An exclusive agreement between Carnival Cruise Lines and a Bay area brewery will allow Florida vacationers to drink craft beer on the high seas.
Starting on Saturday, Carnival began serving Tampa-based Cigar City Brewing’s Florida Cracker Belgian-Style White Ale and Invasion Pale Ale on ships sailing from five Florida ports, including the Port of Tampa.
Carnival Cruise Line’s Vice President Eddie Allen says he’s thrilled to add Cigar City craft brews to the Carnival line-up.
"To come down and experience a little bit of Tampa in a can, I think that would be a great thing," said Allen.
Vacationers won't have to guess where the beers come from; they already speak for Florida in itself.
National sales manager Joseph Burns says the beer references the original cowboy of Florida.
"It’s a nice light body beer that's great for the beach or at sea, with the pirate on the label -- the old buccaneer colors -- it was a match made in heaven," said Burns.
Cigar City Brewing was founded in 2009.
Carnival expects to serve nearly 100,000 Cigar City beers in the first year of the agreement.
Carnival has 13 ships in Florida, two of which are based out of the Port of Tampa.
They serve about 2 million guests each year.