''Carnival Freedom'' is a operated by

Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel (ship), funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue colo ...

. She is the 22nd operating vessel in the fleet, and the last of the ''Conquest''-class ships. The ship was built as part of a four-ship deal with

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

Marghera Marghera is a ''municipalità'' (borough) of the ''comune'' of Venice, Italy, Venice, Italy. It includes the industrial area known as Porto Marghera (English: Marghera Port) or Venezia Porto Marghera. Etymology The name Marghera is said in popula ...

shipyard and was launched in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on April 28, 2006. She was delivered to Carnival on February 28, 2007.

Description and design

The ship has 1,150 crew, 1,487 cabins and is able to carry 2,974 passengers traveling at a speed of .

History

The ship was built by

at its

shipyard in

, Italy. She was floated out on April 28, 2006, delivered to Carnival on February 28, 2007, and formally named in Venice by American model, actress, author and entrepreneur

Kathy Ireland Kathleen Marie Ireland (born March 20, 1963) is an American actress, author, entrepreneur, fashion designer, philanthropist, and former fashion model. Ireland was a supermodel in the 1980s and 1990s, initially known for appearing in 13 consecut ...

on March 4, 2007. ''Carnival Freedom'' initially sailed from her homeport in

Civitavecchia Civitavecchia (, meaning "ancient town") is a city and major Port, sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea west-northwest of Rome. Its legal status is a ''comune'' (municipality) of Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Rome, Lazio. The harbour is formed by ...

near

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on Mediterranean cruises until the Fall of 2007 when she sailed the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

from the

Port of Miami The Port of Miami, styled as PortMiami and formally known as the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world and one ...

. In the summer of 2008, she returned to Europe and sailed in the Mediterranean again. In the fall of 2008, she sailed the Caribbean again but out of

Port Everglades Port Everglades is a seaport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located in Broward County. Port Everglades is one of South Florida's foremost economic engines, as it is the gateway for both international trade and cruise vacations. In 2022, Port Eve ...

until February 2015 when she changed her home port to

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

. ''Carnival Freedom'' entered a three-week routine drydock in Freeport, Bahamas on March 30, 2014 for refurbishment. The ship went for another dry dock in March 2019. That month, the ship debuted with its water park and major renovation. ''Carnival Freedom'' resumed port calls to

Grand Bahama Grand Bahama is the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas. It is the third largest island in the Bahamas island chain of approximately 700 islands and 2,400 cays. The island is roughly in area and approximately long west to east and at it ...

in November 2019 when

Hurricane Dorian Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone, which became the most intense on record to strike The Bahamas. It is tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin in term ...

ravaged the country. In 2019, a photographer took a picture of the ship emitting black smoke in

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

. The cruise line told the media that the smoke was caused by an engine turbocharger malfunction.

COVID-19

On March 23, 2020, a crew member who had sailed on the six day March 8 cruise out of

was hospitalized in

Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport ( ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States, and its co-county seat. It had a population of 72,926 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Mississippi, second-most populous ...

after experiencing flu-like symptoms. On March 25 they received a positive test result for COVID-19 and passengers from the cruise were subsequently asked to quarantine for 14 days by the cruise line. The passengers had disembarked in

on March 14 – a day after

suspended operations due to coronavirus. The ship repositioned to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and sails to

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

since 2021.

Incidents

On May 26, 2022, ''Carnival Freedom'' suffered a large fire in her funnel while she was docked in

Grand Turk Grand Turk is an island in the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory, tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and northern West Indies. It is the largest island in the Turks Islands (the smaller of th ...

. The fire was extinguished with no injuries reported. Significant damage was sustained to part of the funnel, on the starboard side. Guests and crew members were allowed to go ashore, as originally planned in Grand Turk. It was announced in the evening of May 26, 2022, by Carnival through a letter to guests that the ''Carnival Freedom'' would remain in Grand Turk with passengers on board. was scheduled to embark passengers from ''Carnival Freedom'' as the ship would not be returning to Port Canaveral. Following the incident, ''Carnival Freedom'' underwent an emergency drydock in Grand Bahama for repairs, which included the removal of the funnel's damaged wings. As for compensation, Carnival gave a $100 per stateroom onboard credit and a 50 percent off future cruise credit. Any additional parking fees at the Port Canaveral parking garage were waived, and Carnival would cover fees related to changed flights up to $200 per person. The ship resumed normal service on June 11, 2022, with the altered funnel. Carnival Freedom Cruise ship

From October 4 to 22, 2023, the ship entered its 16-day dry dock at the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz, Spain. Once again sporting a winged funnel, ''Carnival Freedom'' sailed from Barcelona, Spain for a 14-day transatlantic voyage to its homeport of Port Canaveral, Florida. The ship underwent an extensive refurbishment that included the installation of the new funnel, the addition of the signature Carnival red, white and blue hull livery and other enhancements, including a Heroes Tribute Bar, like other ships in the Carnival fleet, which honors both military veterans and active-duty service members. ''Carnival Freedom'' also features a Dreams Studio. Some of the other work included an expansion to the ship's casino, and renovations and upgrades across the ship's staterooms and public areas. On March 23, 2024, ''Carnival Freedom'' was sailing through severe weather when passengers reported an extremely loud thunder clap and lightning. Shortly after, a fire was reported in the port side exhaust. This led to the next two cruises being cancelled for repairs to be carried out. The funnel wings were removed at

Freeport, Bahamas Freeport is a city, district and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama in the northwest part of The Bahamas. In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests in Grand Bahama, was granted of pineyard with substant ...

and the exhausts re-routed, leaving it with a more conventional appearance.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Official website
{{Carnival Cruise Line

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

Ships built in Venice Ships built by Fincantieri 2006 ships