Carnival Corp. finalized its agreement to
create a new cruise brand in Spain while pulling the plug on plans
to form cruise line in Germany with TUI.
Carnival and
Spain-based Orizonia Corp. expect to close the transaction on Sept.
14, forming Iberocruceros, a new cruise line.
Iberocruceros will
launch in late spring 2008 with the 20-year-old Carnival
Celebration, a 1,486-passenger ship, along with two ships from
Orizonia's Iberojet line: the 1,244-passenger Grand Mistral and the
834-passenger Grand Voyager, built in 1999 and 2000,
respectively.
Carnival will own
75% of the joint venture and Orizonia will own the remaining 25%.
The cruise line's headquarters will be in Madrid.
Alfredo Serrano,
general manager of the Iberojet fleet, will become general manager
of Iberocruceros. Pier Luigi Foschi, chairman and CEO of Costa
Cruises, a Carnival Corp. brand, will become chairman of
Iberocruceros.
Iberocruceros'
three ships will fly the Italian flag, and itineraries will be
announced shortly, said Carnival. Before entering service for
Iberocruceros, the Celebration will undergo an extensive
renovation.
Carnival had
recently announced that the Celebration, which has been running
four- and five-day itineraries out of Jacksonville, would be
replaced in that port by the 2,052-passenger Carnival Fascination
in 2008.
No deal with TUI
The proposed joint
venture with TUI, a mega tour operator, was scrapped because of an
"extremely difficult regulatory environment in Germany," Carnival
said.
Carnival said it
was not able to close the deal with TUI this year, and that forming
a joint venture would have created adverse tax
consequences.
Carnival announced
last December that it would form a joint venture with TUI to
operate two cruise brands in Germany, Carnival's existing AIDA
Cruises and a new TUI Cruises brand.
The new brand was
supposed to target an older cruise clientele. AIDA predominantly
pursues younger, more active passengers.
Tangles became
apparent in late June, when Carnival said during its second-quarter
earnings call with analysts that, due to regulatory delays in
closing the joint venture with TUI, it had lost the 2010 delivery
slot at Fincantieri's yard in Sestri Ponente, Italy.
Carnival had
previously announced it would use the slot to build a ship for the
new cruise line.At that point, Carnival said it would transfer a
ship from a Carnival Corp. brand to the new TUI cruise brand in
2009, and that it would launch the venture sooner than it had
planned.
With the plan
scrapped, Carnival said it would continue to grow in Germany
through new ships being built for the AIDA and Costa brands, and
through Cunard Line, whose Queen Mary 2 will operate a series of
transatlantic crossings from Hamburg, Germany, in 2008.
AIDA has five ships
in service, and another three are under construction and scheduled
for delivery by 2010.
Both Carnival and
Royal Caribbean Cruises have been eyeing the cruise market in
Europe.
Royal Caribbean
acquired Pullmantur, a Spain-based cruise line, last
year.
To contact reporter Johanna Jainchill, send e-mail to [email protected].