Carnival Freedom Returns to Service After 35-Day Dry Dock in Marseille

The Carnival Freedom is preparing to return to service after undergoing a 35-day dry dock at the Chantier Naval shipyard in Marseille, France. During the work, the ship was fitted with a new, shorter whale-tail funnel, which the company says will allow it to call at additional ports. Once the work was completed, the ship is scheduled to arrive in Barcelona on October 9 to welcome its first passengers.

In addition to the new funnel, the Freedom received a redesigned casino with more than 100 additional slot machines, a renovated video arcade, updated retail spaces, and accessibility improvements throughout the ship. The vessel also now carries the new "From Sea to Shining Sea" bow badge, which Carnival unveiled in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary and which had already debuted on the Radiance and Legend. Cruise Industry News noted that the original funnel had been damaged by a lightning strike in March 2024.

After arriving in Barcelona, the Carnival Freedom will sail an eight-day Mediterranean cruise and then embark on a 13-day transatlantic crossing as part of the Carnival Journeys program, bound for Port Canaveral, where it will arrive on October 30. The ship will be based at Port Canaveral until May 2027, before repositioning to Norfolk, Virginia.

Carnival has opened bookings for the Freedom's 2028-2029 season, which will depart from Norfolk, Virginia, through April 2029 with six- to eight-day cruises to the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Eastern Caribbean, and Canada. The itinerary includes calls at Celebration Key, RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, and Amber Cove, among other destinations.