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P&O Princess Chief Advises Carnival Corporation & plc of Retirement Plans
Effective immediately, David Dingle has been promoted to CEO of CarnivalUK with responsibility for the company's British brands -- P&O Cruises, OceanVillage and Cunard Line. He also has been appointed chairman of the Carnivalplc Management Committee with responsibility for P&O Cruises Australia. AlanBuckelew has been promoted to president and CEO of Princess Cruises, alsoeffective immediately.
"It has always been a goal of mine to retire at age 60 and in this case,the effective date is actually my 60th birthday," said Ratcliffe. "I've had atremendously rewarding career in this industry and know that I leave thefuture of my cherished brands in the most capable hands of David and Alan," headded.
"Peter has only been a part of our organization since the merger of ourcompanies in the spring of 2003 but I can't say enough about all he has doneto contribute to our post-merger success," said Micky Arison, chairman and CEOof Carnival Corporation & plc. Arison said that not only was Ratcliffe"instrumental in getting the deal done in the first place, but once that wascomplete, he was key to the successful integration of the two companies, aswell."
Peter Ratcliffe joined The Peninsular and Oriental Steam NavigationCompany (P&O) in 1973 and, after rising through the ranks of the Britishcompany, became chief financial officer of Princess Cruises in 1986 and thenchief operating officer in 1989. He was named president in 1993. In early2000, Ratcliffe was appointed head of P&O's cruise division and led the de-merger from P&O later that year to create an independent public company, P&OPrincess Cruises plc. He was named chief executive officer of that newcompany and then, in April 2003, following completion of its merger withCarnival Corporation, he was appointed to his present position and also as anexecutive director and board member of Carnival Corporation & plc.
The promotions of Dingle and Buckelew are effective today, althoughRatcliffe will stay on to assist and advise through the March 2008 transitionperiod.
"We have a deep and talented management pool in our global businesses andare fortunate that these two highly qualified individuals are on our rosterand can step up and take over the responsibility for these companies," saidArison. "Like many people in our organization, these two gentlemen have hadlong and successful careers in the cruise business and together bring some 60years of cruise industry experience," he added. "David has literally grown upat P&O having put in 30 years working his way through the ranks. Alan sharesan equally long tenure in the business, starting his cruise career at Sitmarwhich was later acquired by Princess," Arison said.
David Dingle previously was managing director of Carnival UK, a positionhe assumed following the merger of Carnival Corporation and P&O PrincessCruises in 2003. He joined P&O in 1978 where he held a number of positionsuntil being named managing director in 2000. Active within the Europeancruise industry, Dingle also currently serves as president of The UK Chamberof Shipping and chairman of the European Cruise Council.
Alan Buckelew has served as president of Princess Cruises since February2004. Prior to that, he was executive vice president of corporate services.He has also served Princess in the roles of chief information officer andchief financial officer. He joined Sitmar Cruises in 1977 as manager ofmanagement information. He rose through the ranks holding a variety ofpositions and was senior vice president of customer services by the time itwas acquired by Princess in 1988.
"I know that all of the presidents and chief executive officers of theCarnival brands, as well as board members, join me in thanking Peter for hismany contributions to our organization and wishing him and his family all thebest in his retirement. At the same time we congratulate David and Alan ontheir promotions and look forward to working with them as they lead theirbrands to many future achievements," Arison concluded.
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in theworld, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe andAustralia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, PrincessCruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, OceanVillage, P&O Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia.
Together, these brands operate 82 ships totaling 154,000 lower berths with17 new ships scheduled to enter service between December 2007 and June 2011.Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Tours and PrincessTours, the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded onboth the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc isthe only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE100 indices.
SOURCE Carnival Corporation plc
Media Contacts US, Tim Gallagher of Carnival Corporation & plc, +1-305-599 2600,
Ext. 16000 or Julie Benson of Princess Cruises, +1-661-753-1530; UK, Richard Jacques,
+44-0-20-7404-5959 or Sophie Brand, 44-0-20-7404-5959, both of the Brunswick Group;
Michele Andjel, P&O, Cruises- Carnival UK, +44-0-23-8065-6653; Investor Relations
Contact, US-UK, Beth Roberts, Carnival Corporation & plc, +1-305 406 4832
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