Carnival Freedom Senior Cruise Director Blog Now Featured on Carnival Corporation & PLC’s Web Site.
John Heald Previews Cunard Line's new Queen Victoria
MIAMI (August 22, 2007) - Carnival Cruise Lines' Senior Cruise Director John
Heald has gone corporate.
His popular blog, which until now has been featured within the cruise line's
Web site (www.carnival.com), has now been linked to the Web site of its parent
company, Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK).
In his first blog with the new corporate link, Heald previews Cunard Line's
new Queen Victoria, currently under construction at Fincantieri's shipyard in
Italy and scheduled to enter service in December. The link is located at www.carnivalcorp.com.
The British-born Heald toured the Queen Victoria earlier this week and, through
his most recent post, offers his own unique perspective on the many innovative
features aboard the new 2,104-passenger vessel, which is in the final stages
of construction.
"While John's blog focuses on his own experiences as Carnival Freedom's
senior cruise director, recently he has begun to highlight some of the other
brands under the Carnival Corporation & plc umbrella," said Micky Arison,
Carnival Corporation & plc chairman and CEO. Recent blogs have included
interviews with the presidents and CEOs of Holland America Line and Princess
Cruises, Stein Kruse and Alan Buckelew, respectively. "With his natural
wit and engaging personality, John's blog has earned a loyal following and readers
not only enjoy his entertaining and humorous tales of life aboard ship but the
interesting insights he offers," he added.
Within the Queen Victoria blog Heald writes:
First impressions are for me and many others so very important and the
first impression of seeing the Queen Victoria was…well, let's just say
this. There is no need for her to have the word Cunard on her bow or anywhere
else. You don't need to be in the business we are in to know that this is
a Cunard ship…you just know…some sixth sense tells you that those
lines, those colours, (and, yes, we are spelling that the British way) means
it can only be a Cunard ship.
Heald concludes the blog with the following passage:
I work for Carnival Cruise Lines and I am proud of our ships beyond all measure…but this is something different, something unique and, if I were you, and if you can, I would be calling my travel agent or Cunard and booking a cruise now. This is a chance for North America to sample the best of British and, quite frankly, the best of cruising. I am in no doubt that this ship will become…historic.
Through his blog, Heald shares with readers his personal stories and photos
about life aboard the Carnival Freedom with wife Heidi, a frequent contributor
to the blog, as well as his encounters with guests and crewmembers he comes
in contact with on a daily basis. A popular feature is a question-and-answer
section where Heald personally responds to reader queries, while offering information
and recommendations on various cruise-related topics, travel tips, and more.
Since its debut in March, Heald's blog has generated more than [550,000] hits
and consistently ranks among the top 100 hosted by Wordpress, a leading blog-hosting
service.
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the
world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe and Australia,
comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises,
Seabourn Cruise Line, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Ocean Village,
P&O Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia.
Together, these brands operate 82 ships totaling 154,000 lower berths with 17 new ships scheduled to enter service between December 2007 and June 2011. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Tours and Princess Tours, the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. 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.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Carnival Corporation & plc
Tim Gallagher /Jennifer de la Cruz Beth Roberts
1 305 599 2600, ext. 16000
INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT
US US/UK
Carnival Corporation & plc
Beth Roberts
1 305 406 4832
UK
Brunswick Group
Richard Jacques/Sophie Brand
44 (0) 20 7404 5959
