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Carnival Corporation & plc Exercises Option for New 86,000-Ton Ship for Holland America Line
2,100-Passenger Vessel Scheduled to Enter Service in Fall 2010
MIAMI, June 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc(NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) today announced that it has exercised its optionfor a new 86,000-ton vessel for its Holland America Line brand.
The new 2,100-passenger ship will be built by Italian shipbuilderFincantieri at its Marghera shipyard at an estimated all-in cost of euro 425million. Delivery is scheduled for fall 2010.
Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation & plc chairman and CEO, said, "HollandAmerica Line is performing very well and its growth is consistent with ourbusiness strategy for the premium segment of our business which seeks tocapitalize on the increasing affluence of the baby boomer generation. Theexercise of this option is another opportunity to strengthen Holland America'sposition as the leading premium cruise brand in the world."
Stein Kruse, Holland America Line's president and CEO, noted that the newvessel will be a sister to the Eurodam which is already under construction atFincantieri and due to debut in summer of 2008. Eurodam's size has beenincreased slightly since originally announced and both ships will have alower-bed capacity of 2,100. "These two elegant vessels will embody the manyon-board amenities that Holland America Line first introduced to cruising aspart of our very successful 'Signature of Excellence' initiative. Thoseamenities have uniquely positioned the Holland America vacation experiencewhile building upon our distinction as a leader in premium cruising," Krusesaid.
Kruse added that the two ships, to be the largest in Holland America'sfleet, will maintain the brand's commitment to mid-sized vessels, largerstaterooms, and richly appointed dining areas, lounges and other public rooms."The addition of these two ships represent a 23 percent increase in ourcapacity over the 2008 through 2010 time period and will allow us to continueour premium leadership position and achieve a greater share of the growingcruise market," he said.
The new vessel will continue the evolution of the Holland America Linebrand with features that will include a topside 144-seat specialty restaurant,a diversity of live music and entertainment facilities, outside-view glasselevators at mid-ship, and an expanded Greenhouse Spa and Salon with thermalsuites and hydro-pool.
Of the new ship's 1,050 staterooms, 85 percent will offer an ocean viewand 67 percent will feature private verandahs. All staterooms will offer plushMariner's Dream beds, flat panel TVs and DVD players.
The vessel will feature such popular Holland America Line facilities asthe Crow's Nest Lounge, Explorations Cafe, Pinnacle Grill and the innovativeCulinary Arts Center presented by Food & Wine Magazine, offering cookingdemonstrations and classes in state-of-the-art show kitchens.
With today's announcement, Carnival Corporation & plc has 17 new ships onorder, 12 of which are being constructed by Fincantieri.
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 155,000 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
CONTACT: Media, Tim Gallagher of Carnival Corporation & plc,
+1-305-599-2600, Ext. 16000; Rose Abello of Holland America Line,
+1-206-286-3479; Richard Jacques or Sophie Brand of Brunswick Group,
+44-0-20-7404-5959; or Investor, Beth Roberts of Carnival Corporation & plc,
+1-305-406-4832
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