Debt - Additional Information (Detail)						1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended											1 Months Ended						1 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2010 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Unsecured Debt	Aug. 31, 2011 Unsecured Debt Commercial Paper USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Unsecured Debt Euro Denominated Bank Loans USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2011 Unsecured Euro Denominated Export Credit Facility USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2011 Unsecured Euro Denominated Export Credit Facility USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Unsecured Euro Denominated Export Credit Facility Committed Ship Financings USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Unsecured Export Credit Facility USD ($)	May 31, 2011 Other Credit Facilities USD ($)	May 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility USD ($) Year	Aug. 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility USD ($)	May 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility U.S Dollar Denominated Debt USD ($)	May 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility U.S Dollar Denominated Debt Termination USD ($)	May 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility Euro Denominated EUR (€)	May 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility Euro Denominated Termination EUR (€)	May 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility Sterling Denominated Debt GBP (£)	May 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility Sterling Denominated Debt Termination GBP (£)	May 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility Utilization of One Third of Available Line of Credit Facility	May 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility Utilization of Two Third of Available Line of Credit Facility	May 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility Termination USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Unsecured Floating Rate Export Credit Facility USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 Unsecured Floating Rate Euro-Denominated Bank Loan USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Unsecured Floating Rate Bank Loan USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Costa Cruises Committed Ship Financings	Aug. 31, 2011 P And O Cruises UK Committed Ship Financings	Jan. 31, 2011 Fixed Rate Export Credit Facilities USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Committed Ship Financings
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Short term borrowings	$ 912,000,000	$ 740,000,000		$ 659,000,000	$ 253,000,000
Aggregate Weighted Average Interest Rate			0.70%
Debt Instrument, fixed interest Rate																												3.90%
Unsecured Long-Term Debt						407,000,000			583,000,000		2,500,000,000		1,600,000,000	1,200,000,000	450,000,000	400,000,000	150,000,000	200,000,000			2,000,000,000						313,000,000
Interest rate description						EURIBOR plus a margin of 20 basis points (“bps”) and is due in semi-annual installments through March 2023.			LIBOR plus a margin of 160 bps and is due in semi-annual installments through April 2023.		LIBOR/EURIBOR plus a margin of 65 bps. The margin will vary based on changes to Carnival Corporation’s and Carnival plc’s long-term credit rating.																	We have the option to change the interest rate to EURIBOR plus 80 bps up until 30 days prior to the applicable ship delivery date.
Interest rate option period																												30 days
Debt Instrument, Maturity Years											5
Debt instrument, basis spread on variable rate						0.20%			1.60%		0.65%																	0.80%
Line of credit term																												Each financing will be due in semi-annual installments over 12 years from the date of funding and is cancellable until thirty days prior to drawing.
Commitment fee on undrawn facility											35.00%
Debt instrument maturity period						2023-03			2023-04
Credit facilities cancelled							252,000,000			212,000,000
Utilization fee on the total amount outstanding																			0.15%	0.30%
Amount available under the facility												2,000,000,000
Payments of unsecured debt																						300,000,000	136,000,000	150,000,000
Debt instrument maturity period																						2022	2014	2013
Maximum borrowing capacity								$ 1,200,000,000
Debt issuance date																									October 2014	February 2015
Line of credit maturity period																												12 years