Iberocruceros Cruise line formed

John · 09-05-2007, 02:23 PM

Carnival Corp and Orizonia Corp, Spain's largest travel company, will finalize their previously-announced joint venture on September 14.

The new cruise line will be called Iberocruceros and initially have two ships from Orizonia's existing cruise operations and one contributed by Carnival. Carnival said Carnival Cruise Line's Celebration will be transferred to the new venture.

**Ally** · 09-05-2007, 02:25 PM

I am psychic...I knew Celebration would be transferred to either the Spanish or German company....

John · 09-05-2007, 02:26 PM

looking in your crystal ball again?

**Ally** · 09-05-2007, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John

looking in your crystal ball again?

The writing was on the wall months ago that Celebration was going, and as soon as the two tie-ups with the Spanish company and TUI were announced, it was an obvious choice to shift the ship across to Europe.

John · 09-05-2007, 02:48 PM

Carnival will own 75 percent of the new cruise line, which will be called "Iberocruceros" and be based in Madrid. Spain's largest travel company, Orizonia Corpacion, will own the other 25 percent.

Celebration is currently undergoing renovations and will begin sailing in Spain in late spring of 2008, Carnival said.

John · 09-05-2007, 03:18 PM

Carnival Corporation & plc
(NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest cruise vacation company,
and Orizonia Corporacion, Spain's largest travel company, today announced
that they have finalized the agreements for a previously announced
multi-ship cruise brand serving the Spanish market.
The transaction is expected to close on September 14, 2007, with
Carnival owning 75 percent of the joint venture and Orizonia owning 25
percent. The new joint venture company will be consolidated into Carnival
Corporation & plc's financial results starting in the fourth quarter 2007
and is expected to be accretive to results in 2008.
To be called Iberocruceros, the new joint venture combines the two
vessels of Orizonia's existing cruise operations with a ship from the
Carnival group.
In addition to Orizonia's 1,244-passenger Grand Mistral and
834-passenger Grand Voyager, the 1,486-passenger Celebration from Carnival
Cruise Lines' fleet, will be transferred to the new Iberocruceros company.
After an extensive renovation, the Celebration is scheduled to enter
service in late spring 2008.
Alfredo Serrano, currently general manager of the Iberojet fleet, has
been appointed general manager of Iberocruceros, which will be
headquartered in Madrid. Serrano will report to the newly formed
Iberocruceros board whose chairman will be Pier Luigi Foschi, chairman and
CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc's Costa Cruises unit. The board will also
include Orizonia CEO Gabriel Subias.
"The new Iberocruceros joint venture will build upon the tremendous
brand awareness of Orizonia's Iberojet operations - one of Spain's leading
vacation companies - while providing a solid platform for expanding in the
fast- growing European marketplace," said Micky Arison, Carnival
Corporation & plc's chairman and CEO.
The three Iberocruceros ships will fly the Italian flag. Itineraries
for these vessels will be announced shortly.
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, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard
Line, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia.
Together, these brands operate 82 ships totaling 154,000 lower berths
with 17 new ships scheduled to enter service between December 2007 and June
2011. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Tours and
Princess Tours, the leading tour companies 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.