MIAMI, Aug. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Leave it to
Carnival Cruise Lines to take the #IceBucketChallenge to another
level!
The world's most popular cruise line enlisted all 24 of its "Fun
Ships," as well as President and CEO Gerry
Cahill, to participate in the #IceBucketChallenge, designed
to raise much-needed awareness and funds for amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou
Gehrig's Disease. Carnival is also making a
$100,000 donation to the ALS
Association.
The way the #IceBucketChallenge works is simple: participants
are encouraged to pour a bucket of ice water over their head and
then challenge others to do the same or make a donation to fight
ALS within 24 hours.
Carnival's newest ship, Carnival Breeze, was the first ship to
rise to the challenge with Cruise Director Matt Mitcham throwing down the gauntlet by
dumping the entire contents of the 150-gallon PowerDrencher tipping
bucket and then challenging the line's other 23 ships to take up
the cause.
Team members from the 23 ships – which are sailing in regions
spanning the Caribbean,
Alaska, the West Coast and
Australia – were up to the task,
with shipboard personnel undergoing their own below-freezing
drenching to support ALS research, treatment and education
efforts.
The #IceBucketChallenge was then extended to Senior Cruise
Director and Brand Ambassador John
Heald who is sailing, appropriately enough, in the icy
waters of Alaska on the Carnival
Miracle.
Fresh from his drenching, Heald then challenged President and
CEO Gerry Cahill who, surrounded by
dozens of the company's employees, underwent his own frigid
encounter at the company's Miami
headquarters.
A three-minute video of Carnival's #IceBucketChallenge can be
viewed here.
And just to keep the momentum going, Cahill challenged popular
comedian and TV personality George
Lopez – the line's "curator of comedy" who helped create the
fleetwide Punchliner Comedy Clubs – along with Food Network star
Guy Fieri whose namesake Guy's
Burger Joints are on several ships and DJ IRIE, the line's official
DJ whose Spin'Iversity trains Carnival DJs fleetwide. All
three gentlemen gladly accepted the challenge!
Those who wish to donate to the ALS Association may do so by
clicking here.
About Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival, a unit of
Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), is "The
World's Most Popular Cruise Line®" with 24 ships operating three-
to 23-day voyages to The Bahamas,
Caribbean, Mexican Riviera,
Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, New England, Australia, New
Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Tahiti. The company's
25th ship, the 135,000-ton Carnival Vista, is scheduled to enter
service in 2016.
A link to variety of high- and low-res images of Carnival's
#IceBucketChallege is available here
A three-minute YouTube video of Carnival's IceBucketChallenge
can be viewed at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppm6Rbepk4c&list=UUQtaYLDkO94wL2Nc7riTkSA
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140815/136555
SOURCE Carnival Cruise Lines