Some Cruise Ship Funnels Have Wings, The Truth Behind Why

When you picture a cruise ship funnel, you probably imagine a very simple shape.

The majority of cruise lines stick to basic funnel designs, but there are some funnels that look like they have wings.

Carnival Cruise Line has this wing-like design onboard all of their ships. On Carnival cruises, the funnel is referred to as the “whale tail”.

Why do Some Cruise Ship Funnels Have Wings?

Some cruise ship funnels have wings as this improves airflow and acts as a recognizable design element for the cruise line. At present Carnival cruise line hold the patent on this winged funnel design.

Carnival cruise line isn’t the only cruise line to have ever had a funnel with a wing-like design.

The First Ship to Have a Funnel With Wings

Carnival may be the cruise line with the most well-known winged funnel design, but it is not the only one to have done this.

The SS France was built in France and launched in 1962. At the time, she was the longest passenger ship ever built.

It is difficult to see her length in the above photo. This photo below was taken just before she was scrapped in 2006. Note the wings on her funnels.

The SS France was bought by Norwegian Cruise Line in 1979 and renamed SS Norway. In 2003, the ship’s boiler exploded, killing eight crew members and injuring seventeen more.

The SS Norway sailed out of New York 6 days before 9/11 in 2001. Her passengers found out about the terror attack while crossing the Atlantic.

In the photo below, you can see the funnel design. Although quite different from the modern winged funnels we see on Carnival cruise ships, the idea is the same.

It is said that Carnival Cruise Line designer Joe Farcus drew inspiration from the SS Norway when designing the funnels of Carnival cruise ships.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Cruise Line has a US patent for this style of cruise ship funnel. The patent was issued in 1989 and had an initial term of 14 years.

You can see the full patent here.

This means that only Carnival cruise line can use this design.

The parent company Carnival also owns P&O Cruises, Princess, Holland America, and many more cruise lines so – in theory – I’m sure that these cruise lines could use the design if Carnival wanted them to.

But because it is such a design symbol for Carnival Cruise Line, it’s unlikely that any other lines would use it.

In 1982 Carnival created their first purpose built cruise ship, the Tropicale.

This was the first ship to use the funnel with wings design. Since then, all ships in the Carnival fleet have had this distinctive design.

What’s Inside Carnival’s Whale Tail Funnels?

On the majority of Carnival’s cruise ships, the whale tail is purely functional, and guests are not able to see anything inside it.

However, in Carnival’s Spirit class, there is actually a glass part of the funnel where a speciality restaurant is located.

Guests are able to dine below this glass area and the funnel is lit up at night.

Air Benefits of a Funnel With Wings

The shape of the wings on the funnels increases the uplift on the funnel’s exhaust.

The idea behind the design is that both sides of the funnel would lead exhaust fumes into the ship’s slipstream, where they would be carried away far from the passengers on the passenger decks below.

In reality, the airflow benefits are minimal compared to the design benefits. Carnival Cruise Line primarily uses the funnel as company branding.

Design Benefits

The main reason Carnival has this funnel design on all of its ships is that it has become instantly recognisable – not only to Carnival cruisers but to everybody who has seen one of its ships.

This unique design makes the ships recognisable, even if it is just the silhouette of the ship shown.

Carnival’s logo even includes the funnel design because it is so iconic.

In the early days of cruising many people used to believe that the more funnels a cruise ship had the more powerful and faster it could go. Some ships had fake funnels for this reason – including the Titanic.

The funnel design makes Carnival ships stand out compared to other cruise ships. Here is a Carnival cruise ship standing beside a Holland America ship.

I asked members of our Facebook group if they knew which cruise line had a winged funnel design.

Amazingly over 98% of respondents correctly named Carnival.

I did ask a cruise-related Facebook group this question, so it isn’t a typical survey of the general population, but even still, this shows how well known the iconic funnel shape is within the cruise industry.

Have Carnival Ships Always Had The Whale Tail?

Carnival’s first cruise ship, Mardi Gras, didn’t have the iconic ‘whale tail’ funnel design that we are used to on Carnival ships.

The Mardi Gras was launched as the RMS Empress of Canada in 1961. Carnival bought her in 1972.

Although the funnel was painted in classic Carnival colours they hadn’t at this point designed the funnel with wing designs that are we used to.

Other Ships That Have Funnels With Wings

You may see other cruise ships sailing for other cruise lines with the iconic funnel with wings design.

The ships with Carnival-style funnels were previously owned by Carnival and, as a result, have kept the distinctive shape of the funnel.

An example of this was CMV’s Magellan. The cruise ship was originally built as “Holiday” for Carnival Cruise Line in 1985.

Despite CMV painting the funnel the Carnival design was still evident – until she was scrapped in 2021.

I took a Carnival cruise from New York City. I booked the cheapest cabin and sailed to Canada and New England. Find out what I thought of that cruise here:

Before You Go

Have a look at some early advertising leaflets for Norwegian cruise line (which include the SS Norway mentioned above) here:

Norwegian Cruise Line History (Including Interesting Brochures from the 1960s)

Find out why cruise ships are painted red below the waterline here:

Why Are Ships Red Below The Waterline? – I Went Under One to Find Out!