Carnival offers teen free cruise for Snapchat handle
Darien Lipscomb said he created the handle @CarnivalCruise in 2012
Carnival Cruise Line has offered a 15-year-old American teenager a free family cruise in exchange for his Snapchat handle.
Darien Lipscomb said he created the Snapchat handle @CarnivalCruise in 2012 to share images of his trip on one of their cruises.
"When I was 9 years old, I went on a cruise and got really excited and wanted to share it with my friends," Darian, who has already been on four Carnival cruises, told his local paper The Richmond-Times Dispatch.
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When Carnival decided they wanted the handle, they decided to visit Lipscomb with “an epic proposal”.
A representative of the company surprised him at his home to offer him a free trip for his family aboard the maiden voyage of its newest ship, Carnival Horizon, if he handed over control of the handle.
“I answered the door, walked outside and saw my name on a big truck,” Darian said. “I was really surprised.”
He accepted the offer and he and his family will head to Barcelona on Saturday to begin their trip, which would have costed an estimated $5,000 (£3,500), according to the local paper.
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“We thought this would be a fun way to claim our handle and reward a ‘superfan’ at the same time,” said Robyn Fink, a spokeswoman for Carnival.
Darian said he has not yet decided what to call his next account.
“I’ll have to think up another name,” he said. “Maybe another company name.”
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