Carnival Corporation is the largest cruise company in the world, with 101 ships totaling 214,000 lower berths that they would like to have cruise travelers sleeping in every night.  In just one year, that’s over 78 million nights at sea, for now.  With seven new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2015 and 2017, that number will only grow and Carnival Corporation is taking some interesting and engaging steps to insure those new ships sail full too, including a contest that gives one lucky winner a Carnival cruise each year, for life.

Targeting first-time cruisers, the campaign will kick off on November 24 with several digital and social elements and will continue to ramp up through 2015. Aimed to highlight why cruising is an extraordinary vacation experience at an exceptional value; Carnival Corporation is basically singing our song.  Contemporary cruising has evolved.  Grand cruise ships offer something for everyone.  Common myths about cruising are untrue.  Use a travel agent.  Got it.  Nothing new about those time-proven talking points.  What is entirely new and has us anxious to see how it plays out: how Carnival Corporation is planning to go about it.

“Across our portfolio of nine brands and more than 100 cruise ships visiting over 700 destinations around the world, Carnival Corporation carries more than 10.5 million guests a year, accounting for one out of every two people who cruise anywhere in the world,” said Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald in a recent conference call, detailing the upcoming effort.

• The “World’s Leading Cruise Lines Marketing Challenge”: Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald and celebrity emcee Cedric the Entertainer will invite consumers to “join” the Carnival Corporation marketing team and help select creative elements for the marketing initiative. On WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com Mr. Donald will introduce six distinct advertising concepts and ask consumers to help further shape the stories, as well as vote for which ad concept does the best job of both dispelling misconceptions about cruising and bringing the cruise experience to life.
• The Right Cruise For You: We talk about matching up the right cruise line with the right traveler here frequently. It’s critical to getting first-timers off on the right foot and keeping experienced cruise travelers engaged in the world of cruise vacations for life. One aspect of WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com allows vacationers to find their “CRUISE-A-NALITY,” which is an interactive tool to help consumers find their individual cruise persona — type of cruiser based on likes and dislikes — from a total of 30 personas. After answering six simple questions, the CRUISE-A-NALITY tool provides consumers with their persona, cruise brand recommendations and links to find more information to begin planning their vacation – with a reminder to contact their travel agent for additional guidance on which cruise is right for them. Once visitors know their CRUISE-A-NALITY, they are encouraged to call their travel agent as well as share their results through their Facebook and Twitter social media channels.
• Now You Will Join Twitter- Even if you never paid much attention to Twitter at all in the past, now you will.  Carnival Corporation will kick off the launch of its new Twitter handle, @CarnivalPLC, on November 24 with a contest encouraging consumers to share what they love about cruising. In addition to instant prizes for tweets at 50,000, 150,000, 250,000, 400,000, 500,000 and 750,000, one individual will be selected at random to receive, for themselves and a guest, 100 days of cruising on their choice of Carnival Corporation’s U.S.-based brands to be used at their discretion.
• WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com has been a sleepy website that promotes the company’s nine brands for quite some time.  In the past, about the only time it came up is when a traveler with an extensive cruise history with one line in the family wondered if their past-guest status with it would be honored by another family member. To be re-launched on November 24, WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com will take on a bigger role, serving as the hub for both the campaign and an information source on cruising options and experiences on Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn in the U.S.; AIDA Cruises in Germany; Costa Cruises in Italy; and P&O Cruises ( Australia) and P&O Cruises ( United Kingdom). Promising new life for WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com,  the site will help serve as a continuous communication platform for consumers and travel agents.All sweepstakes rules and eligibility information will be available at WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com.

Win A Yearly Cruise For Life
“I’m asking consumers to join our marketing team and weigh in with a vote as well as give us their advice on our upcoming marketing efforts,” said Donald. “In return we have an extraordinary giveaway – one lucky person will win a cruise a year for life!”  Details on that giveaway and all of the above can be found on WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com, starting November 24, 2014.

We have been big fans of Carnival Corporation for quite some time and watched as they acquired various brands and rounded out their portfolio over the years.  Their ships sail just about anywhere one might want to go, from the Caribbean to Antarctica and have an onboard experience ranging from Fun to Luxury and everything in-between. Maintaining the integrity of each brand, all have grown and prospered since being brought into the family, to the applause of Carnival Corporation shareholders.

Want to know more about the World’s Leading Cruise Lines in advance?  Start here, where they did: