Carnival Freedom Senior Cruise Director's Blog ...

MIAMI, August 22 /PRNewswire/ --

- John Heald Previews Cunard Line's New Queen Victoria

    Carnival Cruise Lines' Senior Cruise Director John Heald has gone
corporate.


    His popular blog, which until now has been featured within the cruise
line's Web site (www.carnival.com), has now been linked to the Web site of
its parent company, Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK).


    In his first blog with the new corporate link, Heald previews Cunard
Line's new Queen Victoria, currently under construction at Fincantieri's
shipyard in Italy and scheduled to enter service in December. The link is
located at www.carnivalcorp.com.


    The British-born Heald toured the Queen Victoria earlier this week and,
through his most recent post, offers his own unique perspective on the many
innovative features aboard the new 2,104-passenger vessel, which is in the
final stages of construction.


    "While John's blog focuses on his own experiences as Carnival Freedom's
senior cruise director, recently he has begun to highlight some of the other
brands under the Carnival Corporation & plc umbrella," said Micky Arison,
Carnival Corporation & plc chairman and CEO. Recent blogs have included
interviews with the presidents and CEOs of Holland America Line and Princess
Cruises, Stein Kruse and Alan Buckelew, respectively. "With his natural wit
and engaging personality, John's blog has earned a loyal following and
readers not only enjoy his entertaining and humorous tales of life aboard
ship but the interesting insights he offers," he added.



Within the Queen Victoria blog Heald writes:

    First impressions are for me and many others so very important and the
first impression of seeing the Queen Victoria was ... well, let's just say
this. There is no need for her to have the word Cunard on her bow or anywhere
else. You don't need to be in the business we are in to know that this is a
Cunard ship ... you just know ... some sixth sense tells you that those
lines, those colours, (and, yes, we are spelling that the British way) means
it can only be a Cunard ship.



Heald concludes the blog with the following passage:

    I work for Carnival Cruise Lines and I am proud of our ships beyond all
measure ... but this is something different, something unique and, if I were
you, and if you can, I would be calling my travel agent or Cunard and booking
a cruise now. This is a chance for North America to sample the best of
British and, quite frankly, the best of cruising. I am in no doubt that this
ship will become ... historic.



    Through his blog, Heald shares with readers his personal stories and
photos about life aboard the Carnival Freedom with wife Heidi, a frequent
contributor to the blog, as well as his encounters with guests and
crewmembers he comes in contact with on a daily basis. A popular feature is a
question-and-answer section where Heald personally responds to reader
queries, while offering information and recommendations on various
cruise-related topics, travel tips, and more.


    Since its debut in March, Heald's blog has generated more than 550,000
hits and consistently ranks among the top 100 hosted by Wordpress, a leading
blog-hosting service.



    Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the
world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe and
Australia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess
Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line,
Ocean Village, P&O Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia.


    Together, these brands operate 82 ships totaling 154,000 lower berths
with 17 new ships scheduled to enter service between December 2007 and June
2011. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Tours and
Princess Tours, the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon.
Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation
& plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and
the FTSE 100 indices.


    
    Web site: http://www.carnivalcorp.com
              http://www.carnival.com