More photos below:

Carnival Breeze conducts sea trials as it gets ready for its debut June 3 in Venice.
 

The Carnival Breeze which is currently in the final stages of construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, had a full contingent of officers, technicians, and engineers on board thoroughly testing the ship’s sophisticated navigation, technical and mechanical systems.
 

Carnival Breeze will offer a variety of innovations, including the line’s first Thrill Theater.
 

Following its inaugural 12-day cruise that departs Venice June 3 and arrives in Barcelona June 15, Carnival Breeze will operate a summer schedule of Mediterranean voyages from Barcelona through October 25.
 

• Bonsai Sushi – Carnival’s first full-service sushi restaurant, Bonsai Sushi offers a wide variety of Asian-inspired delicacies with a contemporary decor featuring artwork by world-renowned graffiti artist Erni Vales, colorful koi kites flown during impromptu celebrations, and, of course, several Bonsai trees. Located along Promenade Deck, Bonsai Sushi includes a number of varieties of sushi, sashimi, and rolls along with bento boxes and the venue’s own interpretation of a sushi boat – in this case, a sushi “ship” – with prices ranging from $1 for appetizer-sized portions to $15 for a sushi ship for two.
• Fat Jimmy’s C-Side BBQ – Reminiscent of a backyard barbecue, this complimentary open-air dining venue located on Promenade Deck offers a mouth-watering array of grilled favorites, including barbecued chicken breast, kielbasa, Italian sausage, and Fat Jimmy’s signature item, pulled pork sandwiches, along with traditional sides like baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw and mini-corn muffins.
• Guy’s Burger Joint – fresh-made burgers, hand-cut fries and innovative toppings created in partnership with Food Network personality Guy Fieri.
• BlueIguana Cantina – offering authentic tacos and burritos that can be personalized by diners at an extensive salsa and toppings bar.
• The Punchliner Comedy Brunch presented by George Lopez – featuring hilarious comedic performances and an extensive menu of brunch-time favorites.
• “The Comfort Kitchen” – new venue located within Lido Marketplace offering American-style “comfort food.”
• Serenity – salads, sandwiches, wraps and other light fare available at the ship’s exclusive adults-only retreat.
• The Taste Bar – complimentary bite-size offerings inspired by popular Carnival dining venues, along with a signature cocktail tied to that eatery’s particular theme available for purchase.
• Sea Dogs – a hot dog-shaped cart within the SportSquare outdoor recreation area offering all-beef franks and traditional toppings (debuts on Carnival Breeze in November).

When Carnival Glory arrives in Boston next year, it will do so with some new dining, bar and entertainment options, including Guy’s Burger Joint, EA SPORTS bar and Punchliner Comedy Club presented by George Lopez. The new features will be added during a dry dock in November 2012, all part of the line’s ongoing “Fun Ship 2.0” enhancement program.

Carnival Glory’s 2013 schedule from Boston will encompass four-day cruises to Saint John, New Brunswick, departing Sundays and five-day voyages to Saint John and Halifax, Nova Scotia, departing Tuesdays and Thursdays, from June 4 to July 7. Carnival is the only cruise line offering short cruises from Boston. Carnival Glory will also offer three seven-day cruises departing June 9 and July 14 and 21, 2013, visiting Portland, Maine; Saint John; Halifax; and Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Carnival Triumph currently docked in Galveston

Blame this on the Concordia. Literally. Due to a $10 million lawsuit filed in federal court in Galveston by relatives of a German tourist who died on the Concordia, a judge based in Galveston has prohibited the ship from leaving port.

The ship is scheduled to leave at 4:00pm CT

The sheer ignorance of this action by the judge (of course it HAS to be in Texas) and the frivolous lawsuit (which legally MUST be filled in Miami or Italy, not Texas) makes my blood boil. I think the Judge needs to read CruiseInd.

UPDATE: 2:09pm John Heald stated on his Facebook page that embarkation has commenced.

Cruise Critic got this from Carnival:

"We are aware of the situation and are working through the appropriate legal channels to resolve it. The litigation in question relates to a matter that involved a European-based cruise line that is a sister line to Carnival Cruise Lines. We are optimistic that the issues regarding the Carnival Triumph will be resolved and the ship will depart on its scheduled voyage later today."

Bloomberg states:

“court finds that the conditions for an attachment of defendants’ joint and collective property within this district, mainly the MS Carnival Triumph, appear to exist upon an admiralty and maritime claim.”

Passenger on board Triumph: Sign at the door saying ship is under command by US Federal Marshals and will only move w/ their permission.

— Mikey Faust (@mikeycruiseblog) March 31, 2012

UPDATE: 2:18pm U.S. Marshals are onboard the ship. This is typical in a ship arrest.

UPDATE: 2:20pm The judge is U.S. Magistrate Judge John Froeschner

UPDATE: 3:47pm Embarking passengers have reported that it appears that everything is still set for ontime sailing.

UPDATE: 3:54pm  Pretty quiet on the pier. It looks like all pax, stores and luggage have been loaded. About an hour to sailing

UPDATE: 4:08pm I was able to track down the actual legal Complaint:  Google Docs

UPDATE: 4:23pm Just finished reading the 13 page document. In short, because the plaintiff could not find either  Carnival plc. or Utopia Cruises Inc., registered in the state of TX, the law allowed them to arrest the vessel that was present in the state. On an amusing note, the plaintiffs want the defendants to present the Voyage Data Recorder, private emails between Micky Arison (Carnival Corp.) and Pier Foschi (Costa), the Captain of Concordia (Schettino )’s laptop. I guess the plaintiffs lawyer, of Gilman & Allison, LLP, Pearland, TX, wants to do his own investigation. Good luck getting them out of Italian official’s possession.

Anyways, basically the plaintiff was able to show that Utopia Cruises Inc., is nothing more than a Panamanian shelf company for the sole purpose of registering the ship. However since Carnival plc takes and declares revenues and expenditures on her, they state that Carnival plc are the owners. Since there is no Carnival plc present in the state of Texas, they allowed the U.S. Marshals to arrest the ship, since it was property of Carnival plc.

The plaintiff is suing Carnival plc and Utopia for a standard Death on the High Seas Act claim.

UPDATE: 4:43pm Pictures of the stickers onboard the Triumph right now: (from Twitter and Mikey’s Cruise Blog):

UPDATE: 4:53pm Situation possibly resolved! Working on a confirmation…

UPDATE: 4:55pm :

@mikeycruiseblog crew resp for drill.Capt is speaking now

— Sims Family Travel (@SimsTravel) March 31, 2012

"we have reached an agreement and should be released to sail shortly" #carnivaltriumph

— Sims Family Travel (@SimsTravel) March 31, 2012

UPDATE: 5:04pm : Oh sheesh. Passengers are taking their pictures next to the signs… (via cruisecritic)

UPDATE: 5:08pm : Some people are asking what would happen if she were to just leave, while being under arrest? Quick answer: the Pilots would never board her to sail her out.

UPDATE: 5:12pm : Cruise Director John Heald just posted on Facebook:

Great news for thosevsailing[sic] on the Carnival Triumph today.
We have reached agreement on this matter and are expecting the US Marshals to release the ship verysoon[sic]. The safety briefing has commenced and we should be sailing shortly.
See you here tomorrow

UPDATE: 5:38pm : SHES LEAVING RIGHT NOW

UPDATE: 5:38pm : Now that she has successfully set sail, I’d like to thank all of you that have been following along with me today. It was quite an adventure!

I’ll still be following this story incase something else develops with the pending legal action in the Texas courts.

An odd choice, but exciting nonetheless. Carnival announced yesterday that the Carnival Conquest will reposition over to Miami in November 2013 to make room for the Carnival Sunshine (ex-Carnival Destiny) in NOLA. New Orleans originally lost the Conquest to Galveston after Katrina, and they only recently got her back after the Magic arrived in Galveston. Carnival was hesitant to increase tonnage in NOLA due to slow sales, but things appear to be turning around.

Now Carnival will mark the US Debut of the heavily renovated Carnival Sunshine with 7 night routes from Louisiana.

click for larger

Carnival surprised us all when they announced that they will refurb, enhance, and alter the design of the Carnival Destiny. Oh and they are renaming her to the Carnival Sunshine. The $155 million ‘procedure’ (I think that word fits quite nicely) will take place in Italy, most likely at a Fincanteri yard, from February to April in 2013.

So far this is the biggest drydocking/refub of a cruise ship in quite a long time (When was the last time a ship was stretched?). Here is what Carnival announced:

They will add a partial deck and expand the top two half decks near the bow.

They will redesign the construction of the interior. Hopefully this will take care of the pax flow problem guests have on Destiny class ships.

The addition of 182 cabins in the extended decks.

Over 12 new on-board venues including an Asian resturant, a top-deck, tropical-themed lounge that will become a dance club at night, a three deck adults only Serenity retreat, Guy Fieri’s Burger Joint, EA Sports bar, Sports Square outdoor area, Twister waterslides.

The Lido buffet will be redesigned and broken up into smaller eateries. (I believe Princess ships have something similar)

Interestingly enough, since she will be in Italy anyways, Carninval announced that she will sail the Mediterranean for Sumner 2013.

Click Here for Deck Plans

Carnival Cruise Lines announced that the Carnival Legend will sail 17 European cruises between April 22 and Oct. 31. Departure ports include Dover (London), Venice, and Barcelona. She will spend the summer sailing Mediterranean, Baltic, Norwegian Fjords, and British Isles.

This summer, Carnival will be represented in Europe by the brand new Carnival Breeze. This is how Carnival has typically operated. Since Carnival launched the Splendor in 2008, they usually sail their newest ships in Europe right after launch. After all, they are built right in Italy. 

It should be noted that Carnival also stated that they will not replace the Legend in Tampa while she’s away in Europe.

If you want to check it our for yourself the location is Broadway and 49th.

The purpose of the billboard is to promote and get the word out about the Miracle’s year-round trips out of the big apple.