Christine Duffy Celebrates 10 Years in Charge of Carnival Cruise Line

Christine Duffy has marked 10 years as President of Carnival Cruise Line, having taken the helm of the line in 2015.

Ms Duffy came to Carnival after serving as CEO of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) following a career in the travel agency and meeting planning sectors. Her first interaction with the cruise business was leading the industry’s trade association, but former Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald saw a unique set of leadership skills that could bring a new level of energy and focus to Carnival Cruise Line, which had helped make a cruise vacation accessible, affordable and fun for millions of Americans.

Since 2015, Christine Duffy has brought a new level of engagement, enthusiasm, innovation and excitement to Carnival, counting amongst her accomplishments:

1. Adding nine ships to the Carnival fleet;
2. Operating 13,500 sailings;
3. Hosting 42.5 million guests;
4. Overseeing 70 dry dock ship refurbishments;
5. Hiring 15,780 new team members;
6. Making 253 visits to Carnival ships;
7. Taking 672 plane trips and flying 1.7 million miles;
8. Being honored by Forbes magazine, inducted into the CLIA Hall of Fame, served as national chair of the U.S. Travel Association, served on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Travel & Tourism Advisory Board and named one of the top 100 U.S. leaders in hospitality;
9. And along the way, she’s also taken to the skies in an airship, jumped out of an airplane for hurricane disaster relief, and led Carnival’s efforts to raise $27.3 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

But Ms Duffy’s not yet done. Carnival’s new exclusive destination Celebration Key is slated to open on Grand Bahama this July and additional expansion is in the works across the newly renamed RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, as well as other destinations. Five additional new ships are on order for delivery through 2033, and Carnival is about to become the biggest cruise operator in Australia when two P&O Australia ships join Carnival this March.