Carnival Cruise Line was founded in Miami in 1972 by Ted Arison, who had earlier helped launch Norwegian Caribbean Lines before setting out on his own. Carnival's founding idea was to make cruising a mainstream, good-value holiday rather than a formal ocean voyage, sold under the enduring 'Fun Ships' banner and aimed squarely at first-time cruisers and families. The fleet below shows how that formula scaled up over three decades. Its oldest ships, the Fantasy-class Carnival Elation and Carnival Paradise, measure about 72,000 GT, and most of the fleet sits in the 86,000 to 135,000 GT band across the Spirit, Destiny, Conquest, Dream, Vista and Venice classes. The step change comes with the Excel class — Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration and the 183,521 GT Carnival Jubilee — the line's largest ships, which carry the fleet's fun-first, resort-style character to a considerably bigger hull.
The fleet — 29 ships in this directory
launched 1995 · 102,853 GT · Destiny class · Active
launched 1998 · 71,909 GT · Fantasy class · Active
launched 1998 · 71,925 GT · Fantasy class · Active
launched 1999 · 101,509 GT · Destiny class · Active
launched 2000 · 108,806 GT · Grand class · Active
launched 2000 · 101,509 GT · Destiny class · Active
launched 2001 · 108,977 GT · Grand class · Active
launched 2001 · 85,942 GT · Spirit class · Active
launched 2001 · 85,920 GT · Spirit class · Active
launched 2001 · 85,920 GT · Spirit class · Active
launched 2002 · 110,000 GT · Conquest class · Active
launched 2003 · 110,000 GT · Conquest class · Active
launched 2003 · 88,500 GT · Spirit class · Active
launched 2004 · 110,000 GT · Conquest class · Active
launched 2004 · 110,000 GT · Conquest class · Active
launched 2006 · 110,000 GT · Conquest class · Active
launched 2007 · 113,300 GT · Splendor class · Active
launched 2008 · 128,250 GT · Dream class · Active
launched 2009 · 92,720 GT · Spirit class · Active
launched 2010 · 130,000 GT · Dream class · Active
launched 2011 · 130,000 GT · Dream class · Active
launched 2015 · 133,500 GT · Vista class · Active
launched 2017 · 133,596 GT · Vista class · Active
launched 2018 · 133,500 GT · Vista class · Active
launched 2019 · 135,156 GT · Venice class · Active
launched 2019 · 135,500 GT · Venice class · Active
launched 2021 · Excel class · Active
launched 2022 · Excel class · Active
launched 2023 · 183,521 GT · Excel class · Active
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Cruise_Lines, https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/carnival-cruise-lines-inc