Carnival Cruise Line christened its newest ship, Carnival Firenze, during a ceremony at the Long Beach Cruise Terminal on Wednesday.

The 5,000-guest vessel has an Italian theme, and the christening ceremony included a celebration of ¡°all things Italian,¡± according to the cruise line.?

Actor Jonathan Bennett, who is the ship¡¯s godfather, was even made an ¡°honorary Italian¡± for the ceremony, which included a performance of Puccini¡¯s "Nessun Dorma¡± by cruise line cast members, an Italian blessing by a Catholic priest and a performance by Leslie Kritzer, Bennett's co-star from the recent Broadway revival of "Spamalot."

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The vessel, which is a sister ship to Carnival Venezia, will sail year-round from Long Beach. It departed Thursday for a 7-day voyage to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatl¨¢n and Cabo San Lucas.

Carnival now has three ships homeporting in Long Beach, including the 5,097-passenger Carnival Panorama and the 3,873-passenger Carnival Radiance.?

¡°We carry more guests than any other cruise line from California, and now this ship is giving us the opportunity to offer more fun to more people sailing from Long Beach,¡± said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. ¡°The recipe combining this ship¡¯s beautiful Italian theming with the familiarity of our friendly team¡¯s hospitality is, in a word, perfecto!¡±

In addition to its Italian aesthetic, the ship features the latest and greatest technologies¡ªincluding an artificial intelligence system that designs the most optimal, energy-saving routes. That technology will be rolled out to the rest of Carnival¡¯s fleet starting later this year. Carnival Firenze also has the capability to hook up to shore power while in port.

The ship was originally built for Costa Cruises but later joined the Carnival Cruise Line fleet. (Both lines are owned by Carnival Corporation & plc.)?

It spent 49 days in dry dock in Cadiz, Spain, undergoing renovations. Now, its the fifth ship to join the Carnival fleet in the past 18 months¡ªand the cruise line isn¡¯t done growing. Carnival Corporation recently announced that it had ordered a fifth Excel-class ship for Carnival Cruise Line.

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