Carnival takes delivery of Horizon, trades family cruise for Snapchat handle

Carnival Cruise Line officially took delivery of the new 133,500-ton Carnival Horizon, and when the ship makes its inaugural voyage from Barcelona on April 2, one lucky Snapchat user and his family will be taking part.

Darian Lipscomb of Prospect, Virginia, who had chosen @CarnivalCruise as his Snapchat handle to post photos from a 2012 family cruise, was recently contacted by Carnival after the cruise line posted numerous signs and billboards throughout his hometown, featuring the line’s recently appointed ‘Chief Fun Officer’ and NBA star Shaquille O’Neal asking residents ‘do you know Darian?’

In exchange for his SnapChat handle, Carnival offered Lipscombe a family cruise on the inaugural Carnival Horizon sailing.

Following Carnival Horizon’s inaugural Barcelona cruise, the first of four sailings from the European port, the ship will then operate a trans-Atlantic crossing before arriving in New York on May 23, 2018, for a pierside overnight gala and naming ceremony featuring the ship’s godmother, Grammy award-winning musical artist and acclaimed actress Queen Latifah.

Following a summer schedule of four-day Bermuda and eight-day Caribbean sailings from New York, Carnival Horizon will shift to Miami for a year-round schedule of six- and eight-day Caribbean cruises beginning Sept. 22, 2018.

The second in the Carnival’s Vista class, Carnival Horizon also offers fun innovations like the bike-ride-in-the-sky aerial attraction SkyRide, an IMAX Theatre, the Havana section with tropics-inspired staterooms and its own pool, and Family Harbor featuring extra-roomy accommodations and the Family Harbor Lounge.