Pursuits
This Cruise Line Is Turning to God for Survival
Carnival’s Fathom brand of social-impact cruises needs churches and schools to fill its ship.
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When people book a cruise, they generally want a vacation: sleeping in, pool time, plentiful drinks, lavish dinners. Fathom, the one-ship Carnival Corp. experiment in “social-impact travel,” is definitely not for them.
Instead, it targets people who want to visit the Dominican Republic and Cuba to help local communities via social work and cultural exchange. All Carnival has to do now, however, is find a way to reach these philanthropically minded folks. As it turns out, replacing the Love Boat crowd isn’t terribly easy.