Carnival Cruise Line is the world's largest cruise operator in terms of passengers carried per year, accounting for roughly one out of every five cruise vacations worldwide.
Headquartered in Miami, the self-described "Fun Ship" line operates 25 large, resort-like vessels with a combined capacity for 66,310 passengers, based on double occupancy per cabin. Catering mostly to North Americans, Carnival has made its name on relatively short, affordable, fun-focused cruises from U.S. ports to The Bahamas and the Caribbean. It also offering sailings to the West Coast of Mexico, Canada, Alaska and, occasionally, the Mediterranean. In recent years, Carnival has deployed two of its vessels to Australia to operate voyages from Sydney aimed mostly at the local Australian market.
Carnival was founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, a cruise industry pioneer who also had a hand in the founding of Norwegian Cruise Line. Starting with just one second-hand vessel and enough fuel to make a one-way trip from Miami to Puerto Rico, Arison (and later his son, Micky), built Carnival into a vacation powerhouse that eventually gobbled up several of its competitors, including Princess Cruises, Holland America and Costa Cruises. Indeed, Carnival now is just one of 10 cruise brands that fall under the umbrella of parent company Carnival Corp. (CCL), which bills itself as the world's largest leisure travel company.
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For a look at each of Carnival's 25 ships and information on where they sail, scroll through the carousel above or continue reading below for more details about the brand.
Headquarters: Miami
Top executive: Christine Duffy, president
Employees: 40,000 (2017)
Annual passengers: 5 million (projection for 2017)
Ships in service: 25
Ships on order: 4
Destinations: Caribbean, Bahamas, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Panama Canal, Bermuda, Canada, New England, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The cruise line's ships call at 63 ports across North America.
Year-round home ports: Baltimore; Charleston, S.C.; Fort Lauderdale; Galveston, Texas; Jacksonville; Long Beach; Miami; Mobile, Ala.; New Orleans; New York; Port Canaveral, Fla.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Tampa; Sydney
Seasonal home ports: Ensenada, Mexico; Honolulu; Seattle; Vancouver, B.C.; Barcelona
Cruise lengths: Three to 16 days
Frequent-cruiser program: VIFP Club
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Busiest home ports (by departures, 2017)
Miami
Long Beach
Port Canaveral, Fla.
Galveston, Texas
New Orleans
Tampa
Fort Lauderdale
Mobile, Ala.
Charleston, S.C.
Jacksonville
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Fleet breakdown (as of May 2017)
Vista Class (133,500 tons) — 1
Dream Class (130,000 tons) — 3
Splendor Class (113,300 tons) — 1
Conquest Class (110,000) — 5
Spirit Class (88,500 tons) — 4
Triumph Class (102,000 tons) — 2
Sunshine Class (102,853 tons) — 1
Fantasy Class (70,367 tons) — 8
Inside the Carnival ships that made cruising history