Carnival Cruise Line
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.
, Carnival Cruise Line operates a fleet of 29 ships with five new ships set to join between 2027 and 2033.
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. 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, 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 October 2002, Carnival acquired P&O Princess Cruises for 3.5 billion euro.
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 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 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.
Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on Carnival Cruise Line
In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 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.
In a filing with regulators, the company stated that as of July 31, 2020, it had $7.9 billion in "cash and cash equivalent" available. An industry news item estimated that this would enable Carnival to continue operating for roughly a year in a situation where none of the ships was sailing. A few days earlier, the company confirmed that it had sold the Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Inspiration and that Carnival Fascination and Carnival Imagination would move to long term layup.
In September 2020, the corporation, the corporate umbrella of nine cruise ship companies, including Carnival Cruise Line, announced a reduction in its fleet. The company intended to dispose of 18 of its ships, a full 12% of the group's fleet. By that time, several ships had already been scrapped, including the Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Inspiration. In September 2020, Carnival sold Carnival Fascination and Carnival Imagination as well. Carnival Corporation also said that it was delaying the delivery of several ships on order. The adjusted net loss in the third quarter for Carnival Corporation & plc was reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as US$1.7 billion. For four straight fiscal quarters, Carnival Corporation & plc had quarterly revenues of $50 million or less, compared to more than $4.7 billion of revenue in previous quarters.
As of September 2020, the no-sail rule by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prohibited cruising in the U.S. until October 31, 2020, at the earliest. Members of the Cruise Lines International Association, including Carnival Cruise Line, announced in early August that its members were extending a voluntary suspension until October 31. That applied to cruises that were to depart from the U.S. or planned to stop at U.S. ports of call. On September 16, 2020, Carnival Cruise Line extended the suspension of four of its ships sailings well beyond October, to complete required dry-dock enhancements.
Costa Cruises began new sailings on September 6, 2020, in Italy, initially with two ships, Costa Deliziosa and Costa Diadema. At that time, the line required all passengers to be from Italy. By September 27, 2020, "Costa Cruises will be available for all European citizens who are residents in any of the countries listed in the most recent decree from the Prime Minister of Italy" according to a news report. The company implemented strict health protocols to protect its staff and guests.
Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Imagination, Carnival Inspiration were all sold for scrapping. Carnival Fascination was initially sold to another line, only to be resold for scrapping a year later. The corporate parent's 4th quarter financial statement released on January 11, 2021, indicated that one extra ship, in addition to the 18 previously planned, was to be sold. Carnival Corporation was in an excellent cash position, with US$9.5 billion, but suffered an adjusted net loss of $1.9 billion in the quarter.
In June 2021, Carnival stock shares fell by 6% after it was announced that some early passengers from the first cruises of 2021 had tested positive for COVID-19.
From October 23, 2022, Carnival Cruise line Passengers are not required to provide COVID-19 test prior to their arrival if the passenger is vaccinated and boosted.