MIAMI, Jan. 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival
Corporation (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest leisure
travel company, and its nine global cruise line brands earned 556
awards and recognitions in 2017. The third-party endorsements
recognize excellence in areas key to exceeding guest expectations
and providing extraordinary vacations -- including vacation value,
cruise ships, onboard entertainment, shore excursions, itineraries,
nightlife and overall customer service.
Carnival Corporation and its brands had especially strong
showings in the industry's top awards programs, collecting 144
Cruise Critic awards, 51 Travel Weekly awards, 29 Porthole Cruise
awards, 26 USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice Awards and 17 Condé
Nast Traveler awards.
Some of the honors included:
- AIDA Cruises received the Favorite Ship recognition for
AIDAprima as part of the International German Cruise Awards.
- Carnival Cruise Line was named Most Trusted Cruise Line
in America by Reader's Digest for the third consecutive year, and
took home 10 USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice 2017 Awards,
including Best Ocean Cruise Line and Best Cruise Line for
Millennials.
- Costa Cruises was honored for Best Mediterranean
Itineraries by the Porthole Cruise 19th Annual Readers'
Choice Awards and had two distinctions in Travel + Leisure's
World's Best Awards.
- Cunard received 13 Cruise Critic awards including the
Cruise Critic 2017 Cruisers' Choice Award for Best Cruise Ships for
Public Rooms, Large Ships for its iconic Queen Mary 2 ocean liner.
- Holland America Line was
honored with nearly 60 Cruise Critic awards, and its Half Moon Cay
was named Best Private Island for the 17th year in a row
by Porthole Cruise Magazine.
- P&O Cruises (Australia) was recognized for Best
Australia Itineraries by the Porthole Cruise Readers' Choice Awards
and received the National Institute of Travel Agents 2017 award for
Best Cruise Operator in New
Zealand.
- P&O Cruises (UK) was honored with two British Travel
Awards 2017 distinctions, including Best Family Cruise Line, and
won the Consumer Award for Favorite Ocean Cruise by Travel Weekly's
Globe Travel Awards.
- Princess Cruises was recognized with six Travvy Awards,
including Best Cruise Line in Alaska and Asia, and received six Travel Weekly Magellan
Awards including gold for the production show in partnership with
Stephen Schwartz, "Born To Dance."
The line's newest ship, Majestic Princess, received seven China
CTrip Cruiser's Choice Awards for onboard features.
- Seabourn Encore was chosen as Robb Report's Best of the
Best 2017 for Slow Travel and was named Best Small Ships Cruise
Line in Condé Nast Traveler's 2017 Readers' Choice Awards.
Other notable recognitions included Carnival Corporation's honor
as one of the top 100 Best Corporate Citizens for 2017 by Corporate
Responsibility Magazine (CRM) and Financial Times' EMpower 100
ethnic minority leaders list inclusion of Arnold Donald, Carnival Corporation CEO, as its
most influential black, Asian and minority ethnic leader for 2017.
Eleven Carnival Corporation leaders were named to Travel Agent
Central's list of The Most Innovative People in Cruise Travel 2017,
and Carnival Corporation Chairman Micky
Arison was named a Global Legend of the Caribbean by the World Tourism Organization
(UNWTO).
Carnival Corporation also received honors in business operations
fields such as sustainability, diversity and innovation.
Recognition covered a wide range of specific categories, including
Best for Guests with Disabilities, Most Eco-Friendly Cruise Line
and Best Cruise Line for LGTBQ Travel.
"We focus on exceeding guest expectations in everything we do,
so each of these awards is a strong testament to the success of our
collective efforts to provide the world's best vacation experiences
at an exceptional value," said Roger
Frizzell, chief communications officer for Carnival
Corporation. "Over 12 million people trust us every year with their
hard-earned money and precious vacation time, and our 120,000
employees around the world have a tremendous passion for earning
and protecting that trust. While our most important feedback comes
directly from our guests who consistently provide high guest
satisfaction scores, it is rewarding for outside organizations to
honor our efforts with such a remarkable collection of
recognitions, which is often based on consumer input."
In addition to Carnival Corporation and its nine cruise line
brands, the industry leader's innovative Ocean Originals TV
programs received high industry praise, including 10 Telly Awards
and two Parents' Choice Award Stamps of Approval. The TV programs –
produced to feature engaging content to increase awareness and
demand for cruise vacations – are garnering attention based on
their popularity in ratings and experiential value.
Last year, Carnival Corporation announced three of its original
programs – "Ocean Treks with Jeff
Corwin" and "Vacation Creation" on ABC and "The Voyager with
Josh Garcia" on NBC – were renewed
for second seasons. Now in their second seasons, the three shows
are on track to exceed 250 million total viewers.
Carnival Corporation's Ocean Original TV programs are also
available on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku via OceanView, the
world's first free over-the-top (OTT) digital streaming channel
from a travel provider. The company also partnered this month with
Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) – the leading media company
serving Hispanic America – to air the first Ocean Original
primetime series, "La Gran Sorpresa" (The Great Surprise).
The show airs on Sundays at 8 p.m.
ET/PT / 7 p.m. CT on the
Univision Network.
Globally, the overall cruise market has grown to an estimated
27.2 million people who are expected to take an ocean cruise in
2018, an all-time record and an overall increase of more than 66
percent over the past 10 years. Nearly half of those cruise
vacationers will sail on a Carnival Corporation cruise line
brand.
A complete list of awards and recognitions in 2017 received by
Carnival Corporation and its brands can be found here.
About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival
Corporation & plc is the world's largest leisure travel company
and among the most profitable and financially strong in the cruise
and vacation industries, with a portfolio of 10 dynamic brands that
include nine of the world's leading cruise lines. With operations
in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise
Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA
Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK), as well
as Fathom, the corporation's immersion and enrichment experience
brand.
Together, these brands operate 103 ships with 231,000 lower
berths visiting over 700 ports around the world, with 18 new ships
scheduled to be delivered between 2018 and 2022. 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 dual listed
company in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the
FTSE 100 indices.
In 2017, Fast Company recognized Carnival Corporation as being
among the "Top 10 Most Innovative Companies" in both the design and
travel categories. Fast Company specifically recognized Carnival
Corporation for its work in developing Ocean Medallion™, a
high-tech wearable device that enables the world's first
interactive guest experience platform capable of transforming
vacation travel into a highly personalized and elevated level of
customized service.
Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com,
www.fathom.org, www.hollandamerica.com, www.princess.com,
www.seabourn.com, www.aida.de, www.costacruise.com, www.cunard.com,
www.pocruises.com.au and www.pocruises.com.
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SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc