Micky Arison Cruise Quotations

It is a testament to the resilience of our cruise business that despite an approximate 50 percent increase in fuel costs for the quarter and the worst hurricane season in our history, we were still able to grow earnings by 20 percent to achieve record fourth quarter results.

Robust demand for cruise vacations continued into our seasonally strong summer period. Significant improvements in pricing, particularly for our North American brands, more than compensated for increases in fuel costs, resulting in higher profits and another record third quarter,

Pier is a highly talented international executive and his years in Asia, combined with his vast experience overseeing Europe's leading cruise company, bring a unique insight and perspective into our new Asian cruise initiative.

We have every intention of relaunching cruise service from the great city of New Orleans as soon as the infrastructure is in place so that our ships may contribute to the economic recovery of the area.

Costa is the largest and most successful cruise line in Europe and will serve as Carnival's primary platform for expanding our presence in this increasingly important market,

Originally, we envisioned this ship would be designated for one of our European brands. However, Carnival Cruise Lines continues to perform at a very high level and based on the tremendous consumer demand for its products, we now believe that this specific tonnage would be best utilized for Carnival's North American market,