Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This trademark funnel design is built onto the line's ships. Carnival is ranked first on the list of largest cruise lines based on passengers carried annually.
As of March 2025, Carnival Cruise Line operates a fleet of 29 ships with five new ships set to join between 2027 and 2033.
Contents
History
Carnival Cruise Line was founded in 1972 by Ted Arison. To finance the venture, Arison turned to his friend Meshulam Riklis, who owned Boston-based American International Travel Service (AITS). Arison and Riklis set up the new company as a subsidiary of AITS. AITS was to market and promote the new venture. In 1974, due to regulatory issues, Riklis sold AITS's interest in the company to Arison for $1, subject to Arison taking over the substantial company debts. The split enabled Arison to enter into new relationships with independent travel agents. He also promoted his cruises to younger people. The format was very successful financially.
1970s: Early years
In 1972, Carnival Cruise Line began sailing from Miami with its first ship, the Mardi Gras, a former transatlantic liner purchased from Canadian Pacific Line. Carnival adapted and evolved the green Canadian Pacific livery for their new logo, changing the colors to red, white and blue as seen today.
In 1975, Carnival acquired another former Canadian Pacific Line ship, renaming it the Carnivale. The success of the two ships led to the acquisition of their third ship in 1978, the TSS Festivale, another former ocean liner. With the success of the three ships, Carnival decided to build new ships to be able to compete with the rival Miami cruise lines.
1980s: First new build ships
In 1982, Carnival introduced their first purpose-built ship, the Tropicale. This was the first ship on which the iconic winged funnel was introduced, which has since been used on all purpose-built ships in the fleet. It was designed by Joe Farcus, who became a longtime Carnival Cruise Line design collaborator.
In 1984, Carnival introduced a new television marketing campaign, starring Kathie Lee Gifford, who continues to be a longtime collaborator with the line.
Following the success of the Tropicale, and increased competition in Miami with newer ships, Carnival ordered the Holiday in 1985, followed by the Jubilee in 1986 and Celebration in 1987.
1990s: Fleet expansion
Beginning in 1990, Carnival introduced the popular Fantasy class, beginning with the Fantasy, and completed with the eighth in the class Paradise in 1998. When completed, the Fantasy was one of the largest ships at the time and had the largest atrium at sea. After having done design work on all the previous Carnival ships, Joe Farcus continued as the lead designer for the entire class.
In 1993, Carnival began to get rid of their older second-hand tonnage, and sold their first ship, Mardi Gras, after 21 years of service with the line. The Carnivale followed the same year, going to newly created Carnival subsidiary Fiesta Marina Cruises.
In 1996, the new Destiny class was introduced, with the Carnival Destiny. At 101,000 GT, it became the largest passenger ship in the world at the time and first to exceed 100,000 tons. The Destiny-class platform continued to be used in various iterations all the way to the Carnival Splendor in 2008. The same year the veteran ship Festivale, the last of the original second-hand fleet, was retired.
In 1998, the seventh ship in the Fantasy class, the Elation, was the first cruise ship to have the innovative azipod propulsion, used on most new cruise ships today. The Paradise also debuted in 1998, and was the first completely non-smoking cruise when it originally debuted.
2000s: Early modern era
In 2001, the new Panamax size Spirit class debuted with the Carnival Spirit, the first of the four-ship class within the Carnival fleet.
In 2001, Robert H. Dickinson, then President and CTC, participated in a BBC documentary, Back To The Floor. Dickinson went to work at the lowest crew levels on the Imagination in the Caribbean, where he shadowed a Romanian cleaner, Alina.
In 2001, Carnival transferred their first new build, the 1982 built Tropicale, to Costa Cruises. In the 2000s, Carnival continued to sell or transfer the other 1980s built ships to other lines, with the Jubilee in 2004, the Celebration in 2008, and the Holiday in 2009.
In October 2002, Carnival acquired P&O Princess Cruises for 3.5 billion euro.
In 2004, Carnival Corporation initiated a development program for Carnival's new ships, the Pinnacle Project, calling for a 200,000 GT prototype, which would have been the world's largest cruise ship at the time. The ship was cancelled, but they then developed a project called Next Generation.
In 2009, Carnival released their biggest ship at the time, the Carnival Dream, a new 128,000 GT ship. Carnival Dream entered service in September 2009. After several voyages in the Mediterranean, she was set to offer weekly Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral from December 2009. A sister ship, Carnival Magic, debuted in May 2011. In December 2009, Carnival placed an order for a third Dream-class vessel. It entered service in June 2012 and its homeport is now Galveston. In May 2010, Carnival selected a name for their new Dream-class vessel in 2012 – Carnival Breeze.
2010s
In October 2012, Carnival ordered a new 133,500 GT ship. This ship, built by Fincantieri, was the largest ship they have ever built. The new ship was named Carnival Vista, and sailed her maiden voyage in May 2016, from Trieste, Italy.
In January 2017, Michael Thamm was appointed CEO of Carnival Asia, to oversee operations in China and the surrounding region.
In April 2018, Carnival Horizon, a sister to Carnival Vista, joined the fleet, with her inaugural voyage from Barcelona, Spain. Queen Latifah is the ship's godmother, and christened her on May 23, 2018.
In December 2019, Carnival Panorama, another sister to Carnival Vista, entered service as the cruise line's flagship. She became the first new ship to homeport on the West Coast since Paradise, now Carnival Paradise, in 1998. Both ships sailed from Long Beach, California.
In February 2018, the company's officials unveiled a major port development project in Ensenada, Mexico.
Reports in late June 2019 stated that Carnival was building its first terminal in Japan, in the port city of Sasebo, to be named Uragashira Cruise Terminal. Local officials were hoping that the terminal would be open by late July 2020.
In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, began with an outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. In March 2020, all cruises were cancelled due to the worldwide pandemic. Eventually, 55 passengers on ships owned by Carnival Corporation & plc were reported as having died.
In April 2020, 18 Carnival ships met up in the Bahamas in order to sail the crew home. 12 ships were used. Carnival Breeze and Carnival Magic both sailed to Europe with stops in Southampton, UK; Cadiz, Spain; Civitavecchia, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and Istanbul, Turkey. Carnival Glory sailed to the Caribbean with stops at St Lucia, St, Vincent, Jamaica, Mexico, and Panama, where it received crew from Carnival Miracle. Carnival Fantasy sailed to Colon, Panama with the crew transiting to Central and South America from there. Carnival Dream and Carnival Conquest both sailed to east Asia with stops in Durban, South Africa and Manila, Philippines. Carnival Fascination, Carnival Liberty, and Carnival Ecstasy all sailed to Mumbai, India and Durban, South Africa. Carnival Panorama sailed from the west coast to the Philippines and Indonesia. After meeting up in Australia, Carnival Splendor sailed to Indonesia. Carnival Spirit sailed to the Philippines.
2020s
In June 2021, it was announced that the Costa Magica would move from Costa Cruises to the Carnival fleet, and receive a new name and the updated Carnival livery. On the same day, Carnival also announced that an Excel class ship previously under construction for AIDA Cruises would be transferred to Carnival. Later in the year, the name was revealed to be Carnival Jubilee.
In July 2021, after numerous delays, the highly anticipated Mardi Gras entered service, sailing year round from Port Canaveral.
In early 2022, Carnival announce the retirement of Carnival Sensation and Carnival Ecstasy. Sensation was sold for recycling immediately, and Ecstasy remained in the fleet until October 2022.
In June 2022, Costa Luminosa joined the fleet as Carnival Luminosa replacing the previous plans of moving Costa Magica which remained with Costa. It began cruises from Brisbane, Australia in November 2022. It does Alaskan cruises from Seattle in the summers before returning to Australia in the winters.
In June 2022, Carnival's announced a new concept, Fun Italian Style, bringing over Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze and having the pair sail under the Carnival brand, while retaining their Italian designs and Costa funnels. Both ships will join the Carnival fleet in 2023 and 2024 respectively. In October 2022, Carnival released renderings of the ships and announced that the ships would get Carnival names, becoming Carnival Venezia and Carnival Firenze. They would receive the blue livery with twist, having a yellow stripe instead of the red and white ones found on the other Carnival ships.
In December 2022, Carnival announced it had been forced to delay the debut of Carnival Jubilee from October 2023 to December 2023 because of ongoing supply chain issues at the Meyer Werft shipyard.
In May 2023, the Carnival Venezia made its debut in Barcelona, Spain, ahead of its maiden season from Manhattan, New York.
In June 2024, it was announced that P&O Cruises Australia would cease operations in early 2025 with its services being merged into Carnival Cruise Line. Two of their ships, Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter were rebranded and integrated into the Carnival fleet and absorbed into Carnival Cruise Line from March 2025. These ships will continue to sail in the Australian region alongside Carnival Splendor and the seasonally based Carnival Luminosa. Carnival estimates that the transfer of the two ships, and the delivery of the two Excel-class ships by 2028, will result in a capacity increase of 50 percent since 2019.
Company structure
Carnival is one of ten cruise lines owned by the world's largest cruise ship operator, the American-British Carnival Corporation & plc. In 2021, Carnival Cruise Line was estimated to hold a 7.6% share of cruise industry revenue and 18.2% of passengers. It has 24 vessels and is the largest fleet in the Carnival group. The ships fly flags of convenience: 17 of the ships fly the Panama flag and seven that of the Bahamas. The company has legal domicile in Panama with plans to move it to Bermuda.
Its headquarters are in Doral, Florida, United States. The North American division of Carnival Corporation has executive control over the corporation and is headquartered in Doral. The headquarters of the company and its parent company are scheduled to move to the Waterford Business District in Miami-Dade County in 2028.
Leadership
Carnival has had five presidents since its foundation in 1972.
Fleet
Accidents and incidents
On September 19, 1999, Tropicale's engine room caught fire en route from Cozumel to Tampa. While disabled in the Gulf of Mexico, the ship was struck by Tropical Storm Harvey. The Tropicale spent two days without propulsion.
On November 8, 2010, a fire broke out in the generator room of Carnival Splendor and the ship lost power. The ship was adrift off the west coast of Mexico until she was towed to San Diego.
On February 10, 2013, Carnival Triumph, with 3,143 passengers aboard, suffered an engine room fire, leaving the ship adrift for four days in the Gulf of Mexico. The engine fire led to a power outage on the ship, which in turn caused raw sewage to back up. The media dubbed the ordeal "The Poop Cruise". The ship was towed to Mobile, Alabama, docking on the evening of February 14, 2013. In subsequent litigation, Carnival documents were uncovered that revealed multiple generator maintenance problems creating a "disaster waiting to happen". In response, Carnival's court filing stated that the contract that passengers agree to when they buy a ticket "makes absolutely no guarantee for safe passage, a seaworthy vessel, adequate and wholesome food, and sanitary and safe living conditions".
On March 14, 2013, Carnival Dream experienced an emergency generator failure while docked in port at Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. The ship was scheduled to leave port around 5 p.m. ET the day before. The United States Coast Guard said they were notified by Carnival that Carnival Dream was experiencing emergency generator problems. Carnival announced that the passengers would be flown back to Florida rather than completing their scheduled voyage.
On the morning of March 15, 2013, Carnival Legend suffered a mechanical problem with one propulsion pod while at sea. The cruise line cancelled Carnival Legend's scheduled stops in Belize and Grand Cayman, and the ship returned to Tampa, Florida at a reduced speed of 19 knots (22 mph) (Legend has a regular cruising speed of 24 knots).
On December 27, 2015, an electrician who had been working on the Carnival Ecstasy was crushed to death while working in an elevator. The accident had heavy publicity after a video was posted online.
Controversies
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, three of the Carnival cruise ships were chartered by the United States government for six months to serve as temporary housing, until houses could be rebuilt. After being chartered for six months, their planned voyages were cancelled, and passengers were refunded. Holiday was originally docked in Mobile, Alabama, and later Pascagoula, Mississippi. Ecstasy and Sensation were docked at New Orleans, Louisiana. The six-month contract cost $236 million. The contract was widely criticized, because the vessels were never fully utilized, and Carnival received more money than it would have earned by using the ships in their normal rotation.
Employment
In 2012, the company was reportedly paying cruise ship staff basic salaries equivalent to £0.75 per hour. For example, a junior waiter would earn a basic salary of £250 a month, for shifts lasting at least 11 hours, seven days a week. In response to this controversy, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Brendan Barber, commented: "It's high time the disgraceful practice of allowing the shipping industry to pay poverty wages to workers who don't live in the UK was stopped. Exploitative rates of pay for those working on British ships have no place in a modern society." In October 2013, Carnival revoked retirement benefits for cruise staff. In May 2012, Carnival dismissed 150 crew members from India for protesting low wages.
Environmental and pollution
Since 2017, Carnival Corporation has been on probation, after having been found to be "illegally dumping oil into the ocean from its Princess Cruises ships and lying about the scheme." Carnival Corporation also had to pay a $40 million fine. The court summary states that "Princess was convicted and sentenced in April 2017, after pleading guilty to felony charges stemming from its deliberate dumping of oil-contaminated waste from one of its vessels and intentional acts to cover it up".
In April 2019, Carnival Corporation was accused of violating probation rules. The allegations include 800 incidents from April 2017 to April 2018. A federal judge has threatened to impose severe fines which may increase tenfold. The judge also stated that Carnival ships may be temporarily banned from docking in US ports. In early June 2019, Carnival Corp. agreed to pay $20 million in fines in an agreement with federal prosecutors. The proposed settlement documents were signed by Chairman Micky Arison on June 3, 2019.
On June 4, a Senior US District Judge approved the deal, and confirmed that probation would continue for three years, after CEO Arnold Donald said, "The company pleads guilty. We acknowledge the shortcomings. I am here today to formulate a plan to fix them". The company promised to implement additional audits to check for violations, to provide improved training to staff, to start improved waste management practices and to set up a more effective method for reporting pollution incidents to government agencies.
In June 2019, Carnival Corporation and its Princess subsidiary agreed to pay a criminal penalty of $20 million for further environmental violations that include dumping plastic waste into the ocean. Princess Cruises had already paid $40 million over prior deliberate acts of ocean pollution.