Carnival Rolls Out New Interactive ‘Funville’ Web Experience Featuring ‘Towel Animal Theatre,’ On-Line Videos and More

[mercedes]

Carnival Cruise Lines has launched the new “Funville” Web experience at www.carnival.com/funville which is designed to evoke the line’s unique brand of “fun,” with images and video from recent Guinness World Record achievements for the world’s largest beach ball and piñata, on-line games and a series of videos featuring the line’s signature towel animals.

“Towel Animal Theatre” serves as the centerpiece to the interactive Web destination and features nine different vignettes depicting towel animals engaged in amusing conversations with each other while the stateroom’s occupants are away. In the whimsical videos, towel animals such as swans and monkeys interact using offbeat, light-hearted dialogue that conveys the spirit of fun on a Carnival cruise. “Towel Animal Theatre” has become quite popular with several million views on various on-line channels and social networking sites. The www.carnival.com/funville site also includes instructions for visitors to make their own towel animals at home.

Also featured within the site are photos and video footage from Carnival’s “Fun Crowd” events during which the line broke records for the world’s largest beach ball – a massive sphere dropped from a building in downtown Dallas – and the world’s largest piñata, which was filled with eight tons of candy in Philadelphia. Footage from the events is being used to create two television commercials that will soon begin airing nationally.

In addition, there is an online game tied to the beach ball theme, as well as a “hollerback” function that enables users to submit suggestions for Carnival’s next fun event. Over the next several weeks, “Funville” will evolve to include additional “Fun Crowd” event videos, Carnival’s new TV spots, additional on-line games and other unscripted surprises for visitors to the site. Links to various features of a Carnival cruise vacation, including on-board activities, dining and youth programs, also are included.