Carnival Cruise Line today named the cruise director and entertainment director that will be on their $200 million renovated Carnival Radiance.
When Carnival Victory emerges from dry dock as Carnival Radiance after a $200 million makeover in April, longtime guest favorites Lee Mason and Katie Eastham will serve as the ship’s cruise director and entertainment director.
In charge of leading the fun on board, Mason’s energetic personality and Eastham’s playful nature will spearhead Carnival Radiance’s vast array of entertainment offerings from the cruise line’s award-winning Playlist Productions shows, including the new-to-fleet Rock Revolution and Broadway Beats as well as Celestial Strings and Soulbound, to legendary deck parties, hilarious performances at Punchliner Comedy Club and audience favorites such as Hasbro, The Game Show.
Known throughout the fleet for his outgoing personality and million-watt smile, Mason joined Carnival in 2016 and has since served as cruise director for eight Carnival cruise ships, most recently Carnival Splendor in Australia. The Cumbria, England-native has earned a number of accolades at Carnival as well as notoriety for helping to raise $40,000 in one cruise at the onboard Groove for St. Jude fundraiser, the most raised in 2019.
Also an award winner, Eastham is a versatile leader who has proven her perseverance, innovation and creativity at Carnival Cruise Line since 2012. As driven as she is organized, the native of Cheshire, England, has worked on 12 cruise ships serving as entertainment director and mentoring many of the cruise line’s newly promoted entertainment directors.
The third in Carnival’s Sunshine class, Carnival Radiance’s dry dock will add a host of eateries including Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse created by Food Network star Guy Fieri, the classic American steakhouse Fahrenheit 555 and the first Big Chicken restaurant at sea created by Carnival’s Chief Fun Officer Shaquille O’Neal.
The cruise ship will be receiving a number of new entertainment venues including a WaterWorks aqua park, Serenity Adult Only Retreat, Cloud 9 Spa and a new Liquid Lounge.
Carnival Radiance will debut on her inaugural voyage, a 10-day Mediterranean sailing from Barcelona on April 29, 2020. The cruise will kick off a summer schedule of nine- and 12-day cruises visiting top destinations in Europe.
The cruise ship will then reposition to New York from June through September, Norfolk in October and November, Port Canaveral through May 2021, and then Galveston, marking the Carnival Cruise Line’s fourth ship at the port carrying an estimated 900,000 guests annually, more than any other cruise operator.
