Carnival Launching New Cruise Line for Volunteer Trips

Carnival Corporation will begin offering cruises next year tailored for travelers more interested in service work than sightseeing, the Associated Press reports.

The company announced Thursday that a new Carnival brand called Fathom will launch in April 2016 with a ship regularly carrying 710 passengers to the Dominican Republic for weeklong voyages centered on on-shore volunteer activities.

Packages starting at $1,540 will include basic Spanish lessons and other training en route and service opportunities such as teaching English, building water filters, or cultivating cacao plants for a chocolate-making cooperative. A portion of ticket proceeds will go to Carnival’s partner organizations in the Dominican Republic. The volunteerism trips could help Carnival draw new, younger passengers to a mode of travel dominated by repeat business and whose average customer age is 49.