Next year’s Big Bay Boom, which will coincide with the nation’s 250th birthday, will be getting some much-needed financial help from one of the country’s largest cruise lines — Carnival.
As the Port of San Diego prepares to launch its fundraising effort for what is the biggest fireworks show on the West Coast, it announced that it has secured Carnival Cruise Line as an exclusive event sponsor, which comes with a sizable financial contribution: $100,000.
The sponsorship, say port officials, will go a long way toward defraying the cost of the annual show, which can run $500,000 to $700,000.
While the port each year has a number of major sponsors who contribute thousands of dollars, no private company comes close to what Carnival is offering, said communications officer Job Nelson. The highest-paying sponsors, he said, typically don’t exceed contributions of $20,000.
“Carnival is by far the largest private sponsor we’ve ever had, so that’s why they’re treated a little bit differently, as an ‘exclusive’ sponsor,” he said. “We’re really getting ready to launch our fundraising campaign, and any time you can have that big a donor on the front end, it makes things easier.”
Ironically, Carnival is not among the many cruise lines that sail out of San Diego during the city’s regular cruise season. But the company said it wanted to be a part of the Fourth of July event because of its plans to participate in 250th birthday celebrations on the West and East coasts.
The Carnival Firenze, docked here in Long Beach, is one of the three ships that will be in San Diego for the Big Bay Boom. (Carnival Cruise Line)
For the San Diego celebration, three Carnival ships that will be bound for cruises in Mexico will meet up and anchor in San Diego Bay on July 4 so that their passengers will have an opportunity to join nearly a half-million local spectators watching the Big Bay Boom, the cruise line said.
“Carnival is known as America’s cruise line, so to be included in America’s 250th birthday celebration is very meaningful for us as a brand, and it’s something we’re planning to also do on the East Coast,” said Julie Leonardi, a spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line. “And we know the Big Bay Boom is the largest fireworks display on the West Coast, so just partnering with San Diego allows us to celebrate the 250th in a big, visible way.
“This is the first time where we’d be a part of something like this where our guests can watch the show.”
Starting next month, fundraising efforts will officially launch, and the port is collaborating with the San Diego Fleet Week Foundation as the official nonprofit partner for raising funds. As the title sponsor, the San Diego Unified Port District will contribute a little more than $300,000, and it would like to raise an additional $300,000 from sponsorships and other donations, Nelson said.
He noted that it was Carnival that had initially reached out to the port about both the sponsorship opportunity and the idea of anchoring its ships offshore for the viewing of the Big Bay Boom. While it’s true that Carnival doesn’t sail into or out of San Diego, its parent company, Carnival Corp., has two cruise lines that do — Holland America and Princess.
“They’re really part of the same family, and we already have a very close relationship with the Carnival family of cruises,” Nelson said. “And because the Big Bay Boom is now such a big deal, this became bigger to them than the fact that Carnival Cruises doesn’t visit San Diego.”