The famous Carnival Cruise Lines, Whale's Tail . . . the trademark of Carnival Cruise Lines . . . red, white and blue . . . the "fun ships" . . . Carnival Cruise Lines is a cruise line operating a large number of cruise ships. Originally an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, it is now a branded divsion of the Carnival Corporation a publicly traded company which owns a number of different cruise lines such as Princess, Costa, Holland America and others. Carnival was a pioneer in the concept of cruising for a holiday not just transportation to a destination.