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Carnival Corporation & plc Signs Five-Ship Cooperation Agreement With Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A.

Deliveries Planned for 2007 and 2008 for Several Carnival Brands

MIAMI, Sept. 23, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc(NYSE: CCL; LSE) (NYSE: CUK) today announced that it has signed a historicmulti-billion-dollar cooperation agreement with Italian shipyard Fincantierito construct four new cruise ships as well as significantly redesign thepreviously announced Queen Victoria for its Cunard Line brand.

Two of the newbuilding orders have been placed in U.S. dollars; two othersare in euros. The Queen Victoria redesign is in a combination of euros anddollars.

Carnival Chairman and CEO Micky Arison said that this unique alliance withFincantieri lays the foundation for its newbuilding program in 2007 and 2008and allows the company to simultaneously execute its two-pronged growthstrategy. "For our U.S. brands, it is important for us to build vessels atreasonable U.S. dollar costs, especially under the unfavorable U.S.dollar/euro currency environment that exists today. At the same time, we mustcontinue to reinvest in our European brands to develop the cruise businessthere and maintain the leadership position of those brands in their respectivemarkets," he said.

The U.S. dollar agreement calls for the construction of a 110,000-ton"Conquest-class" ship for Carnival Cruise Lines at Fincantieri's Sestri yardand a 116,000-ton "Caribbean Princess-class" ship for Princess Cruises atFincantieri's Monfalcone yard. Both ships are expected to be delivered inspring 2007. The all-in cost for the Carnival ship is approximately$500 million and the Princess ship approximately $525 million.

Arison noted that the all-in cost for these two vessels compares favorablyto the $165,000-$175,000 per berth price that Carnival has historically paidfor new ships for these brands and should allow the company to achieve thefinancial targets it sets for its newbuilding projects. "These two classes ofships presently have some of the highest returns in the cruise industry,"Arison pointed out.

The euro-based agreement includes two similar-sized vessels -- one that is110,000 tons carrying approximately 3,000 lower berth passengers and another116,000 tons carrying approximately 3,100 lower berth passengers. While theagreements for these ships have been signed, Carnival has a one-year option todesignate which of the company's brands will take delivery of the vessels.Both are scheduled for delivery in spring 2008. The all-in cost for eachvessel will be approximately 475 million and 490 million euros, respectively.They will also be built at Fincantieri's Sestri and Monfalcone yards.

"Given our strategic focus on developing the European markets and thatthese are euro-based agreements, it is probable that both vessels will go toour European brands. However, this one-year option allows us some latitude indetermining where the tonnage will be best utilized," Arison said. "Theseships are also priced within the 150,000-170,000 euros per berth range thatCarnival has previously paid for its European brands and will enable them tomeet our newbuilding financial targets," he added.

The agreement with Fincantieri also includes a significant redesign of theQueen Victoria, for which the order was previously announced in April 2004.The vessel will be lengthened by 11 meters and its tonnage increased to 90,000with its lower berth passenger capacity increased to 2,000. The redesignbrings the all-in price to 340 million euros plus $95 million (U.S.). Thevessel will be constructed at Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard and is nowexpected to be delivered in summer 2007.

"With these extensive modifications, Queen Victoria will incorporate the'grand ocean liner' style of the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2, as wellas the signature design elements and culinary experiences that have earnedCunard its position as the preeminent luxury cruise operator," Arison said."At the same time, the reengineered Queen Victoria will serve as Cunard'sSuperLiner of the future," he added.

In addition, the cooperation agreement calls for Carnival to continueworking with Fincantieri on new cruise ship development projects, includingthe "Pinnacle Project" which is a large prototype vessel for the CarnivalCruise Lines brand. Fincantieri has also granted Carnival preferentialbuilding slots in its various shipyards throughout Italy.

Commented Fincantieri Chairman Corrado Antonini, "This agreement reaffirmsand further strengthens the special relationship between Fincantieri andCarnival. This partnership, developed over the years, is the foundation of thegrowth and significant performance of Fincantieri in designing and buildingpassenger ships and has contributed to the success of the world market leader.Thanks to our flexibility at both the designing and building stage, we arecurrently building vessels for six different Carnival brands, with nearly halfof their corporate fleet built by our company."

Added Fincantieri Chief Executive Officer Giuseppe Bono, "This is anunprecedented agreement. There is no equivalent relationship between customerand supplier in the cruise industry. Fincantieri has thus far delivered29 ships to different brands of the Carnival group for an aggregate value ofapproximately $10 billion. This agreement brings our Carnival orderbook to 12newbuildings with a value of approximately $6 billion and provides Fincantieriwith a continuous workload at our shipyards through 2008. The preferentialrelationship creates the ideal conditions for the development of new classesof ships for years to come. Furthermore, the agreement signifies Carnival'sacknowledgement of Fincantieri's ability to deliver projects of thismagnitude. With Fincantieri's sound financial results and status, as well asincreased efficiencies, we are able to balance the effect of the end ofsubsidies."

Fincantieri Executive Senior Vice President - Cruise Ship Business UnitEnrico Buschi said, "The agreement is based on the desire, shared by bothparties, to understand their mutual needs and is sustained by the remarkableexperience gained in the relationship between the two companies. For eachvessel, even a sister ship, we develop innovative configurations to meet theoperational needs and marketing objectives of the Carnival group. State-of-the-art cruise ships are developed to match the specific needs as well as thestyle and character of the different brands."

Based on these new orders, Carnival's capacity growth will be 5.9 percentin 2007 and 5.1 percent in 2008 compared to an average growth rate of15 percent in the three-year period from 2002 to 2005.

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 12 new ships scheduled for delivery between November 2004 andspring 2008. 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

CONTACT:
Media
Tim Gallagher of Carnival Corporation & plc
+1-305-599-2600, ext. 16000
or
Sophie Fitton
or
Sarah Tovey
both ofBrunswick in the U.K.
+011-44-20-7404-5959
for Carnival Corporation & plc
or
investors
Beth Roberts of Carnival Corporation & plc
+1-305-406-4832
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