New Carnival Cruise Line President

With CLIA CEO Christine Duffy at Cruise3sixty

Familiar Face
To Head
Carnival Cruise Line

Right before our National Conference in November, Gerry Cahill announced his retirement as Carnival Cruise Line's President. 

Carnival Corporation & plc., the world’s largest travel and leisure company, today announced that Christine Duffy has been named president of Carnival Cruise Line, with 24 ships, making it the largest of Carnival Corporation’s nine distinct cruise brands. According to the press release, Duffy will assume the role on February 1, 2015 and report to Arnold Donald, the CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc.

I've been fortunate to get to know Christine Duffy through my association with Cruise Lines International Association, Inc (CLIA). I'm pictured with her (above) at the most recent Cruise3Sixty conference which was held earlier this year in Fort Lauderdale, FL.   That event marked the 10th anniversary of the conference, which is attended by agents and member cruise lines from around the globe.

I'm very happy with the selection of Christine Duffy to head up one of the most well-known lines in the industry.  After-all, she has some outstanding qualifications:   she has the same first name as I do, she's my height,  she too has been cruising for 30 years, has a real love for the industry, has the consumer's and agent's interest in mind, and has many more industry qualifications that you can read about in the actual press release.   Here are some quotes from the press release:
 

“Christine is one of the most respected and dynamic leaders in the travel industry,” said Donald. “She brings a wealth of experience to Carnival Cruise Line that will help the cruise line continue to deliver unmatched vacation experiences to millions of guests each year.”

“This is a tremendous opportunity for me to be part of a dynamic organization with a long history of innovation and industry firsts,” said Duffy. “The name Carnival is truly synonymous with cruising and I look forward to joining this talented team to continue the tradition of excellence that has made Carnival Cruise line one of the top cruise lines in the world.”

With Gerry Cahill at the helm, Carnival Cruise Line had some rough seas of late.   We hope that as Christine Duffy assumes the role, the seas are calm.   We are looking forward to working together to help dreams come true on one of the Fun Ships of Carnival.  Congratulations !!