Carnival Freedom regains winged funnel during Marseille dry dock
The scheduled shipyard period includes maintenance, inspections and general upkeep before an October return to service.
Carnival Freedom is undergoing a scheduled dry dock at Chantier Naval de Marseille in France, where crews are replacing its straight funnel with the ship’s familiar winged, or whale-tail, structure. The September 1-October 8 dry dock also covers routine maintenance, class inspections and general upkeep.
The funnel has sustained damage in two fires since 2022. A May 26, 2022, fire while the ship was docked at Grand Turk destroyed its starboard funnel fin, prompting an emergency dry dock in Freeport, Bahamas. On March 23, 2024, another fire broke out on the funnel’s port side while Carnival Freedom was about 20 miles from Eleuthera in the Bahamas, and part of the structure fell onto a deck. Eyewitnesses raised lightning as a possible cause, while Carnival said the cause remained under investigation and could not immediately be confirmed. No passengers were injured, though two fire-team members received treatment for minor smoke inhalation.
Carnival Freedom is scheduled to resume passenger operations October 9 with an eight-night round-trip Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona. A 13-night transatlantic sailing to Port Canaveral is set to follow October 17, before shorter Bahamas cruises begin from the Florida port in November.
