on board. He always made sure we had ice (morning and night) and knew we appreciated having extra towels in the stateroom. He worked around our varied schedules and always knew just when to clean our stateroom so as not to interrupt our day. From day one, we were always called by name. That goes a long way to feel like you’re an important guest in someone’s home. Thank you!

Crew Members Around the Ship

There are more than 1,200 crew members on board Carnival Firenze. Some, you’ll get to interact with every day (dining staff, room steward, Fun Squad), but there are countless others you may never have the pleasure to interact with. Sending a shoutout to Arie from Pixels Gallery. He remembered me from a previous ship – and called me by my name whenever he saw me on the ship or out in port. We always stopped to get our pictures taken and highly recommend finding him around the ship or in port and snapping a photo or two.

We had the absolute pleasure getting to know and spend time with both Piotr and Bosko from Guest Services. They were always out and around the ship interacting with passengers and solving any guest issues that arose. They’ve built a strong guest services team! Should you need anything on your cruise, know you’re in good hands.

Finally, we had the honor of meeting the inaugural Captain of the Carnival Firenze, Captain Enzo. We interacted with the Captain on multiple occasions; he even joked with us about how long we were on board. As we were waiting in the Long Beach terminal on debark morning, he spotted us and came over to shake both of our hands and thank us for our time on board. It’s clear that he extends the same care and appreciation to his entire team. We look forward to sailing with him again very soon!

Final Thoughts

To everyone that made this journey an absolutely amazing vacation, thank you. While we might not have captured everyone’s name or photo, know that you made our travels special and are in our hearts. The inaugural crew on board Carnival Firenze will have you smiling, laughing, dancing, posing, eating, drinking, and maybe even shedding a tear or two when you have to leave the vessel.

From Captain Enzo on down, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. -Mark and Rocky