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Carnival’s President and CEO Gerry Cahill and Senior Cruise Director John Heald couldn’t wait for the Carnival Dream’s inaugural cruise to check out the ship’s spectacular new WaterWorks aqua park.

During a special three-day repositioning cruise from Trieste to Rome (Civitavecchia) this weekend, Cahill and Heald spent an afternoon “test riding” every slide in the expansive facility – from the DrainPipe featuring a unique funnel-style design to the 303-foot-long Twister water slide, the longest in cruising.  The highlight of the day was a race down the 82-foot-long dual-lane racing slide, which Heald was declared the winner.

It was all in good fun and an excellent way to showcase the many innovative facilities and features of the spectacular 130,000-ton “Fun Ship,” the largest in the Carnival fleet which embarked on its maiden voyage earlier today.

Carnival Dream will operate a series of 12-day European voyages from Rome (Civitavecchia) through October then reposition to New York for a pair of eight-day Caribbean voyages.  The ship will then reposition to Port Canaveral for a special nine-day before launching year-round seven-day Caribbean service Dec. 12.