IN THE NEWS.....

'TODAY'S CARNIVAL' CONTINUES LINE'S PIONEERING ROLE IN CRUISE INDUSTRY

Carnival Cruise Lines continues to redefine contemporary cruising with “Today’s Carnival”, a term coined to describe Carnival’s commitment to enhancing all aspects of the “Fun Ship” vacation experience.

"From upgraded cuisine and new and expanded facilities to a greater variety of onboard activities and shore excursions, a ‘Fun Ship’ cruise is significantly different from just a few years ago,” said Bob Dickinson, Carnival president and CEO. “‘Today’s Carnival’ reflects the lengths we will go to keep our product fresh and exciting for our guests,” he added.

Dining is considered the highlight of any “Fun Ship” vacation and “Today’s Carnival” has resulted in a diversity of new dining options and enhancements. Carnival’s Total Choice Dining(SM) is the cruise industry’s most comprehensive dining program offering the widest variety of formal and casual options at sea. Try our new Georges Blanc Signature Selections which includes a wide variety of gourmet appetizers, entrees and desserts to be served in Carnival's main dining rooms and Lido restaurants, as well as the reservations-only supper clubs featured on select “Fun Ships.”

In addition to revamped lunch and dinner menus and expanded wine lists, Carnival ships feature such innovations as 24-hour pizzerias and the “Seaview Bistro” alternative dinner-time service. Carnival’s popular Lido-area eateries, which offer full breakfast and lunch buffets, now include meat-carving and pasta stations, expansive salad and dessert bars and, on some ships, New York-style delis and Asian and Italian specialty venues. The line’s 24-hour room service menu has also been expanded to include an even greater variety of freshly made items delivered to guests’ cabins any time of the day or night.

Patisseries offering coffees and sweets, specialty seafood stations, and sushi bars featuring are now available on a number of ships, as well. Carnival’s legendary midnight buffets have also been updated to reflect consumers’ changing palates, incorporating lighter fare to complement the diversity of hot and cold items available each night.

Another feature of “Today’s Carnival” is in-cabin amenities baskets, which are available on all 22“Fun Ships” and offer a wide variety of brand-name products for men and women. The Carnival Comfort Bed sleep system is just one of the many upgrades we've incorporated fleet wide, now you can enjoy a great night's sleep every night of your cruise. Additionally, plush terrycloth bathrobes are available upon request in all staterooms to use for the length of your cruise.

With demand for dedicated shipboard meeting space continuing to grow, Carnival has incorporated purpose-built 1,100-square-foot conference centers on the Elation, Paradise, Carnival Spirit, Carnival Pride, Carnival Legend, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Glory, Carnival Miracle, Carnival Valor, Carnival Liberty and Carnival Freedom. A significantly larger conference room featuring stadium-style seating and a host of state-of-the-art features is also available on the Fantasy.

"Today’s Carnival” has also resulted in the introduction of fleetwide Internet cafes (including wireless Internet service) where guests can access e-mail and Web sites, obtain news updates and send video postcards to friends and family back home.

Entertainment options have also become more varied, with dazzling revues featuring high-tech video projections, lasers, pyrotechnics, and elaborate sets and costumes presented in multi-decked show lounges, some of which can accommodate up to 1,500 guests.

Responding to the needs of today's health-conscious consumers, Carnival continues to update the impressive array of exercise equipment and pampering treatments available within its fleetwide "Spa Carnival" which, comprise some of the largest floating health clubs in the world.

Shore excursions have also been expanded to keep pace with today’s active lifestyles, with adventure-type tours such as kayaking, scuba diving and sight seeing complementing more traditional activities as nature walks and city tours.

With the dramatic increase in family cruising – a record 500,000 kids are expected to sail on the “Fun Ships” in 2006– Carnival continues to expand the myriad activities, amenities and facilities of “Camp Carnival”, the industry’s top-rated children’s program. Recent enhancements include high-tech play areas featuring computer labs and indoor climbing mazes, as well as updated kids’ menus and a new turn-down service providing children with freshly baked cookies on the first and last night of their voyage. Carnival's Club O2 is perfect for older teens with parties, hip music, great movies, video games (PS2 and Xbox), teen shore excursions, teens-only lounges and other great ways to hang out.

Carnival’s multi-billion-dollar new building program also provides myriad opportunities for innovation. For example, the new 110,000-ton Carnival Liberty, which debuted from Rome in 2005, epitomizes “Today’s Carnival,” with an array of new and expanded facilities. These include an upscale supper club, expansive children’s and spa facilities, and 22 “themed” lounges and bars.

Carnival Cruise Lines’ new 110,000-ton Carnival Freedom will operate an exciting inaugural schedule in 2007, encompassing 12-day cruises that include the line’s first-ever visit to the Greek Isles and Turkey, as well as extended calls at a variety of magnificent Mediterranean ports.

"These and other product enhancements reflect our ongoing commitment to providing our guests a high quality, satisfying vacation experience. A ‘Fun Ship’ cruise is dramatically different that just a few years ago and we will continue to evolve to keep pace with the changing preferences of our guests, who are truly the driving force behind ‘Today’s Carnival,’” Dickinson said.