wholly owned subsidiary industry travel tourism & hospitality cruise industry founded 1972 by ted arison headquarters miami florida united states area served worldwide key people christine duffy president products cruises revenue us 10.9 billion fy 2011 operating income us 2.3 billion fy 2011 net income us 1.9 billion fy 2011 total assets us 35 billion fy 2011 total equity us 13.4 billion fy 2011 number of employees 3 900 shoreside 1 33 500 shipboard 1 parent carnival corporation & plc website www.carnival.com footnotes references largest cruise line in the world based on passengers carried annually annual revenue and total number of ships in fleet 1 carnival cruise line is an american owned cruise line based in miami florida in the united states . contents 1 history 2 hurricane katrina charters 3 controversies 4 accidents and incidents 5 ships 5.1 current fleet 5.1.1 notes 5.2 future fleet 5.3 former fleet 6 restaurants 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit originally an independent company founded in 1972 by ted arison the company is now one of nine cruise ship brands owned and operated by carnival corporation & plc. the company has the largest fleet in the group with 25 vessels currently in operation that account for 21.1 % of the worldwide market share . 2 executive control of the company is provided by the north american division of carnival corporation headquartered in doral florida . 3 4 carnival was a pioneer in the concept of shorter less expensive cruises . its ships are known for their las vegas style decor and entertainment . the line calls its ships the fun ships and there are a wide range of activities offered on board . its trademark is the funnel which is red white and blue and shaped like a whale s tail . the mascot for carnival is fun ship freddy a character in the shape of carnival s distinctive funnel . in 1996 carnival destiny of 101 000 gt became the largest passenger ship in the world at the time and first to exceed 100 000 tons . in 2001 robert dickinson then ceo participated in a bbc documentary back to the floor . dickinson went to work at the lowest crew levels on the fun ship ms imagination on a carnival cruise in the caribbean where he shadowed a romanian cleaner alina . 5 in 2004 carnival corporation ordered for 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 . 6 as of 2009 the latest and largest asset in the carnival fleet was 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 5 december 2009 . a sister ship carnival magic debuted on 1 may 2011 . on 1 december 2009 it was announced that carnival placed an order for a third dream class vessel . 7 it entered service in june 2012 and is homeported in miami . 8 on may 10 2010 carnival selected a name for their new dream class vessel in 2012 ; carnival breeze . 9 on 26 october 2012 it was announced that carnival had ordered a brand new ship for their carnival cruise line brand . this ship will be built by fincantieri and will be the largest ship they have ever built . it sailed its maiden voyage on may 1 2016 nearly four years after carnival breeze entered service . 10 the new ship is named carnival vista . 11 hurricane katrina charters edit 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 . 12 controversies edit the company has reportedly been paying wages under 1.50 per hour to employees with low to nonexistent benefits such as holidays or minimal vacations . 13 monthly salaries of the high paid workers is around 1 300 . the crew wages are supplemented by gratuities and one former carnival crew member cited that crew receive up to 95 % of their income from tips . 14 employees report strenuous working conditions such as 14 hour shifts with no days off . as of october 2013 they are also revoking retirement benefits . 15 on february 1 2015 carnival aired an advertisement during super bowl xlix that invoked biological evolution causing outrage among creationists . 16 carnival cruise line headquarters in doral florida accidents and incidents edit see also costa crociere accidents and incidents for incidents associated with the parent company s other cruise operations . on september 19 1999 carnival 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 . no crew or guests were injured during the two days carnival tropicale spent without propulsion . 17 the ship was later sold and renamed ocean dream . on november 8 2010 a fire broke out in the generator room of carnival splendor and the ship lost most power . the ship was adrift off the west coast of mexico . the ship was towed to san diego . 18 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 . 19 the ship was towed to mobile alabama docking on the evening of february 14 . 20 21 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 takes the position 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 . 22 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 . 23 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 . 24 25 26 on december 27 2015 an electrician who had been working on one of carnival ecstasy passenger elevators was killed in an accident . 27 ships edit current fleet edit ship class year built sailed for carnival gross tonnage home port flag notes image carnival vista vista 2016 2016 present 133 500 gt barcelona spain athens greece trieste italy may october 2016 new york new york october november 2016 miami florida november 27 2016 and on panama the largest ship ever built by fincantieri for carnival cruise line . carnival breeze dream 2012 2012 present 130 000 gt 28 galveston texas panama the largest ship ever built by fincantieri until carnival vista carnival magic dream 2011 2011 present 130 000 gt 29 port canaveral florida panama the largest ship ever built by fincantieri until carnival breeze carnival dream dream 2009 2009 present 130 000 gt 30 new orleans louisiana panama the largest ship ever built by fincantieri until carnival magic carnival splendor concordia 2008 2008 present 113 300 gt 30 miami florida ; fort lauderdale florida panama referred to as a splendor class ship was originally designed for costa cruises as costa splendor but the carnival splendor was transferred to carnival cruise line during construction and is essentially a modified version of the concordia class ships . carnival freedom conquest 2007 2007 present 110 000 gt galveston texas panama carnival liberty conquest 2005 2005 present 110 000 gt galveston texas panama carnival valor conquest 2004 2004 present 110 000 gt port canaveral florida panama carnival glory conquest 2003 2003 present 110 000 gt miami florida panama carnival conquest conquest 2002 2002 present 110 000 gt fort lauderdale florida panama carnival miracle spirit 2004 2004 present 88 500 gt long beach california 31 panama built to panamax form factor carnival legend spirit 2002 2002 present 88 500 gt seattle washington summer months sydney australia fall winter spring months melbourne australia 32 malta built to panamax form factor carnival pride spirit 2001 2002 present 88 500 gt baltimore maryland ; tampa florida 33 panama built to panamax form factor former flagship for carnival carnival spirit spirit 2001 2001 present 88 500 gt sydney australia shanghai china 34 malta built to panamax form factor carnival victory triumph 2000 2000 present 101 509 gt port canaveral florida february 25 2016 october 30 2016 miami florida november 2016 panama modified destiny class carnival triumph triumph 1999 1999 present 101 509 gt new orleans louisiana bahamas modified destiny class . on february 14 2013 the ship was towed to mobile alabama for repairs after an engine room fire and resumed service on june 13 2013 almost 4 months after being out of service . after dry dock she became the leader of the two member triumph class . citation needed carnival sunshine destiny 1996 as carnival destiny 2013 as carnival sunshine 1996 present 102 853 gt port canaveral florida ; new york city ; charleston ; norfolk bahamas originally sailed as carnival destiny from 1996 to 2013 . world s largest passenger ship measured by gross tonnage when built . first cruise ship over 100 000 gt . carnival now identifies the sunshine as the only member of sunshine class . the first ship in the fleet to receive all funship 2.0 amenities . carnival paradise fantasy 1998 1998 present 70 367 gt tampa florida panama originally paradise carnival elation fantasy 1998 1998 present 70 367 gt jacksonville florida panama originally elation carnival inspiration fantasy 1996 1996 present 70 367 gt long beach california bahamas originally inspiration carnival imagination fantasy 1995 1995 present 70 367 gt long beach california bahamas originally imagination carnival fascination fantasy 1994 1994 present 70 367 gt san juan puerto rico bahamas originally fascination carnival sensation fantasy 1993 1993 present 70 367 gt miami florida bahamas originally sensation carnival ecstasy fantasy 1991 1991 present 70 367 gt charleston south carolina panama originally ecstasy carnival fantasy fantasy 1990 1990 present 70 367 gt miami florida february 17 2016 november 2016 mobile alabama november 9 2016 panama originally fantasy notes edit two more destiny class ships sail for carnival s sister company costa cruises costa fortuna and costa magica . carnival triumph and carnival victory are modified destiny class cruise ship because they were built with two more decks than the rest of the destiny class ships . two more spirit class ships sail for carnival s sister company costa cruises costa atlantica and costa mediterranea . conquest class is based on the overall design of the destiny class but are longer . because of the additional