Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Cruise Line 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, Carnival 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]

MS Tropicale, Carnival's first purpose-built cruise ship

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

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]

The Destiny-class Carnival Destiny docked in St. Thomas in 2006

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, 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 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]

The Carnival Spirit, the first Spirit-class cruise ship in the fleet

The Carnival Magic in Grand Cayman in 2012

In 2001, the new Panamax size Spirit class 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.[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]

The Carnival Horizon off the coast of Grand Turk Island in 2018

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 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 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.[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]

The Mardi Gras is the largest ship in the fleet

In 2020, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Imagination, Carnival Inspiration were all sold for recycling. While Carnival Fascination was initially sold to another line, before it was resold for recycling a year later.[27][28]

In June 2021, it was announced that the Costa Magica would move from Costa Cruises to the Carnival fleet, and would receive a new name and the updated Carnival livery.[29] On the same day, Carnival also announced that a Excel class ship previously under construction for AIDA Cruises would be transfered to Carnival. Later in the year, the name was revealed to be Carnival Jubilee.

On July 31, 2021, after numerous delays, the highly anticipated Mardi Gras entered service, sailing year round from Port Canaveral.

In early 2022, Carnival would announce the retirement of Carnival Sensation and Carnival Ecstasy, with Sensation being sold for recycling immediately, and Ecstasy remaining in the fleet until October 2022.[30]

In June 2022, it was announced that Costa Luminosa would join the fleet as Carnival Luminosa replacing the previous announced plans of moving Costa Magica which would remain with Costa.[31]

It was further announced in June 2022, that Carnival would create a new concept with Costa Cruises, dubbed Costa by Carnival to bring over Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze and have the pair sail under the Carnival brand, while retaining their Costa names and livery. Both ships will join the Carnival fleet in 2023 and 2024 respectively.[32] On October 21, 2022, Carnival released renderings of the ships and announced that the ships would get Carnival names, becoming Carnival Venezia and Carnival Firenze.

Carnival has had five Presidents in its nearly 50-year history.

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.[34] A few days earlier, the company confirmed that it had sold the Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Inspiration (which were to be scrapped) and that Carnival Fascination and Carnival Imagination would move to long term layup (storage).[35]

All cruises were cancelled in March 2020 due to the worldwide pandemic and eventually, 55 passengers on ships owned by Carnival Corporation & plc were reported as having died.[36] 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 announced that Carnival Fascination and Carnival Imagination had been sold as well. Carnival Corporation also said that it was delaying the delivery of several ships already 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.[37][38][39][40][41]

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, had 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.[42] 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.[43]

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, however, "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 had implemented strict health protocols to protect its staff and guests.[44]

The Corporate parent's 4th Quarter (ending November 30, 2020) 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.[45]

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.[46]

More recently, as of October 23rd 2022, Carnival Cruise line Passengers are not required to provide Covid-19 test prior to their arrival if the passenger is vaccinated and boosted.

In 2012, the company was reportedly paying cruise ship staff basic salaries equivalent to £0.75 per hour.[48] 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.[48] 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."[48] In October 2013, Carnival revoked retirement benefits for cruise staff.[49] In May of 2012, Carnival dismissed 150 crew members from India for protesting low wages.[50]

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.[51] 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".[52]

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.[53] 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.[54] 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.[55]

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.[56]