Carnival Corporation & plc to Transfer AIDA Cruises' AIDAblu Cruise Ship to U.K.'s Ocean Village in Spring 2007
MIAMI, Aug. 4, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE: CCL; LSE) (NYSE: CUK) today announced that AIDA Cruises' AIDAblu cruise ship will be transferred to its Ocean Village brand in spring 2007. The transfer follows recent orders for three new 68,500-ton cruise ships for the German brand to be delivered in spring 2007, 2008, and 2009.
Additionally, Princess Cruises' Regal Princess, which was originally scheduled to be transferred to Ocean Village, will now remain within the Princess Cruises fleet.
"This is an excellent opportunity not only to expand Ocean Village's presence in the U.K. market but also enhance the brand identity of AIDA Cruises. With the addition of these new 68,500-ton cruise ships, AIDA Cruises will be comprised of six modern 'club ships' that cater exclusively to the German-speaking market," said Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation & plc's chairman and CEO.
Because the AIDAblu and Ocean Village's current vessel are sister ships and designed to provide an informal, contemporary cruise experience, minimal modifications will be required to convert the AIDAblu to reflect the characteristics of Ocean Village's product.
At the same time, Arison noted that retaining the Regal Princess under the Princess Cruises umbrella will enable the brand to maximize its earnings potential. "The strength of the North American cruise market is a compelling reason to keep the Regal Princess within Princess Cruises' fleet. It is one of the world's most successful and recognizable cruise brands and market conditions dictate a need for more capacity, not less," he said.
He noted that the multi-brand philosophy uniquely positions Carnival Corporation & plc to take advantage of the synergies that exist within the company's various brands. "The transfer of the AIDAblu to Ocean Village is yet another example of optimizing asset utilization to benefit our brands and maximize returns for the group and we will continue to explore those opportunities," Arison said.
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the world, with a portfolio of 12 cruise brands in North America, Europe and Australia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Windstar Cruises, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises, Swan Hellenic, and P&O Cruises Australia.
Together, these brands operate 79 ships totaling more than 137,000 lower berths with 12 new ships scheduled for delivery between January 2006 and April 2009. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon, Holland America Tours and Princess Tours. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.
SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc
CONTACT: U.S. Media, Tim Gallagher of Carnival Corporation & plc,
+1-305-599-2600, ext. 16000; or U.K. Media, Sophie Fitton of Brunswick,
+011-44-20-7404-5959, for Carnival; or Investors Relations, Beth Roberts of
Carnival Corporation & plc, +1-305-406-4832
