Carnival Destiny was launched in 1996 as the first in Carnival Cruise Line's Destiny class of ships. When launched it held the distinction as the world's largest passenger ship as well as the first passenger ship to be built over 100,000 GT. A sister ship, Carnival Triumph, launched in 1999 and was followed by Carnival Victory in 2000. Though similar to Carnival Destiny, Carnival Triumph and Carnival Victory were larger, each containing an additional passenger deck and additional cabins. As a result, both stood apart from the Destiny class and were ultimately classified as Triumph-class ships. Carnival Cruise Line and Costa Cruises would build larger variations based on the Destiny-class ships in the years that followed.

In 2013, Carnival began a series of dry-docks which transformed its three ships, Carnival Destiny, Carnival Triumph, and Carnival Victory, almost entirely, resulting in name changes for all three after the refits were completed. As a result, Carnival now collectively refers to these ships as the Sunshine class.

• Carnival Cruise Lines
• Carnival Ship Class Guide (as of March 2020)