40 years ago this month, Carnival Cruise Lines was launched with a converted transatlantic ocean liner and a dream of entrepreneur Ted Arison, a pioneer in the modern-day cruise industry who set out to realize his vision of making a vacation experience once reserved for the very rich accessible to the average person. The rest, they say, is history! Here is a look back at some highlights from those four decades:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
THROUGH THE YEARS . . .<\/p>\n
1972 – Maiden voyage of Carnival’s first ship, the TSS Mardi Gras.<\/p>\n
1975 – Carnival purchases Empress of Britain, enters service as the TSS Carnivale.<\/p>\n
1978 – The Festivale, formerly the S.A. Vaal, undergoes $30 million refurbishment, begins service for Carnival as the largest and fastest vessel sailing from Miami to the Caribbean.<\/p>\n
1982 – Debut of the Tropicale, the first new cruise ship the cruise industry has seen in many years; ship marks the beginning of an industry-wide multi-billion-dollar shipbuilding boom.<\/p>\n
1984 – Carnival becomes first cruise line to advertise on network T.V. with the premiere of new advertising campaign starring company spokesperson Kathie Lee Gifford (then Johnson).<\/p>\n
1985 – Debut of 46,052-ton Holiday.<\/p>\n
1986 – Launch of 47,262-ton Jubilee.<\/p>\n
1987 – The 47,262-ton Celebration enters service.<\/p>\n
Carnival earns distinction as “Most Popular Cruise Line in the World,” carrying more passengers than any other cruise line.<\/p>\n
Carnival Cruise Lines undertakes its initial public offering on Wall Street, raising approximately $400 million to fuel future expansion; entity later becomes Carnival Corporation & plc, a multi-line worldwide cruise conglomerate.<\/p>\n
1990 – The 70,367-ton Carnival Fantasy – the first and namesake vessel in the highly successful “Fantasy-class” — enters service as first new ship ever placed on three- and four-day Bahamas cruise program from Miami. Eventually, Carnival would construct eight “Fantasy-class” vessels, the most cruise ships in a single class.<\/p>\n
1991 – Launch of 70,367-ton Carnival Ecstasy.<\/p>\n
1993 – Carnival introduces its third 70,367-ton SuperLiner, Carnival Sensation.<\/p>\n
1994 – Debut of 70,367-ton Carnival Fascination.<\/p>\n
1995 – 70,367-ton Carnival Imagination enters service.<\/p>\n
1996 – Carnival\u2019s launches sixth \u201cFantasy-class\u201d vessel, Carnival Inspiration.<\/p>\n
Carnival debuts the first passenger vessel to exceed 100,000 tons, the 101,353-ton Carnival Destiny, at the time the world’s largest cruise ship.<\/p>\n
1998 – Introduction of seventh \u201cFantasy-class\u201d vessel, the Carnival Elation, the first new cruise ship deployed on the West Coast.<\/p>\n
1999 – Debut of the 102,000-ton Carnival Triumph, Carnival\u2019s second \u201cDestiny-class\u201d vessel.<\/p>\n
2000 – A third \u201cDestiny-class\u201d vessel, the 102,000-ton Carnival Victory, is launched.<\/p>\n
2001 – Carnival introduces a new class of vessel with the launch of the 88,500-ton Carnival Spirit, the first new \u201cFun Ship\u201d ever positioned in the Alaska and Hawaii markets.<\/p>\n
2002 – A second \u201cSpirit-class\u201d vessel, the Carnival Pride, is launched.<\/p>\n
Carnival’s third “Spirit-class” ship, Carnival Legend, enters service.<\/p>\n
Debut of the 110,000-ton Carnival Conquest, beginning a new class of vessel for the line.<\/p>\n
2003 – Second 110,000-ton \u201cConquest-class\u201d ship, the Carnival Glory, enter service.<\/p>\n
2004 – Carnival Miracle, the fourth in Carnival\u2019s \u201cSpirit-class,\u201d debuts.<\/p>\n
A third 110,000-ton “Conquest-class” ship, Carnival Valor, sets sail.<\/p>\n
2005 – A fourth 110,000-ton \u201cConquest-class\u201d vessel, Carnival Liberty, enters service July 20 operating Carnival\u2019s first-ever Mediterranean cruise program.<\/p>\n
2007 – Debut of Carnival\u2019s fifth \u201cConquest-class\u201d vessel, Carnival Freedom.<\/p>\n
2008 – The new 113,300-ton Carnival Splendor enters service, representing a new class of ship for the line.<\/p>\n
2009 – The 130,000-ton Carnival Dream – the largest \u201cFun Ship\u201d ever constructed – is introduced in Europe Sept. 21, 2009.<\/p>\n
2011 – A second 130,000-ton ship, Carnival Magic, enter services in Europe May 1 2011, and will launch year-round seven-day Caribbean service from Galveston, Texas, Nov 14.<\/p>\n
2012 – A third 130,000-ton ship, Carnival Breeze, is scheduled to enter service in June 3, 2012, operating 12-day Mediterranean voyages from Barcelona before repositioning to Miami on year-round six- and eight-day departures.<\/p>\n
For more information on Carnival or to book your next cruise vacation, please call Premier Custom Travel at (800) 304-6789.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
40 years ago this month, Carnival Cruise Lines was launched with a converted transatlantic ocean liner and a dream of entrepreneur Ted Arison, a pioneer in the modern-day cruise industry who set out to realize his vision of making a vacation experience once reserved for the very rich accessible to the average person. The rest, they say, is history! Here […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[496],"tags":[107,133],"class_list":["post-516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cruises","tag-carnival-cruise-line","tag-cruises"],"fifu_image_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=516"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2700,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions\/2700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premiercustomtravel.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}