Carnival.com, the cruise industry’s most visited Web site, has undergone an extensive redesign and emerged with a host of new features, including enhanced navigation and layout, a variety of images and content, and numerous technical advancements, all designed to make users’ on-line experience easier and more informative than ever.

            Highlighting the next generation of carnival.com are dozens of entertaining new videos and virtual tours, along with upgraded images and content showcasing all 22 of the line’s “Fun Ships.” Also included are upgrades to special sections focusing on various aspects of the Carnival vacation experience such as dining, spa, youth programs, destinations and shore excursions. 

            The “new and improved” carnival.com features an enriched Gifts and Services section that allows visitors to purchase a variety of items that can be delivered to guests’ staterooms prior to their cruise. The section also includes detailed product descriptions for gifts ranging from special occasion cakes, fine wines and flowers to stateroom decorations and wedding/romance-themed gift packages.

            There’s also an updated section where first-time cruisers and visitors can sign up for Carnival news and information via both email and RSS feeds.

            The new site has a strong focus on enhancing end-user support, with a more detailed FAQ section, an enhanced site search engine, and live feeds featuring Carnival news headlines on virtually every page.

            The site also includes a number of technological advancements, with a higher site resolution that provides a better platform for multi-media components, greater compatibility across all Web browsers and optimized Web pages for visitors who access the site via hand-held phones and other communication devices.

            “Just as Carnival’s on-board product continues to evolve so do our marketing channels.  The next generation of carnival.com is designed to provide visitors with a wealth of information and images to learn more about ‘Fun Ship’ vacations” said Ruben Rodriguez, Carnival’s executive vice president of marketing and guest experience.

            Carnival is the largest and most popular cruise line in the world, with 22 “Fun Ships” operating voyages ranging from three to 18 days in length to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, New England, Canada, Bermuda, Europe, and South America.  

            The line has three new ships scheduled for delivery between now and 2011.  The first of these, the 113,300-ton Carnival Splendor, is slated to debut in Europe July 2, 2008.

Already the cruise industry’s top interactive Web site, Carnival’s “Fun Ship Island” micro site (www.funshipisland.com) has added yet another feather to its cap, earning “Best Micro Site” honors during the 2008 Ad:Tech People’s Choice Awards.

Nominees were selected by a panel of judges based on creativity and innovation in interactive marketing and voted on by Ad:Tech Web site readers.

Earlier this year funshipisland.com was an honoree in the 2008 Webby Awards, which are judged by members of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences.

Since its launch in July 2007, funshipisland.com has generated more than 1.8 million hits, providing viewers with a fun and comprehensive visual overview of the “Fun Ship” vacation experience.

The site offers an immersive world where visitors can play in a virtual casino, experience the line’s iconic Twister waterslide, embark on a Rhino 4×4 Jeep ride, and tour the “Camp Carnival” play area, among other experiences, from the convenience of their computer.

On Saturday, April 19, the 1,486-passenger Celebration arrived back in Jacksonville, Fla., at the end of its final voyage under the Carnival Cruise Lines’ banner. The 47,262-ton Celebration – which entered service in 1987 – will be transferred to Ibero Cruises, a new joint venture aimed at the Spanish market in which Carnival’s parent company, Carnival Corporation & plc is a partner.

Replacing the Celebration in Jacksonville will be the 2,052-passenger Carnival Fascination, which represents a 38 percent capacity increase. The Carnival Fascination begins year-round four- and five-day cruises from Jacksonville Sept. 20, providing consumers with an exciting new option from this convenient Florida homeport.

Carnival Cruise Lines will launch a new multi-million-dollar branding campaign that injects a fresh new look and feel into the company’s various advertising, marketing and collateral materials.

The centerpiece of the wide-ranging initiative is a series of new 30-second television spots which debut Monday, Jan. 7. 

Backed by the Queen classic “You’re My Best Friend,” the spots feature striking images of guests of all ages enjoying a Carnival cruise, enhanced by sophisticated computer animation and editing techniques that seamlessly blend one scene into another.  The end result is a series of highly visual commercials that convey Carnival’s memorable vacation experience by transporting viewers into the relaxed and carefree environment of a “Fun Ship” vacation.

Pegged to the song’s key lyrical phrase “Oooh, you make me live,” three different commercials have been created, each targeting a core market for Carnival. “No Age Limit on Fun” showcases multi-generational travel; “A Big New World” is aimed at families; and “A World of Delightful Surprises” focuses on the romance aspect of cruising.  Although the commercials are aimed at specific audiences, all three spots convey Carnival’s unique ambiance and diversity of choices, both on-board and ashore.

“Carnival has earned its title of world’s most popular cruise line by providing our guests with fun, memorable vacations that are a great value.  This new TV ad campaign truly captures the essence of our brand in an entertaining and creative way,” said Ruben Rodriguez, Carnival’s executive vice president of marketing and guest experience.  “Exciting new ships and innovations such as the ‘Evolutions of Fun’ ship refurbishment program have added an entirely new dimension to the Carnival vacation experience and this branding effort reflects the continued evolution of the ‘Fun Ship’ product,” he added.

The 30-second TV commercials, which were created by Carnival’s advertising agency, Coral Gables, Fla.-based CooperDDB, are just one component of a multi-million-dollar branding effort that is built around the charge to “Let the Fun Begin,” designed to reinforce the company’s core brand value of providing guests with fun, memorable vacations. The phrase has been incorporated into a new consumer and trade print advertising campaign, as well as a variety of marketing and collateral materials. 

The new print campaign encompasses full-page images gleaned from the various TV spots, with shots of couples and families relaxing in scenic locales and enjoying various on-board activities typically associated with “Fun Ship” cruising.

Comprehensive travel agent kits, which combine various marketing materials into one convenient package, with postcards, letterhead, stickers, coasters and items for agents to display in their offices such as welcome and open/close signs, are also part of the new campaign.  The new kits will be mailed to travel agents in early 2008.

A central design component of the marketing materials – from the line’s new fleet brochure to web banners and more – is a playful new “swirl” motif, a wave-like design that serves to frame photos and other images in the pieces.

The new TV spots will air on all major broadcast networks, as well as select cable channels such as USA, TNT, TBS, Food Network, Travel Channel, HGTV, and Discovery Channel. The first of the new spots, focusing on family cruising, can currently be viewed at www.carnival.com/promo/tv.

The new print ads will be featured in a variety of national newspapers, as well as consumer magazines such as People, Oprah, Martha Stewart Living, Food & Wine and Redbook, and trade publications, including Travel Weekly, Travel Agent, Travel Trade, TravelAge West and Vacation Agent.

Carnival is the largest and most popular cruise line in the world, with 22 “Fun Ships” operating voyages ranging from three to 18 days in length to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, New England, Canada, Bermuda, Europe, the Greek Isles and South America.

The line currently has three new ships on order, including the 113,300-ton Carnival Splendor, set to launch Carnival’s first Northern European cruise program July 13, 2008, and the 130,000-ton Carnival Dream and Carnival Magic – to be the largest “Fun Ships” ever constructed when they enter service in June 2009 and October 2011, respectively.

For additional information on Carnival’s “Fun Ship” vacations, contact any travel agent, call 1-800-CARNIVAL or visit carnival.com.

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NOTE TO EDITORS:            Sample consumer and trade print ads, along with screen shots from the new broadcast spots, are available in pdf format.  The ‘family’ TV spot can be viewed at www.carnival.com/promo/tv and is also available on DVD.  Please email media@carnival.com for additional information.

Carnival Cruise Lines, a unit of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE:  CCL; NYSE:  CUK), is a proud member of the exclusive World’s Leading Cruise Lines.  Our exclusive alliance also includes Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises, and The Yachts of Seabourn.  Sharing a passion to please each guest, and a commitment to quality and value, our member lines appeal to a wide range of lifestyles and budgets.  Together, we offer exciting and enriching cruise vacations to the world’s most desirable destinations.

Continuing its growth in the rapidly expanding European cruise market, Carnival Cruise Lines will operate an unprecedented number of “Fun Ship” voyages within the region in 2009. 

The line’s 2009 European season will feature two of its newest 110,000-ton ships – Carnival Liberty, which will operate 12-day Northern European and Mediterranean cruises, and Carnival Freedom, sailing 12-day departures to the Mediterranean.

“A Carnival cruise is the ideal way to see Europe, offering consumers the opportunity to experience and explore a diversity of spectacular destinations and then return to the comfort, convenience and amenities of their magnificent ‘Fun Ship,’”  said Vicki Freed, Carnival’s senior vice president of sales and guest services.  “Plus, with the exciting itineraries and spectacular features of these two new ships, combined with today’s high euro/dollar exchange rate, it’s the absolute best way to see the grand sights in Europe,” she added.

Carnival Liberty 12-Day Northern Europe, Med Cruises

In response to outstanding advance bookings for its first-ever Northern Europe program next year aboard the Carnival Splendor, the company has announced that the Carnival Liberty will operate the program again in 2009 – with twice the number of voyages.

Carnival Liberty’s 12-day Northern Europe cruises will operate round-trip from London (Dover) from May 9 – Aug. 25, 2009.  Featured ports on these voyages include Copenhagen, Denmark; Warnemunde (Berlin), Germany; Helsinki, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia (two-day call); Tallin, Estonia; and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The ship will then operate a special one-time 12-day western Mediterranean voyage from London (Dover) to Rome (Civitavecchia) Sept. 6, 2009, after which it will operate two 12-day Grand Mediterranean voyages departing Sept. 19 and Oct. 25, 2009, and three 12-day Mediterranean & Greece cruises Oct. 1 and 13 and Nov. 6, 2009.              

Carnival Freedom 12-Day Cruises to the Med, Greece, Turkey

Carnival Freedom will offer the popular 12-day Grand Mediterranean and Mediterranean & Greece cruises from Rome (Civitavecchia) beginning in May 2009, following a highly successful inaugural season in Europe this year.

Carnival Freedom’s 12-day “Mediterranean & Greece” cruises include eight ports:  Naples, Italy; Rhodes, Greece; Izmir (Ephesus) and Istanbul, Turkey featuring scenic cruising of the Dardanelles; Athens (Piraeus) and Katakolon, Greece; and Livorno, Italy, as well as an overnight call in Rome (Civitavecchia).             Voyages depart May 9, Aug. 13, Sept. 18, 2009.

The 12-day “Grand Mediterranean” cruises visit seven ports: Naples, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Venice, Italy (two-day call); Messina, Sicily; Barcelona, Spain; Cannes, France; and Livorno, Italy.  Departure dates include May 21, June 2, 14 and 26, July 8 and 20, Aug. 1 and 25, Sept. 6 and 30 and Oct. 12 and 24, 2009.

Exciting ‘Fun Ship’ Amenities

Among Carnival’s newest “Fun Ships,” the Carnival Liberty and Carnival Freedom, each offer a diversity of dining, entertainment, and activity options, including 22 lounges and bars, four swimming pools, a 214-foot-long water slide, a 14,500-square-foot health and fitness center, an Internet café, with bow-to-stern Wi-Fi access, and Carnival’s Seaside Theatre, a 270-square-foot massive LED screen displaying movies, concerts and other programming. Cell phone service is available, as well.

The ships’ family friendly amenities include a 4,200-square-foot children’s play area – part of the top-rated “Camp Carnival” program – and a 1,800-square-foot “Club O2” teen facility featuring a dance floor, DJ and high-tech sound and lighting system.

Dining options include twin two-level restaurants with extensive menus and wine lists, a 1,200-seat casual eatery with 24-hour pizza and ice cream, and a reservations-only supper club featuring USDA prime aged beef and other gourmet cuisine.

Carnival Freedom and Carnival Liberty also offer a variety of comfortable and spacious accommodations including a wide selection of balcony staterooms and suites.  All feature the exclusive Carnival Comfort Bed sleep system with plush mattresses, luxurious duvets and high quality linens and pillows.

Reservations

Carnival will begin accepting reservations for the Carnival Freedom and Carnival Liberty’s 2009 European cruises on Monday, December 17, 2007.

Special rates for third and fourth guests staying in the same stateroom and pre- and post-cruise packages in and around London (Dover) and Rome (Civitavecchia) are also available.

For additional information and reservations, contact any travel agent, call 1-800-CARNIVAL, or visit carnival.com.

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 Carnival Cruise Lines, a unit of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE:  CCL; NYSE:  CUK), is a proud member of the exclusive World’s Leading Cruise Lines.  Our exclusive alliance also includes Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises, and The Yachts of Seabourn.  Sharing a passion to please each guest, and a commitment to quality and value, our member lines appeal to a wide range of lifestyles and budgets.  Together, we offer exciting and enriching cruise vacations to the world’s most desirable destinations.