Carnival Cruise Line Australia celebrates 1m passengers

One in a million

Many of the guests were past passengers wearing T-shirts with the slogan ‘I’m one in a million.’

‘We don’t know which individual passenger is the 1,000,000th, but we do know that he or she is boarding today for an 11-day round cruise to the South Pacific,’ a CCL spokeswoman told Seatrade Cruise News.

As reported in the March issue of Seatrade Cruise Review, VP Australia Jennifer Vandekreeke gets misty-eyed when she talks about the 2,680-passenger Carnival Spirit arriving in Sydney for the first time in October 2012.

Vandekreeke was sent to ‘check out Australia’ by then CCL CEO Gerry Cahill. She arrived in September 2010 and stayed to launch and run the Australian operation.

Third ship

In December her third ship, the 3,900-passenger Carnival Splendor, arrives in Sydney for year-round cruising and Carnival Spirit will move to the new international cruise terminal in Brisbane. Carnival Legend, which supplemented the operation, will be homeported in Tampa in October.

‘From dancing waiters and dazzling shows to wild waterslides and warm welcomes, we are honoured and thrilled that 1 million guests have chosen to entrust their precious Australian holiday time to Carnival,’ Vandekreeke said.

‘Every Australian guest we host is one in a million, and we endeavour to deliver fun, memorable holidays for each and every one.'