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Carnival Corporation & plc Caps Historic Newbuilding Period With Seven Ships in Seven Months

MIAMI, Jun 9, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- With the naming of PrincessCruises' new 2,674-passenger Sapphire Princess in Seattle tomorrow, June 10,2004, Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE: CCL; LSE) (NYSE: CUK) will complete anunprecedented period in which the company introduced seven ships in less thanseven months.

The marathon new ship parade began when the company's Italian brand, CostaCruises, introduced the 2,720-passenger Costa Fortuna from its new cruiseterminal in Savona, Italy, in late November 2003.

Since then, Carnival has launched six more ships. In January 2004, CunardLine introduced the widely acclaimed 151,000-ton Queen Mary 2, the largestpassenger vessel ever constructed. Carnival Cruise Lines launched the 2,124-passenger Carnival Miracle in February, followed by Princess Cruises' 2,674-passenger Diamond Princess in March. Princess Cruises' 3,114-passengerCaribbean Princess and Holland America Line's 1,848-passenger Westerdamentered service in April. Finally, the Sapphire Princess will sail on itsinaugural voyage June 13, 2004. Together, these ships represent nearly 18,000total lower berths.

This record new ship introduction schedule, at a rate of approximately oneship a month, was brought about by last year's merger by Carnival with P&OPrincess Cruises to create Carnival Corporation & plc, the only group in theworld to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.

"The new ship schedule is certainly unprecedented in our company and, Ibelieve, in the history of the cruise industry, as well," said Micky Arison,Carnival Corporation & plc chairman and CEO. "Despite the torrid pace, allseven ship deliveries and start-ups were extremely smooth, with all of theseships enjoying great success in their respective markets," he added.

While Carnival will now have a short lull in its new ship introductions,it is not finished for the year. Still to come are Costa's 2,702-passengerCosta Magica in November and Carnival Cruise Lines' 2,974-passenger CarnivalValor in December.

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in theworld, with a portfolio of 12 cruise brands in North America, Europe andAustralia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, PrincessCruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Windstar Cruises, AIDA, Costa Cruises, CunardLine, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises, Swan Hellenic, and P&O Cruises Australia.

Together, these brands operate 77 ships totaling more than 128,000 lowerberths with eight new ships scheduled for delivery between November 2004 andDecember 2006. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates the leading tourcompanies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon, Holland America Tours and PrincessTours. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, CarnivalCorporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both theS&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.

SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc

Tim Gallagher
Carnival Corporation & plc
+1-305-599-2600, ext. 16000

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