September 2015

Carnival Cruise Line was a big winner at the annual Travel Weekly Magellan Awards, taking home six awards for its various travel agent sales, marketing and support programs. From design concepts to marketing initiatives and services, the Travel Weekly Magellan Awards honors the best in travel and salutes the talents of outstanding travel professionals in a variety of areas.  Entries for the awards are judged by a panel of travel professionals representing some of the most accomplished leaders in the industry. “Providing the best sales and marketing support in the cruise industry to our valued travel agents is our top priority. We are proud of the resources we provide and the investments we make in this important area,” said Adolfo…

Carnival’s Brand Ambassador John Heald is at it again!   Known for his off-the-wall, irreverent style of humor, Heald has created a series of videos on Carnival’s Facebook page featuring candid – and hilarious — interviews with company executives. During the first installment of “Whatever We’re Gonna Call These,” Heald chats with Carnival’s Executive Vice President of Guest Shipboard Operations Gus Antorcha about the line’s newest ship, Carnival Vista, set to debut in spring 2016. Despite some good-natured ribbing from Heald about his wardrobe and other things that can’t be mentioned here, Antorcha does his best to describe some of the ship’s unique innovations including the Family Harbor staterooms and the New England-inspired Seafood Shack. Additional “interviews” by Heald with other…

  Carnival Cruise Line brought its spirited brand of fun to this year’s Taste of Atlanta festival, hosting an exclusive Dr. Seuss-themed book reading and cooking demonstration for local children with Atlanta Braves announcer Brian Jordan. Modeled after the cruise line’s fleetwide Seuss at Sea program operated in conjunction with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the event featured  the former two-sport star of the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Falcons reading the Dr. Seuss classic “Green Eggs and Ham” to dozens of aspiring chefs from the Atlanta-based Young Chefs Academy. After the book reading, Jordan and Carnival Chef Roshan D’Souza conducted a cooking demonstration of Dr. Seuss-themed dishes served as part of the Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast with The Cat in the…

  Ron L. Phillips has been appointed Senior Vice President of Human Resources – Office of People and Potential for Carnival Cruise Line.  In this capacity, Phillips will oversee shoreside and shipboard human resources for the world’s largest cruise line, including talent acquisition, talent management, leadership development, human capital planning, employee engagement, compensation and benefits, and performance management. Phillips begins his new role effective October 19 and will report to Carnival President Christine Duffy. Phillips has nearly 20 years of HR experience, most recently serving as Chief Human Resources Officer for New York Presbyterian Hospital, which encompasses seven major hospitals, 23,000 employees and 6,000 affiliated physicians. Prior to that he spent eight years in human resource roles at Comcast, eventually rising to…

Carnival Cruise Line and the City of Mobile announced today that the Carnival Fantasy will operate a year-long schedule of four- and five-day cruises to Mexico from the Mobile Cruise Terminal beginning in fall 2016. Prior to its deployment to Mobile, the 2,056-passenger Carnival Fantasy will undergo a multi-million-dollar refurbishment that will add several elements of the cruise line’s popular Fun Ship 2.0 product enhancement program, including Guy’s Burger Joint, developed in tandem with Food Network star Guy Fieri, two poolside watering holes, the RedFrog Rum Bar and BlueIguana Tequila Bar, and the BlueIguana Cantina Mexican-themed eatery. On its new schedule from Mobile, Carnival Fantasy will offer four-day cruises to Cozumel and five-day cruises to Cozumel and Costa Maya or…

After achieving a $5 million fundraising goal for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, Carnival Cruise Line has announced an additional $10 million goal by 2020, while continuing its role as the hospital’s Official Celebration Partner. The announcement was made by Carnival President Christine Duffy at the hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, during the cruise line’s third annual Day of Play which this year featured a variety of Dr. Seuss-themed activities for patients and their families. At the event, Carnival officials presented the hospital with an oversized check for $5 million, representing the funds raised for St. Jude over the past two years – a full two years ahead of schedule. Carnival has raised $8 million in total for the hospital since…

Carnival Cruise Line today announced it is reducing the number of sailed cabins required for each commission tier, which creates significantly greater earnings opportunities for travel agents. The sailed cabin requirement to reach each tier will be reduced, on average, by 32 percent for the 11-15 percent commission tiers. The change is based on extensive input from travel agents and builds upon a number of initiatives the company has instituted over the past few years to bolster its commitment to travel professionals.  This latest move has been the number one priority of new VP of Trade Sales Adolfo Perez and his sales leadership team. The new commission structure is applicable to new bookings made starting January 1, 2016. “The new…