The tail surgery is complete for Carnival Cruise Line’s fire-damaged Carnival Freedom now sporting a replacement “whale tail” funnel after a dry dock refurbishment, and the ship with its shiny upgrades is now headed back to Port Canaveral.
Freedom has been sailing without the iconic red-white-and-blue smokestack funnel since it became engulfed in flames in May 2022 while docked in Grand Turk. Video of the inferno was taken by passengers aboard Carnival’s Mardi Gras, which was docked alongside, showing half of the tail disintegrating amid billows of black smoke leaving behind a charred husk.
Carnival Freedom caught fire in Grand Turk while docked this morning. Praying there are no injuries and everyone will be safe. #carnival #fire #grandturk pic.twitter.com/G8p3karGsp
— Enjoying Life (@AirborneJM) May 26, 2022
A quick fix was enabled at a Bahamas shipyard that stripped off the scorched remains of the whale tail but left it with a functional exhaust so it could continue its normal four- and five-night sailing duties from Central Florida.
It wasn’t until it left for the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz, Spain, in September that it would undergo a 16-day dry dock that would give the ship a new funnel often referred to as the “whale tail” because of its winged shape.
“The ship’s vibrant transformation is a significant milestone for the shipyard,” reads a Carnival press release. “While the yard’s team members have worked on other projects across the fleet, this is the first time they have designed and manufactured a Carnival funnel.”
Ships head in for a required dry dock every five years under international maritime law, during which cruise lines often install new features. The ship’s last dry dock was in 2019, but headed in early to get its replacement funnel.
For Carnival Freedom, new additions include the addition of the Heroes Military Tribute Bar, a venue that debuted on Carnival’s Panorama in 2019 and has since been installed on new ships Mardi Gras, Celebration and Venezia. The ship also received Dreams Studio, where ship photography can be married with keepsakes, an expanded casino with more slots, new betting tables and more ADA accessibility, and other touches to the staterooms and public areas.
The 110,000-gross-ton, 2,980-guest ship that debuted in 2007 welcomed passengers back on board this week and is now on a 14-night transatlantic voyage back to Port Canaveral, where it will return to service Nov. 6.
Carnival offers the most sailings from Port Canaveral with four ships offering a projected 270 homeport calls in the next year sailing year-round on a variety of itineraries. Freedom rejoins, Mardi Gras, Carnival Vista and Carnival Liberty, although Liberty will be switched during the year with Carnival Glory.
In late 2024, that will expand to five ships with the arrival of the Italian-themed Venezia, a rebranded ship originally built for sister cruise line Costa Cruises.
