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Carnival Freedom

Carnival Freedom is a Conquest-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. 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's Marghera shipyard and was launched in Venice, Italy 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 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph).

History

The ship was built by Fincantieri at its Marghera shipyard in Venice, 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 on March 4, 2007.

Carnival Freedom initially sailed from her homeport in Civitavecchia near Rome on Mediterranean cruises until the Fall of 2007 when she sailed the Caribbean Sea from the Port of Miami. 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 until February 2015 when she changed her home port to Galveston, Texas.

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 in November 2019 when Hurricane Dorian ravaged the country. In 2019, a photographer took a picture of the ship emitting black smoke in Cayman Islands. 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 Galveston, Texas was hospitalized in Gulfport, Mississippi 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 Galveston, Texas on March 14 – a day after Carnival Cruise Line suspended operations due to coronavirus.

The ship repositioned to Seattle and sails to Alaska since 2021.

Incidents

On May 26, 2022, Carnival Freedom suffered a large fire in her funnel while she was docked in Grand Turk. 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. Carnival Conquest 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.

From October 4 to 22, 2023, the ship entered its 16-day dry dock at the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz, Spain. Once again sporting an 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 and the exhausts re-routed, leaving it with a more conventional appearance.