Former Carnival Celebration Gets a Facelift

It's always nice to see an old friend, and this profile will be familiar to many who may have taken their first cruise aboard Carnival's Celebration. The ship now sails for Carnival's Spanish brand, Ibero Cruceros, which is part of the Costa division of the company, under the name of Grand Celebration. The ship

The 47,263-ton ship is currently at the San Giorgio del Porto shipyard in Genoa, as shown below, for its routine dry dock where maintenance work will be done on the hull, the engine and the hotel areas. Grand Celebration will be back in service with a repositioning cruise from Valencia to Venice on May 18, 2014.

Update - May 12: In April 2015, Grand Celebration will be transferred to the Costa brand and sail from Venice and renamed CostaCelebration. 

Ibero Cruceros' Grand Celebration at the San Giorgio del Porto shipyard in Genoa

Ibero Cruceros' Grand Celebration at the San Giorgio del Porto shipyard in Genoa

Photos courtesy of Costa Crociere. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.

Howard Frank to Chair Costa Crociere

Longtime Carnival Executive Howard Frank Named Chairman Of Costa Crociere S.p.A

MIAMI, Jan. 28, 2014 -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) today announced Howard Frank has been named Chairman of Costa Crociere S.p.A, the largest Italian travel group and a major force in cruising throughout Europe, Asia and South America.

In this role, Frank will support Michael Thamm, CEO of Costa Crociere S.p.A.

Last November, after 25 years with Carnival Corporation which included serving as Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman since 1998, Frank stepped down to serve as special advisor to the CEO and to the Chairman of Carnival Corporation.

Frank currently serves as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the world's largest cruise industry trade organization.

Costa Crociere (www.costacruises.com), which operates Costa Cruises, AIDA and Iberocruceros brands, is Europe's number one cruise company and the only Italian-flagged cruise line. For 65 years, the ships of Costa Cruises have plied the seas of the world, offering the best in Italian style, hospitality and cuisine and providing dream holidays with the utmost in terms of fun and relaxation.  Its fleet, the largest in Europe, has a total of 14 ships in service, flying the Italian flag, and one new ship to be delivered in October 2014. All the ships in the Costa fleet have been assigned RINA's Green Star notation certifying that they are operated in compliance with the highest environmental protection standards.

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise company in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Ibero Cruises, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK).

Together, these brands operate 101 ships totaling 208,000 lower berths with eight new ships scheduled to be delivered between May 2014 and June 2016.  Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company 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.


Source: Carnival Corp

CND Headlines

* One Win, One Loss for Carnival Joint Ventures

There was movement today in two of Carnival Corp's proposed joint ventures with European companies. One is moving forward, and one is being withdrawn.

Both actions will have some indirect impact on cruisers in North American markets, even though they wouldn't have been likely customers of either new brand, because Carnival is/was planning to take ships from existing Carnival brands for the new ventures.

The Carnival/TUI joint venture to create a new upscale German line has been terminated. Carnival had been planning to take one "relatively modern" vessel from an existing Carnival brand to start the line. The specific ship was never specified but it was believed to be one only a couple of years old.

The Carnival/Orizonia joint venture transaction, however, will close next week. That will create a new line for the contemporary Spanish market called Iberocruceros initially consisting of the two current Iberojet ships (Grand Mistral and Grand Voyager) and Carnival's Celebration.

Details were in today's edition of Cruise News Daily