Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival is one of ten cruise lines owned by the world's largest cruise ship operator, the American-British Carnival Corporation & plc. In 2018 Carnival Cruise Line was estimated to hold an 8.9% share of cruise industry revenue and 22.0% of passengers.[3] It has 26 vessels and is the largest fleet in the Carnival group.[4] The ships fly flags of convenience: 18 of the ships fly the Panama flag, six that of the Bahamas and two that of Malta. Its headquarters are in Miami, Florida, United States. The North American division of Carnival Corporation has executive control over the corporation and is headquartered in Doral, Florida.[5][6]

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, but subject to Arison taking over the substantial company debts.[7] The split enabled Arison to enter into new relationships with independent travel agents. He also promoted his cruises to fun-loving younger people. The format was very successful financially.[7]

1970s: Early years

Carnival Cruise Line Fleet 1970s

Carnival Cruise Lines commenced sailings from Miami with their first ship the Mardi Gras in 1972, a former transatlantic liner purchased from Canadian Pacific Line. Carnival would adapt and evolve the green Canadian Pacific livery for their new logo, changing the colors to red,white and blue as seen today.[8]

In 1975 acquired another former Canadian Pacific Line ship, renaming it the Carnivale.[7] 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.[8]

1980s: First new build ships

Carnival's first purpose-built new build Tropicale

In 1982 Carnival introduced their first purpose built ship, the Tropicale.[9] This was the first ship where the iconic winged funnel was introduced, designed by Joe Farcus, who would become a longtime Carnival Cruise Line design collaborator, which has since been used on all ships in the fleet.[10]

In 1984 Carnival would introduce a new television marketing campaign during this time, starring Kathie Lee Gifford, who continues to be a longtime collaborator with the line.[11]

1985 built Holiday

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.[10]

1990s: Fleet expansion

Fantasy-Class ship, Ecstasy

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.[10] After having done design work on all the previous Carnival ships, Joe Farcus continued as the lead designer for the entire class.[10]

In 1993, Carnival began to get rid of their older second-hand tonnage, and sold their first ship, the Mardis Gras, after 21 years of service with the line. The Carnivale followed the same year, going to newly created Carnival subsidiary Fiesta Marina Cruises.

Carnival Destiny

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,[12] 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.[13]

2000s: Early modern era

Panamax built Spirit-Class ships

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 MS Imagination in the Caribbean, where he shadowed a Romanian cleaner, Alina.[14] In October 2002, Carnival acquired P&O Princess Cruises for 3.5 billion euro.[15][16]

In 2001, Carnival transferred their first new build, the 1982 built Tropicale to Costa Cruises. Through the rest of the decade, the line would continue to sell, or transfer the other 1980s built ships to other lines, with the Jubilee in 2004, Celebration in 2008, and 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.[17]

In 2009, Carnival released their biggest ship at the time, the Carnival Dream, a new 128,000 GT ship. Carnival Dream entered service on 21 September 2009. After several voyages in the Mediterranean, she was set to offer weekly Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral from December 5, 2009. A sister ship, Carnival Magic, debuted on May 1, 2011. On December 1, 2009 it was announced that Carnival had placed an order for a third Dream-class vessel.[18] It entered service in June 2012 and its homeport is now Galveston.[19] On May 10, 2010, Carnival selected a name for their new Dream-class vessel in 2012 - Carnival Breeze.[20]

2010s

On October 26, 2012, it was announced that Carnival had 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,[21] and sailed her maiden voyage on May 1, 2016 from Trieste, Italy.[22]

In January 2017, Michael Thamm was appointed CEO of Carnival Asia to oversee operations in China and the surrounding region.[23]

A sister to Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon, joined the fleet with her inaugural voyage from Barcelona, Spain on April 2, 2018. Queen Latifah is the ship's godmother, and christened her May 23, 2018.[24]

Carnival Vista

Carnival Panorama, another sister to Carnival Vista, entered service as the cruise line's flagship on December 11, 2019. She became the first new ship to homeport on the West Coast since MS Paradise (now MS 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.[25]

Reports in late June 2019 stated that Carnival was building their 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.[26]

In 2012 the company was reportedly paying cruise ship staff basic salaries equivalent to £0.75 per hour.[39] 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.[39] 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."[39] In October 2013, Carnival revoked retirement benefits for cruise staff.[40]

Carnival Ecstasy docked in New Orleans

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 the houses can 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, and 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.[41]

Carnival Cruise Line headquarters in Doral, Florida

Since 2017, Carnival Corporation has been on probation, after having been found to "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.[42] 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".[43]

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.[44] 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.[45] The next day, 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.[46]

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.[47]

For incidents associated with the company's other cruise operations, see Costa Crociere and Princess Cruises.

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.[48]

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 it was towed to San Diego.[49]

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.[50] 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".[51] The ship was towed to Mobile, Alabama, docking on the evening of February 14.[52][53] 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."[54]

Carnival Cruise Ships in New Orleans, LA

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.[55]

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).[56][57][58]

On December 27, 2015, an electrician who had been working on the Carnival Ecstasy was crushed to death while working in an elevator.[59] The accident had heavy publicity after a video was posted online.[60]

In February 2018, a series of brawls broke out on the Carnival Legend. Staff were criticized for not containing the brawls and for exercising heavy force against passengers.[61]

On May 3, 2018, a pipe burst in the Carnival Dream's fire suppression system, flooding 50 staterooms.[62]

In November 2018, the Carnival Sunshine experienced a technical issue which caused the ship to list for approximately one minute.[63]

On December 29, 2018, lifeboat number 28 broke loose from the Carnival Dream for unknown reasons and was damaged. Carnival decided to abandon the lifeboat at sea and purchase a new replacement. No one was on board the lifeboat at the time and no injuries were reported.[64]

In the evening on September 20, 2019, while passing through Panama Canal, the former Carnival Fantasy, collided with the lock's wall and sustained damage to the aft superstructure. No injuries were reported. The collision happened while lock's water levels were being lowered. The vessel was not under its own power but assisted/tugged by the Panama Canal's locomotives. The accident occurred during the 10-day Panama Canal cruise.[65]

On October 9, 2019, a 23-year-old passenger fell off a railing where he was sitting onto a lower deck while the Carnival Valor was sailing near Louisiana. He was flown to a New Orleans hospital by helicopter and said to be in critical condition.[66][67]

On December 20, 2019, the Carnival Glory and Carnival Legend collided while in the port of Cozumel, Mexico; The Carnival Glory's stern superstructure was damaged and one person received minor injuries.[68][69][70][71]

• Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute, a Supreme Court case about forum selection clauses
• Carnival Air Lines
• Costa Crociere (subsidiary)
• Carnival Cruise Line Tycoon 2005: Island Hopping
• Fiesta Marina Cruises — short-lived subsidiary of Carnival
• Cruise Confidential

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• Official website