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Carnival Corporation & plc and TUI AG Sign Letter of Intent to Form Joint Venture for Large-Scale German Cruise Operation

Joint Venture to Operate Existing AIDA Cruises Brand and Launch New TUI Cruises Brand in Germany

MIAMI and HANOVER, Germany, Dec. 15, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CarnivalCorporation & plc (NYSE: CCL; LSE) (NYSE: CUK), the largest cruise vacationgroup in the world, and TUI AG (DE: TUAG00), the world's largest touroperator, today announced the signing of a letter of intent to form a jointventure company to develop, market and operate two cruise brands - Carnival'sexisting AIDA Cruises and a new TUI Cruises brand - both designed for theGerman-speaking holiday market.

AIDA, the German affiliate of Costa Crociere S.p.A., is currently themarket leader in Germany with its "club resort" cruise concept aimed atyounger, more active passengers. AIDA currently operates a four-ship fleet,with four additional ships under construction at Germany's Meyer Werftshipyard and scheduled for delivery between 2007 and 2010.

Under the proposed joint venture agreement, a new TUI Cruises brand, whichwill target a different segment of the German cruise market, will bedeveloped. It is expected that the first TUI branded ship, with an estimated3,000 passenger berths, will be delivered in spring of 2010.

The new joint venture company will be managed under the direction of PierLuigi Foschi, chairman and CEO of Carnival's Costa Cruises unit, who currentlyoversees Carnival's German operations, including AIDA. Michael Thamm,president of AIDA Cruises, based in Rostock, Germany, will become president ofthe new joint venture company.

Under the proposed transaction, TUI will initially purchase five percentof the joint venture in 2007 and is expected to purchase another 20 percent in2010. For purposes of this transaction, AIDA's business was valued ateuro 1.9 billion for inclusion in the joint venture, which will be formed witheuro 600 million of indebtedness. The purchase price will be paid to Carnivalin cash at the closing of each transaction based on a net equity value of euro1.3 billion. When the initial five percent purchase closes in 2007, Carnivalexpects to record a pre-tax gain of approximately euro 60 million($80 million). Another gain will be recorded under U.S. accounting principlesat the time of closing of the subsequent 20 percent purchase in 2010.

Apart from the aforementioned gains, Carnival expects the transaction tobe neutral to earnings on an annualized basis for the 12-month periodfollowing the transaction closing.

"TUI is a highly diversified and experienced company in the Europeantravel and tourism sector and has extensive brand awareness throughout Europe,particularly in Germany," said Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation & plcchairman and CEO. "By combining TUI's strengths with Carnival's tremendousexperience in building, operating and marketing cruise ships, we are creatingan excellent platform for growth in the rapidly expanding German cruisemarket."

Added Dr. Michael Frenzel, CEO of TUI AG, "With AIDA Cruises, Carnival hasalready set up a successful and profitable model in the German cruise market.By entering into this joint venture and benefiting from Carnival's unrivaledexpertise, we are able to put the TUI Cruises brand on water. Together, AIDAand TUI Cruises will provide ideal offers to an even larger potential ofcruise customers in this commercially highly interesting segment."

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2007 pendingapproval of both companies boards of directors, all necessary regulatoryapprovals, customary due diligence and the execution of definitive agreements.

About Carnival Corporation & plc

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, Windstar Cruises, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises,Cunard Line, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises, Swan Hellenic, and P&O CruisesAustralia.

Together, these brands operate 81 ships totaling approximately 144,000lower berths with 18 new ships scheduled to enter service between March 2007and spring 2010. 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.

Additional information is available on-line at www.carnivalcorp.com andwww.carnivalplc.com.

About TUI AG

The TUI Group is the European market leader in tourism and one of the topfive players in global container shipping. The tour operators of TUI trade in17 European countries and in 2005 sold the Group's products to around 21million customers. TUI encompasses all in all about 3,200 travel agencies, 7airlines with more than 100 aircraft and 35 incoming agencies. Its hotelportfolio is made up of 279 hotels with approximately 164,000 beds in 30countries.

TUI provides its customers with complete holidays from a single source -from booking in a TUI travel agency, flights with one of the World of TUIairlines, accommodation in the Group's own hotels and customer-care by theGroup's own incoming agencies.

Through its wholly owned subsidiary Hapag-Lloyd, headquartered in Hamburg,Germany, TUI operates one of the world's leading container shipping companieswith more than 140 container ships. Under the brands of Hapag-Lloyd in Germanyand Thomson in the UK, TUI also operates a fleet of nine cruise liners. TheHapag-Lloyd cruise ship division is the leading "premium and luxury cruise"tour operator in German-speaking countries. The four cruise liners includingthe 5-star-plus "MS Europa" are at home on all the world's oceans.

In the 2005 financial year, more than 60,000 employees achieved a turnoverof more than EUR 19 billion. Over 70 percent of this was generated by thetourism division.

SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc

CONTACT: MEDIA CONTACTS, Tim Gallagher of Carnival Corporation & plc
(US), +1-305-599-2600, ext. 16000; or Ruban Yogarajah of Brunswick Group (UK),
+44 (0) 20 7404 5959; or Fabrizia Greppi of Costa Cruises, +39 010 5483.523,
or +39 010 5483.903; or Hansjorg Kunze of AIDA Cruises, +49 381 444 8020; or
Kuzey Alexander Esener of TUI AG, + 49 511 566 1487, or 49 511 566 4569; or
INVESTOR RELATIONS, Beth Roberts of Carnival Corporation & plc,
+1-305-406-4832

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