Carnival Cruise Line and EA Sports parting ways

Carnival Cruise Line is phasing out a partnership with video game maker EA Sports that put the EA brand on a number of sports bars on Carnival ships.

The brand will no longer appear on new sports bars built as part of Funship 2.0 renovations, starting with the Carnival Miracle in March.

Carnival and EA Sports, a brand of Electronic Arts, Inc., first collaborated in 2011 when Carnival put EA Sports Bars on the Carnival Magic and Carnival Liberty. They have since been installed on other ships such as Carnival Dream and Carnival Sunshine.

The existing bars branded as EA will continue under that name, spokesman Vance Gulliksen said. "Going forward, any additional sports bars introduced on our ships will not be EA Sports branded. While we will continue to feature sports bars, which are a popular feature on our ships, over time the EA brand will be phased out," he said.

The bar on the Carnival Miracle, named Sports Bar, will be installed during a two-week drydock in March that will include a host of Funship 2.0 features such as RedFrog Pub, Alchemy Bar, Seuss at Sea, Hasbro the Game Show, Cherry On Top and more. 

The Miracle operates year-round from Long Beach, Calif.