Carnival Cruise Line was founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, a former executive of norwegian cruise lines, and Meshulam Riklis, of american international travel services. After a year’s worth of incurred debt, Arison bought out Rilklis’s share of the company and it began to thrive. Carnival Corporation & PLC is now headquartered in Miami, Florida and considered the world’s largest travel leisure company offering cruise vacations to some of the most desired destinations with a profit of $2. 779 billion in 2016..
Carnival Corporation & PLC is composed of 2 different companies combined to create an entity, Carnival Corporation and Carnival PLC. Together the partnership contains 10 different cruise lines composed of over 100 ships. Each different cruise line targets a different group of travelers to fit a wide range of budgets and lifestyles, even stating so in their mission statement. “Our mission is to take the world on vacation and deliver exceptional experiences through many of the world’s best-known cruise brands that cater to a variety of different geographic regions and life styles, all at an outstanding alue. ”
Carnival corporation & PLC is comprised of 10 different cruise lines across the globe. Many of the ships were founded by different individuals or companies well before they were acquisitioned by Carnival or P&O cruises brands for their own lines. Cruise lines owned by the corporation include AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises , P&O Cruises Australia, Princess cruises, and Seabourn cruises. AIDA Cruise line originated in 1952 as a German shipping conglomerate until the 1960’s when they entered into the passenger market.
AIDA released their first cruise ship in 1996 but did not receive sufficient profit and was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line. In 2003 the company was repurchased and gained two more ships. Since then AIDA Cruises have been operating out of Genoa, Italy as a subsidiary of P&O Cruises. Carnival Cruise Lines, to this day, is considered the largest brand within the corporation operating twenty five ships. Similar to AIDA Cruises, Costa cruises originated from a shipping company in Italy used for cargo. Carnival Corporation began taking over Costa Cruises in 1997 as a partnership with with British Airtours.
From 1997 to 2000 Carnival was purchasing Airtours’ shares until they became the sole owners. It is now has 15 ships within the Carnival brand. The Cunard Line is one of the oldest within the corporation, originating in 1840. In 1930, after suffering financial problems, Samuel Cunard had to team up with White Star line for 17 years until stable. The company then operated independently until 1971, when it was taken over by two brands before finally being purchased by Carnival in 1999. Today, the Cunard Line is one of the most high-profile brand in the corporation and was transferred to the UK’s control.
Discontinuing operations in June 2017, Carnivals Fathom line offered an experience much greater than just a vacation. Fathom Cruises stopped in poorer destinations and gave passengers the opportunity to do good and make a difference in the less fortunate communities. The Holland America Line was founded in the Netherlands in 1871 as a container shipping company. In 1960 the company had to make a decision whether to maintain operations or transfer over to a cruise line, and they chose the latter. In 1973 the company became solely a leisure and operated for thirty years until joining the Carnival Corporation & PLC.
Along with these six lines acquisitioned by the corporation, P&O, Princess Cruises and Seabourn cruises contribute 28 different vessels. Carnival Corporation & PLC also have six former brands that did not succeed as well and were either sold to different cruise brands or merged with one of their existing lines. Two of the most notable ships include Carnival Splendor and Carnival triumph. Both ships suffered engine room fires while sailing. In November of 2010, Carnival Splendor was left without power drifting in the pacific needing to be towed back into a port in San Diego. These incidents resulted in a drop of their stock price.
Carnival Corporation & PLC is traded on both the New York Stock Exchange as well as the London Stock Exchange. Some of Carnival Corporation & PLC’s biggest competitors include on land resorts as well as other cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Disney. Royal Caribbean itself holds near 24% of the markets. Yet, Carnival Corporation & PLC is the only company in the world to be on both the S&P 500 and the FTSE indices. As of market close on 4/10/2017 the organization had a stock price of $57. 73 per share.
Within the past year, the price per share has fluctuated between $42. 4 and $60. 24. Recently, Carnival Corporation & PLC has announced that quarterly dividends will receive a 14% increase from $0. 35 per share to $0. 40. As well as dividend increase, the board of the company has approved $1 billion towards a new repurchasing program. In 2015 the company repurchased more than 56 million shares valued at $2. 7 billion in a similar program. Along with the program for investors, the company also offers a loyalty program for those who are frequent travelers on the Carnival Cruise line. You can sign up and start redeeming points the first time you sail.
The points redeemed from sailing with Carnival will result in increased benefits every time you come back. The program has five levels based on the amount of points you earn: blue, red, gold, platinum, and diamond. Benefits vary from perks as small and e-newsletters all the way to a complimentary room upgrade with 25 other advantages in between. While on the ship, you will come in contact with many employees Carnival had to hire. Types of employees would include: captains, engineers, housekeeping, waitstaff, cooks, bartenders, as well as activity coordinators who plan event so you can have the best vacation possible.
The on ship Loyalty program is not the only way Carnival & PLC give back to their community. The company is very active in their social responsibility role. In recent news, The executive chairman of Carnival in Australia, Ann Sherry, pledged that the company would have a substantial impact of the economic recovery of Queensland. On March 28, 2017 Queensland, Australia suffered tremendous damage from Cyclone Debbie. Coastal areas like those affected by the natural disaster rely heavily on income from tourism.
In the upcoming year, 34 ships are set to sail to help boost the revenue and get Queensland recovered. As well as their involvement in natural disaster relief, Carnival Corporation & PLC have a nature conservatory program in effect right now. Over 5 years, $2. 5 billion will be donated to protect the marine wildlife. The foundation support heavily directs their work to areas dependant on marine and coastal resources such as many of the sites where Carnival Corporation & PLC operate, including Carnivals Long Beach terminal which will receive an additional $25,000 for renovation in the upcoming year.
Although Carnival Cruise Line had a few years of bad press from mechanical difficulties, the corporation is constantly working hard to better themselves and give their travelers the best experience possible to keep them coming back. Based on the background of the company and their social responsibility standing, the company has a strong hand on their market. When planning for your next vacation, don’t forget to consider Carnival Corporation & PLC’s cruise lines for the vacation you will never forget.
