Carnival Cruises

In the early 1970s the shipping industry around the world was facing a crisis following competition from new forms of transport, package holidays and the introduction of the giant Boeing 737. People were able to fly across the Atlantic and to Australia in hours and the large ocean liners were soon running at a loss and were laid up. Ian Collard recounts the story of two friends who seized the opportunity to form and develop a cruise line which is now the largest and most successful of its kind in the world. Arison and Riklis borrowed capital and bought a number of the redundant ocean liners at bargain basement prices and provided cruise holidays for ordinary working people. They had a completely new business model and branded their concept as ‘fun cruises’ based on ‘a boatload of vision, a second-hand ship and just enough fuel to make the one-way trip from Miami to San Juan’. Ian Collard presents a selection of images to tell the story of Carnival Cruises, now ‘The World’s Most Popular Cruise Line’.