Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1039775
B M & T ••• September/October 2018 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 17 B lack Meetings and Tourism had the pleasure of attending the newest Carnival ship naming ceremony, the Carnival Horizon. It was a night of fun, celebri- ties, and fireworks led by Queen Latifah, who officially named the Carnival Horizon ship, and also received a name for herself, Godmother of the ship. After the naming ceremony, Queen squared off in "Lip Sync battle: Horizon" with Jake Elliott of the Philadelphia Eagles where she per- formed a fun rendition of "It's Raining Men" by the Weather Girls and he countered with passionate interpreta- tion of "Here I Go Again" complete with Carnival Horizon's Playlist Productions backup dancers. Before I arrived, the president of Carnival, Christine Duffy, presented St. Jude's Research Hospital with a $100,000 check that Carnival raised on behalf of St. Jude's. Attendees could also see art in the atrium done by St Jude's patients. It was nice to see that Carnival gives back to a charity that we can all support. After the naming ceremony, I had dinner in the Meridian dining room. I'm an "all-inclusive" resort/cruise ship food snob because I find it to be lots of dressed up instant mashed potatoes and off brand chocolate chip cookies that likely wouldn't shatter even if dropped from the top floor of the empire state building. I imagine they serve the same food from some of these resorts on the moon. That said, this food was really good! As in I would eat at this restaurant on pur- pose if I wasn't being paid to be there. I ordered almost everything and my favorites were the mushroom bisque, Caesar salad, and broiled lob- ster tail with jumbo shrimp and wild mushroom risotto. Also, it felt like they had one server per diner, which was impressive because the dining room was huge and nearly full. My server, Koko, was delightful and he was extremely attentive. I later learned that I was sitting next to the DJ who would spin for the after party. I had a feeling he was "somebody." After dinner, I headed over to the Punchliner comedy show and then wandered around to check out the other attractions. The Skyride was pret- ty cool which looked like a go-kart meets an adult tricycle that you pedal above the ship across a crane. I person- ally couldn't do that because even though it looked fun, I'm a scaredy cat. Speaking of cats, there was a Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss inspired waterpark on the top deck. There's an IMAX theater and several other restaurants through- out the ship like Guy's Pig & Anchor Q UEEN LATIFAH H E A D L I N E S CARNIVAL HORIZON SHIP N A M I N G C E R E M O N Y BY LANA HERBERT