Let’s take a step back on Cruise Ship Monday and call today’s edition Cruise Line Monday.
Today we are going to take a look at Carnival Cruise Line and who they are.
Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line whose headquarters are located in Doral, Florida. Its fleet of ships is easily recognized by their red, white and blue livery and “whale tail” funnel built onto the ship. The cruise line currently operates 29 ships with five more ships coming between 2027 and 2033. Carnival Cruise Line is the largest cruise line in operation.
Carnival Cruise Line began sailing in 1972 from Miami, Florida. The first ship was named Mardi Gras. 1975 brought a second ship names Carnivale and 1978 brought Festivale. In 1982, Carnival launched its first new build, Tropicale. This was also the first ship to sport the iconic “whale tail.”
Carnival continued to grow by leaps and bounds through the 1990s and 2000s. New classes of ships were introduced and older ships were sold or transferred. The 2010s brought the largest ship Carnival had ever built. Carnival Vista sailed her maiden voyage on May 1, 2016. The pandemic in 2020 brought the scrapping of ships, but in 2021 a new Excel-class ship, Mardi Gras, entered service sailing year round from Port Canaveral. 2022 brought us “Fun Italian Style” as Carnival welcomed Carnival Venezia and Carnival Firenze to its fleet.
In 2024, Carnival announced it had ordered three new vessels from Fincantieri that are expected to be delivered in 2029, 2031 and 2033. In March 2025, Carnival rebranded two P&O Cruises Australia ships as Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter that will continue to sail in Australia. Then in April 2025, Carnival announced its next two Excel-class ships will be christened as Carnival Festivale and Carnival Tropicale. Sound familiar?
Carnival Cruise Line has eight classes of ships–Fantasy, Sunshine, Spirit, Conquest, Splendor, Dream, Vista/Venezia, and Excel. Next week we will explore the two ships in the Fantasy class.