At the grand opening of Carnival Cruise Line’s Celebration Key, Shaquille O’Neal was seemingly omnipresent, and not just because at 7-foot-1, he towered above everyone.
The former NBA star and Carnival’s “Chief Fun Officer” waved at ship passengers on the Carnival Vista before they disembarked to enjoy the new exclusive destination. He joined company leaders to ceremoniously unlock the sandcastle gates, officially opening Celebration Key, then took a few selfies at the behest of fans before handlers whisked him away.
Carnival’s Celebration Key opens on Grand Bahama with Shaq sightings, colorful fanfare
He went on to high-five the first kids to race down the sandcastle’s waterslides, tossed the first shot at the basketball court, had his giant handprints encased in sand and raised a champagne glass in a toast at Pearl Cove Beach Club.
How did the 19-year career basketball player and four-time NBA champion — who played for the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics — wind up intertwined with Carnival Cruise Line?
It’s worth noting that since his NBA years, Shaq has had his hands in a lot of different cookie jars.
He once owned 155 Five Guys restaurants before selling his stake to focus on his own restaurant concept, Big Chicken. O’Neal has previous and current investments in Papa John’s, The General car insurance, Auntie Anne’s, 24 Hour Fitness, car washes, Authentic Brands Group (Reebok, Forever 21, JCPenny and Sports Illustrated) and one Krispy Kreme location in Atlanta.
He’s also spent time as an electronic music producer and touring DJ known as Diesel. His first rap album, Shaq Diesel, was released in 1993 and achieved platinum status less than a year later after shipping one million copies.
For all of his business interests and opportunities, O’Neal also looks for ways to give back at every turn through the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation, which helps create pathways for underserved youth. His charity collaborates with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Communities in Schools.
It’s these kind of values that makes Shaq a good fit to partner with Carnival, said Christine Duffy, the cruise line’s president.
“I couldn’t think of anybody better than Shaquille O’Neal to represent the fun brand that Carnival is,” she said in an interview with the Sentinel. “At the same time, like Shaq, we’re very aligned in doing things that matter with values like our St. Jude partnership and our military partnerships.”
When Shaq was appointed as Carnival’s “Chief Fun Officer” in early 2018, he had never been on a cruise ship. He soon took to the role like a fish takes to water, joining in a new collaborative brand campaign.
“All the time I tell them, ‘Look, we need to bring a lot of humor to the situation,’” he said. “We came up with the tag line together — Choose Fun — to show people what really goes on on the ship,” he told the Sentinel in a 2018 interview, hammering home the cruise line’s affordability. “The average guy that’s working very hard and wants to take his family on a nice cruise, this cruise is for him, not for ritzy farts like me.”
In the video where Carnival unveiled Shaq’s new title, he was seen playing Duck, Duck, Goose in a conference room, joining in for a game of tag and noting that he turned the conference room into a ball pit.
Later that year, the first “Big Chicken” restaurant opened on a cruise ship aboard the Carnival Radiance. The restaurant is now found on the Celebration, Jubilee and Mardi Gras.
When it came to the Celebration Key opening, Shaq was short on words, but he did give the new Bahamian hangout his blessing.
“It’s a very impressive piece of property,” he said in a Carnival video interview seated next to Duffy. “Kudos to Carnival for investing in this place.”
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