Carnival Cruise Line - How it All Started

 Interested in learning about the Carnival Cruise Line? Here is some interesting information:

Carnival Cruise Lines was founded in 1972 by the Israeli-American entrepreneur Ted Arison, after his departure from the Norwegian Caribbean line founded six years prior by himself and Norwegian American Knut Kloster. Carnival cruise ships are well-known for their Las Vegas-style feel, a feel which is due to their décor and the entertainment available on the ships. A major element of the Carnival line is the on-board casino which can be found on all their ships, but it is perfectly possible to take and enjoy a Carnival cruise without ever stepping foot in any casino. The Carnival brand has grown exponentially since its inception in the early seventies, to the point where it is now seen as easily one of the most popular, and most enjoyable, cruise lines on the market. Recent polls have put it just behind Royal Caribbean as a leader in customer satisfaction.

Like Royal Caribbean, Carnival has its headquarters in Florida, but has outlets far beyond not only the state, but beyond the boundaries of the USA. The brand has become a byword for affordable quality, with cheaper and shorter cruises a major part of its business. Carnival ships are immediately recognisable to the cruise ship aficionado by their smoke stacks, which are distinctively shaped like the tail of a whale and painted in red, white and blue. It is on these funnels that Carnival have based the appearance of the line’s mascot, Fun Ship Freddy – whose name is a reference to the fact that Carnival call their cruise liners The Fun Ships.

Carnival ships have a reputation and a celebrity that goes beyond the cruise ship industry. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, three of the line’s ships (Holiday, Ecstasy and Sensation) were chartered by the US government as emergency accommodation for those left homeless by the disaster. This contract left the government open to criticism, as there was space left on the ships, leading to accusations of money being wasted. However, Carnival’s willingness to withdraw the ships from their usual rotation and thus lose out on gambling revenues and other service monies did show that the company was willing to help out in times of strife – in line with the company’s reputation as a friendly, human organisation.

Carnival has also received extremely positive write-ups from a wide range of sources, some of which include luminaries of the travel-writing industry like Howard Hillman, and companies such as Condé Nast who make it their business to know which cruise lines are good, which are great and which are nothing special. Among customers, Carnival has the reputation for providing the widest range of activities and excursions, and has been voted the best cruise line for family vacations. The many strands of the line’s reputation – affordability, comfort, fun and service – all tie together to win Carnival a lot of return business and the attention of first-time cruise customers. There is, indeed, not a lot of bad feedback of which to speak – even if you look for bad write-ups they are conspicuous by their absence.