Carnival Corporation & plc Reports Financial Impact of Hurricane Frances
MIAMI, Sept. 8, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE: CCL; LSE) (NYSE: CUK) today announced that it estimates that the financial impact of Hurricane Frances on its fourth quarter earnings will be approximately $0.03 to $0.04 per share.
The severe weather affecting South and Central Florida and the subsequent port closures forced the company to cancel three Carnival Cruise Lines voyages and shorten the itineraries for six of its brands' cruises -- four for Carnival Cruise Lines and one each for Holland America Line and Princess Cruises.
The company's P&O Cruises Australia unit was forced to cancel a future 10-day voyage as a result of the closure of the Freeport, Bahamas, dry-dock facility where one of its ships was undergoing an extensive refurbishment.
Guests on cancelled voyages were provided with full refunds or future cruise credits. Guests on abbreviated cruises had the option of sailing and receiving partial refunds, future cruise credits and shipboard credits, or canceling and receiving full refunds or future cruise credits.
Carnival Corporation & plc also incurred incidental costs to transport passengers to alternate ports of embarkation/debarkation.
"Never in our company's history has a hurricane been so disruptive, causing a number of itineraries to be modified and the closing of Florida's four major cruise ports," said Howard Frank, vice chairman and chief operating officer for Carnival Corporation & plc. "The storm struck Florida for a prolonged period over a weekend, when many of our ships were scheduled to embark and disembark guests, significantly magnifying the impact," he added.
Frank also noted that "Our employees, both shipboard and shoreside, did an outstanding job handling our guests' needs and responding to a variety of rapidly changing situations. We would also like to thank our guests for their patience and cooperation during this challenging period and we apologize to them for the inconvenience caused by these disruptions."
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, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises, Swan Hellenic, and P&O Cruises Australia.
Together, these brands operate 77 ships totaling more than 128,000 lower berths with eight new ships scheduled for delivery between November 2004 and December 2006. 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.
Additional information can be obtained via Carnival Corporation & plc's Web sites at http://www.carnivalcorp.com and http://www.carnivalplc.com.
SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc
CONTACT:
Media
US:
Tim Gallagher of Carnival Corporation & plc
+1-305-599-2600, ext. 16000
or
UK:
Sophie Fitton
or
Sarah Tovey,
+44-0-20-7404-5959
both of Brunswick, for Carnival Corporation & plc
or
Investor Relations US
UK:
Beth Roberts of Carnival Corporation & plc
+1-305-406-4832
Web site: http://www.carnivalcorp.com
http://www.carnivalplc.com
(CCL CUK)
