Carnival Corporation, the parent company of many of the world's best-known cruise lines, today unveiled its new cruise line, Fathom (the name should be written in lowercase), in New York. The line aims to have a "social impact" on the cities it visits through the volunteer work of its passengers.
The company has defined Fathom as a new category of travel: “travel with social impact”, which will offer consumers authentic experiences with significant social impact, working with the local population to meet basic needs.
The company's first destination will be the Dominican Republic, a country well known for its natural beauty but also a country with average annual household incomes below $6,000, and where more than 2 million Dominicans do not have access to piped water.
It will begin operations in April 2016 with the MV Adonia, currently in the P&O Cruises fleet, a 710-passenger ship. Its home port will be Miami, and the cruises will be 7 days long. P&O will provide all operational services for the ship, while the commercial side will be handled by Tara Russell, founder and president of Create Common Good (www.createcommongood.org), a fair trade food company.
Depending on each passenger's interests and skills, they can participate in social impact activities both on board and on land. In other words, passengers can choose to go sightseeing, help cultivate cacao, teach English, build a clay water purification filter, or participate in other activities.
Ticket prices start at $1,540 per person, and part of that money goes directly to the organizations that collaborate with the shipping company to provide the necessary materials and logistics for the project.
