Carnival is rolling out a slew of new ideas for its cruise line in 2012, including the idea to hire George Lopez as the “director of comedy”. Carnival senior vice president Mark Tamis stated that “We do comedy, but (we thought) how can we do comedy better,”. The answer, apparently, was George Lopez.
Lopez will be active in finding and vetting new talent to perform on Carnival’s cruise ships as the Punchliner Comedy Clubs become known as Punchliner Comedy Clubs Presented by George Lopez. The comedians who perform on the ships will be a mix of established as well as up-and-coming talent.
Lopez will be seen on several in-cabin announcements and instructions on the televisions on Carnival ships as well, and the comedian stated that, “People will laugh like they have never laughed before.”
Cruisers will also hear the voice of the comedian as they are welcomed onto the ship with several light-hearted prerecorded audio messages and video recordings.
The comedy team from Carnival offers five 35-minute show on different nights during each cruise sailing, with at least two comedians performing each night. Carnival says it hosts a greater audience at its comedy shows than any land-based comedy chain in the USA.
Two early-evening shows offer fun for the whole family while the later performances feature R-rated adults-only comedy.
Already known as the “fun ships”, Carnival is calling this new slant on comedy part of its “fun 2.0” strategy going forward.
“With Fun Ship 2.0, we’re partnering with renowned experts and brands to create new spaces and experiences designed to make sailing with Carnival even more valuable and memorable,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s president and CEO.
The Carnival Miracle will be debuting the first Punchliner Comedy Brunch by George Lopez which will feature 5-6 minute comedic gigs every hour while passengers enjoy a variety of cuisine at the same time. Much of the menu was inspired by the comedy of George Lopez as well. The Carnival Miracle will be sailing from New York all year long with 8 day sailings going to the Bahamas, Caribbean, and Florida.
Lopez mentioned that he has never actually been on a cruise before but he looks forward to going on his first to Mexico. He also added, “I am told I will be allowed to come back.”
So what do you think about George Lopez taking over as the “curator of comedy” on Carnival ships? Good for the cruise line? Something other cruise lines can learn from? Leave a comment below to let us know.
We returned from sailing on the Carnival Miracle 3 days ago. We had Brunch everyday while on board. We enjoyed the food but didn’t find the comedians entertaining at all in the morning. One in particular acted like he’d rather not be there. All of the comedians that performed during the shows at night were great, both in the Theater and in the Punchliner Comedy shows. Our favorites were the Magician and the Juggler who we saw in the Theater. By the time the shows were over my whole body hurt from laughing so hard.
I loved his show and his first stand up comedy, but today I don’t find him funny, because he seems to have the same old jokes.