| IMO | 9333149 |
|---|---|
| Gross tonnage | 110,000 GT |
| Length | 290.2 m |
| Beam | 35.3 m |
| Passenger capacity (max) | 2980 |
| Service speed | 22.5 knots |
| Builder | Fincantieri |
| Hull number | 6129 |
| Launched | 2006 |
| Maiden voyage | 2007-03-05 |
| Class | Conquest-class cruise ship |
| Operator | Carnival Cruise Line |
| Status | Active |
Overview
Carnival Freedom is a Conquest-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line, and the fifth and final ship of her class. Built by Fincantieri in Italy and delivered in February 2007, she was the 22nd vessel in the Carnival fleet when she entered service. At 110,000 GT with a maximum capacity of 2,980 passengers, she represents the mature form of Carnival's big-ship design of the 2000s: a large, densely fitted resort ship derived from the earlier Destiny-class platform and stretched across the five Conquest-class sisters.
She has spent her whole career with Carnival under the same name, and is best known outside cruising circles for an unlucky run of funnel fires — in 2022 and again in 2024 — that twice cost her the line's signature winged "whale tail" funnel, and twice saw it restored.
Key specifications
The dataset records Carnival Freedom at 110,000 GT, 290.2 m in length and 35.3 m in beam, with a maximum passenger capacity of 2,980 and a top speed of 22.5 knots; her service speed is 21 knots. She has 13 passenger decks (numbered 1 to 14, skipping 13) and 1,487 cabins. Her crew numbers about 1,150.
Power comes from six Wärtsilä 12V46C diesel-electric generator sets driving two conventional shafts — the standard Conquest-class machinery arrangement, and a contrast with the podded propulsion of many later designs.
Design and construction
Carnival Freedom was built by Fincantieri at its Marghera yard in Venice, Italy, as yard number 6129, under a four-ship deal between Carnival and the Marghera yard. She was floated out on 28 April 2006 — the dataset's 2007 launch year reflects her delivery year rather than the float-out — and delivered to Carnival on 28 February 2007.
The Conquest class took Carnival's Destiny-class hull concept and lengthened it, adding deck space and cabins while keeping the general arrangement that had structured Carnival's fleet since the late 1990s: a multi-deck atrium, stacked show lounge forward, large midships pool deck and the line's trademark winged funnel aft. As the last of the five sisters, Freedom was the final expression of that design line before Carnival moved on to the larger Dream class.
Naming, launch and maiden voyage
The ship was formally named in Venice on 4 March 2007 by her godmother, the American model, author and entrepreneur Kathy Ireland. Her maiden voyage followed the next day, 5 March 2007 — the date recorded in the dataset. Unusually for a ship destined mainly for the American market, she began her career in Europe, sailing her first season in the Mediterranean from Civitavecchia, the port of Rome, before crossing to the Caribbean in the autumn of 2007.
Career by operator
Carnival Freedom has had a single name and a single operator throughout her life, so her career table is a short one:
| Years | Name | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| 2007–present | Carnival Freedom | Carnival Cruise Line |
Within Carnival's fleet she has been rotated through the line's principal deployment regions over the years — the Mediterranean in her debut season and again in summer 2008, the Caribbean from Florida ports, a long period based at Galveston, Texas, from 2015, and Alaska sailings from Seattle from 2021 — a typical working pattern for a mid-life Carnival ship rather than a series of distinct careers.
Onboard character
Freedom is a product of Carnival's "Fun Ship" era at its most confident: a high-density resort ship whose public rooms were designed as a sequence of themed spaces around the central atrium, with the big show lounge, casino, dining rooms and pool deck doing the heavy lifting of the onboard programme. Her most recognisable design feature was always external — the red, white and blue winged funnel, the "whale tail" that has been Carnival's trademark since the 1980s.
Because she was the last Conquest-class ship, her interior represented the final refinement of a formula Carnival had been building for a decade: familiar layout, large-capacity venues, and decoration intended to be read instantly by repeat Carnival guests moving from ship to ship within the class.
Major refits and incidents
The ship drydocked in Freeport, Bahamas, in 2014 for a three-week refurbishment, and again in March 2019, when she received a water park in a major renovation. In November 2019 she was photographed emitting heavy black smoke in the Cayman Islands; Carnival attributed it to an engine turbocharger malfunction. In March 2020, a crew member from an early-March sailing was hospitalised and tested positive for COVID-19, and passengers from that cruise were asked to quarantine — one of the closing episodes of cruising's pandemic shutdown.
Her defining incidents, though, are the funnel fires. On 26 May 2022, while docked at Grand Turk, the starboard side of her funnel caught fire. There were no injuries, but the damage was extensive: passengers were transferred to Carnival Conquest for the return to Florida, and in an emergency drydock in Grand Bahama the funnel's damaged wings were cut away. She resumed service on 11 June 2022 with a truncated, straight funnel.
In October 2023 she drydocked for 16 days at the Navantia yard in Cádiz, Spain, emerging with a new winged funnel, Carnival's red, white and blue hull livery, a Heroes Tribute Bar honouring military veterans and serving personnel, an expanded casino and refreshed staterooms and public areas. The restoration lasted less than six months. On 23 March 2024, sailing in severe weather near Eleuthera in the Bahamas, she suffered a second funnel fire, reportedly following a lightning strike; two cruises were cancelled, and the funnel wings were again removed at Freeport, leaving her with a plain exhaust stack. A new winged funnel was finally fitted again during a September 2026 drydock.
Sister ships and class
Freedom is the fifth of five Conquest-class sisters, all built by Fincantieri at Marghera: Carnival Conquest (2002), Carnival Glory (2003), Carnival Valor (2004), Carnival Liberty (2005) and Carnival Freedom (2007). The class itself was a lengthened development of the Destiny/Triumph design, and the five ships share the same basic hull, machinery and general arrangement.
Fate and where she is now
Carnival Freedom remains in active service with Carnival Cruise Line, her funnel restored to its full winged form in September 2026 after the second fire. Two decades after delivery, she is a mid-life member of the fleet, still sailing under the only name she has ever carried.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cruise_ships, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Freedom, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquest-class_cruise_ship