Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival Cruise Lines is a cruise line operating a large number of cruise ships. It originally was an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison. It is now a branded division within Carnival Corporation & plc, a publicly traded company with Micky Arison as the Chairman. Carnival Corporation & plc owns a number of different cruise lines and has become the largest corporation in the cruise industry.
Carnival was a pioneer in the concept of cheaper and shorter cruises. While some may consider its ships to fall short of the luxury of Celebrity Cruises or Silversea vessels, many of the newer Carnival vessels are just as luxurious.
The line calls its ships "The Fun Ships' and there is a wide range of activities offered on board. Carnival is well-known for the towel animals it creates for its guests in their cabins. Its trademark is the smoke stack, or funnel, which is red, white and blue and shaped like a whale's tail. The mascot for Carnival is "Fun Ship Freddy", a character in the shape of Carnival's distinctive funnel.
In 1996 the Carnival Destiny of 101,000 gross tons which became the largest passenger ship in the world at the time. The company announced in early 2006 the creation of two new ships: the Carnival Freedom, set to debut in 2007, and the Carnival Splendor, to debut in spring of 2008. At 112,000 gross tons, the Carnival Splendor will house a maximum of 3,000 passengers.
The latest and largest ship in the Carnival Fleet is the Carnival Liberty, a Conquest Class ship, Carnival's first ship to be based in Europe.
Carnival and its affiliates Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises, Windstar Cruises and the Yachts of Seabourn, are branded as the World's Leading Cruise Lines.
Ships
Here is the list of all Carnival cruise ships that either have been, are currently in, or will soon be in service, in the chronological order:
First-Generation Class (Retired)
Holiday Class
Fantasy Class
Destiny Class
Conquest Class
Un-Named Class
Three of the Carnival cruise ships were chartered by the United States government for six months to serve as temporary housing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Holiday was docked in Mobile, Alabama, and the Ecstasy and Sensation were docked at New Orleans, Louisiana.