Mardi Gras will be the largest, most advanced and most exciting cruise ship ever launched by Carnival Cruise Lines, and now they’ve finally shown us one of its most thrilling features in action.
BOLT will be the first roller coaster on a cruise ship, will be able to carry two passengers and will feature acceleration equivalent to a Formula 1 race car, or double that of a Porsche 911 on nearly 800 feet of suspended track with speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.
Now we finally get to see it in action in a new video released by Carnival.
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Hosted by Matt Mitcham, Mardi Gras’ Cruise Director, the video goes behind the scenes of the development of the roller coaster system at the manufacturer Mauer Rides in Munich, Germany.
A full replica of the roller coaster has been built at the facility and is undergoing testing. Although Mauer Rides has extensive experience in roller coaster design, this is the first on a cruise ship ever, and it needs to be able to stand up to the rigors of a marine environment.
Ultimate Playground featuring the BOLT rollercoater aboard Carnival Mardi Gras.
Carnival’s SkyRide attraction aboard its Vista class ships faced several closures for this reason, so hopefully lessons learnt there will be applied.
After all testing has been completed, the ride will be disassembled and shipped to the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland where Mardi Gras is being built. There it will be reassembled on the top deck and undergo further testing.
Carnival’s Mardi Gras will be delivered in 2021
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In addition to BOLT aboard Mardi Gras, Maurer Rides is also developing the longest roller coaster at sea for the 208,000 gross ton Global Dream under construction for Genting Hong Kong’s Dream Cruises subsidiary. It will be marketed exclusively to the Chinese market.
International cruise passengers, however, will be able to experience the BOLT rollercoaster from February, 2021, when Mardi Gras is due to begin cruising from Port Canaveral, Florida to the Caribbean.
With a growing number of cruise lines cancelling cruises into 2021 and no sign of a decrease in the spread of coronavirus in the United States, however, that date remains provisional and is likely to be pushed back further.
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