<p>MOBILE, Ala. - Carnival Corp. will replace its Mobile-based Holiday cruise ship with the larger Fantasy vessel next year, boosting its capacity at the Alabama port by 42 per cent. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Carnival spokesman Terry Thornton said the 2,056-passenger Fantasy will undergo improvements this fall while in dry dock, turning some open decks into water parks with a 91-metre spiral slide. The ship, normally based in New Orleans, will move to Mobile in November 2009. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The 1,452-passenger Holiday, Carnival's oldest vessel, will operate from Mobile until then, when it will be transferred to Iberocruceros in Spain. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The Holiday has been based at Mobile since 2004 when the city entered the cruise market. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Mobile approved spending US$3 million to upgrade the cruise terminal to handle a larger vessel and continues to search for a second ship for the city. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Since its arrival, the Holiday on average has sailed full, according to Carnival, and the Fantasy will bring more tourism dollars. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>With the Fantasy based in Mobile, Carnival expects to carry about 170,000 passengers annually from the port. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Meanwhile, the cruise industry expects to benefit from the rising cost of air travel, Thornton said. He said airlines could cut capacity this fall. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The Fantasy runs four-and five-day cruises to the west Caribbean. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><!-- phugc --><div id="dtk-cmtscnt"><div class="divider"><!-- --></div></div>