Carnival Corporation & plc Signs Letter of ...

Carnival Corporation & plc Signs Letter of Intent for New 116,000-ton Ship for 
                                 P&O Cruises 
                                        
    Delivery Date for Previously Announced Carnival Cruise Lines Newbuild 
                   Switched From Summer 2010 to Spring 2011 
 
    MIAMI, Jan. 3 -- Carnival Corporation & plc  (NYSE: CCL; LSE) (NYSE: CUK) 
today announced that it signed a letter of intent for a new 116,000-ton ship for 
its P&O Cruises brand. 
    The new vessel, which will have 3,076 lower passenger berths, will be 
built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri at its Monfalcone yard, at an 
estimated all-in cost of 535 million euros.  The ship is scheduled for 
delivery in spring 2010.  Externally, the vessel will be similar to P&O 
Cruises Ventura, which is scheduled to enter service in spring 2008, but the 
new product features and interior design will be announced at a future date. 
    This latest ship order will bring the total number of vessels in the P&O 
Cruises fleet to seven, including five existing ships, as well as the new 
Ventura, which will be Britain's largest cruise ship when it enters service in 
April 2008. The new ship will further enhance P&O Cruises' reputation as the 
only company building cruise ships specifically for Britain. 
    P&O Cruises Managing Director David Dingle stated, "This latest order 
results from the strong continuing growth of the cruise market in the UK.  
Each of the new ships which we have built for Britain has increased the demand 
for cruising through a reputation for innovation, style and customer service.  
Our projections indicate that we will require further new capacity to meet 
this additional demand by 2010." 
    With today's announcement, Carnival Corporation & plc has 20 new ships on 
order, 14 of which are being constructed by Fincantieri. 
    Commenting on the agreement Fincantieri's Chief Executive Officer Giuseppe 
Bono said: "Our relationship with Carnival, the world's leading cruise 
operator, continues to grow at an incredible pace. In 2006 Fincantieri and 
Carnival signed contracts for eight ships for a total value of nearly 3.5 
billion euros. The new year has started out with the allocation of this ship 
which is a clear signal that cooperation between our two companies will get 
stronger in the future too, thereby enabling both of us to consolidate our 
positions as market leaders." 
    The building slot at Fincantieri being utilized for this new P&O Cruises 
vessel will result in a modification to the delivery date of the 130,000-ton 
newbuild for Carnival Cruise Lines announced in mid-December 2006.  The 
Carnival vessel will now enter service in spring 2011 instead of summer 2010 
as previously announced.   
    Explained Micky Arison, chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc, 
"It had been our intention all along to schedule delivery of the P&O Cruises 
ship for 2010 and the Carnival Cruise Lines vessel for 2011. However, because 
we completed the agreement for the Carnival newbuild first, we temporarily 
placed it in the first available shipyard slot pending finalization of the P&O 
Cruises agreement." 
    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, Windstar Cruises, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, 
Cunard Line, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises, Swan Hellenic, and P&O Cruises 
Australia. 
    Together, these brands operate 81 ships totaling 144,000 lower berths with 
20 new ships scheduled to enter service between March 2007 and spring 2011. 
Carnival Corporation & plc also operates the leading tour companies in Alaska 
and the Canadian Yukon, Holland America Tours and Princess Tours. 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. 
 
SOURCE  Carnival Corporation & plc 
    -0-                             01/03/2007 
    /CONTACT: US Media, Tim Gallagher, of Carnival Corporation & plc,  
[phone], ext. 16000; or UK Media, Richard Jacques, or Ruban Yogarajah, 
both of Brunswick Group, [phone]; or US-UK Investor Relations, Beth 
Roberts, of Carnival Corporation & plc, [phone]/ 
    /Web site:  http://www.carnivalcorp.com/ 
    (CCL CUK)