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The name of Carnival Cruises is synonymous with cruise vacations, and Carnival Cruise Lines is now the largest single cruise operator in the business, with its acquisitions of Costa, Cunard, Princess, P&O, Seabourn, the Holland America Line, and five additional cruise operators on North America, Australia, and Europe.

In the thirty five years of its existence since the 1972 inaugural sailing of the TSS Mardi Gras, which unfortunately ran aground on a sandbar in the port of Miami, Carnival Cruise Lines have currently grown to operate a fleet of cruise ships large enough to qualify as a private navy, and may Carnival cruises may cover much of the Earth's oceans as the world's great navies do.

Carnival Cruise Lines have gone to great lengths to brand their ships as 'The Fun Ships,' and originally made their name by offering short, inexpensive cruises on vessels with d'cor and entertainment reminiscent of Las Vegas. The most recognizable features of carnival cruise ships are their red-white-and-blue funnels built to resemble the tails of whales, and Fun Ship Freddy, a fantasy figure whose head resembles the Carnival ship funnel.

Carnival Destinations

Carnival Cruises aboard the carnival ship line are most often scheduled for the Caribbean, but as of 2007 Carnival cruises aboard the Carnival Freedom to both Turkey and Greece, and aboard the Carnival Spirit to Alaska and Hawaii are now available. In the Southern Caribbean, Carnival Destiny leaves from the Ports of San Juan, Aruba, and Barbados, and the Carnival Fantasy class ships are reserved for the prototypical three to five day Carnival cruises from Miami to ports in Mexico, the Bahamas, and nearby Caribbean destinations.

Carnival Entertainments And Eateries

Regardless of their itineraries, Carnival cruises are famous for the amazing variety of onboard diversions they offer their passengers. Every ship has at least two swimming pools, complete with waterslides, and on the Destiny-class ships one of the pools will have a retractable roof so swimming is always available no matter where the Carnival cruises are headed. The ships' casinos are a major attraction on Carnival cruises, and in their glitz and neon they compare well to those of Las Vegas resorts. But the forte of Carnival cruises might well be in the cruise line's approach to feeding its guests.

Carnival is adopting a schedule of four dinner seatings, instead of the traditional two, in some of its ships' main dining rooms, and it is also beginning to include restaurants which specialize in a particular type of cuisine along with its regular restaurants. Meals at these specialty restaurants will be at no additional cost. Some lucky guests on Carnival cruises will even have a patisserie where they can indulge to their hearts' content!

If Carnival cruises sound like the perfect vacations to you, just be sure to research the amenities of each ship before you book a cabin, because they will vary widely depending on the class of Carnival ship you book!

If you have the time, and you have the financial resources, you'll never find any more enjoyable way to spend them than by booking yourself a six-star luxury cruise!