Introduction

Carnival Cruise Lines was established in 1972 by Ted Arison. Over time, Carnival forged the concept of less costly
cruises with shorter trips, making cruises a more viable option for a wider variety of vacationers. The company is
currently based in Miami, Florida but has spread globally since its inception, impacting markets in North America and
Europe (Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan, 2009). Although Carnival brands have evolved over time to include other
cruise options for their guests--such as luxury and port to port trips--the vast majority of their business is still
attributed to the original brand of fun ships (Applegate, Kwortnick, & Piccoli, 2006). This paper will analyze the
case study, Carnival Cruise Lines: Exploiting a Sea of Global Opportunity in an attempt to explore just how Carnival
was able to grow and market themselves into a successful international company. Specifically, topics of interest will
include the dominance that Carnival has and will possesses through proprietorships in multiple positions across the
world.

Discussion

Arisons concept of the fun ship revamped and changed the face of the cruise industry from being by and large a
vacation option for the wealthy to a source of retreat and entertainment for a broader spectrum of middle class
individuals (Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan, 2009). What began as a small independent operation has matured into
twelve cruise ship brands owned and operated by Carnival Corporation (Applegate, Kwortnick, & Piccoli, 2006). The
original Carnival cruise line to this day encompasses more than just a ship; rather, its ships are most closely
comparable to Las Vegas on water. These ships are known for entertainment offerings which include casinos,
shopping centers, theme dinners, weight and exercise rooms, activities, and of course bars (Daniels, Radebaugh, &
Sullivan, 2009).

Carnival Corporation has expanded into a conglomerate and is currently the leader in the cruise industry, controlling
the largest portion of the cruise line market and catering to 2 million passengers each year. They have reached
success through utilizing multiple brands spread across the world. They offer cruises to just about every area of the
world, including Antarctica (Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan, 2009). Having multiple locations and cruise lines is
advantageous for a number of reasons. Most importantly, it provides access points in many regions of the world
giving vacationers and cruise patrons the option to explore a variety of locations on their cruises. As a matter of fact,
Carnival brands service the majority of the worlds cruise goers through operating in target markets including North
America, Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany and Italy (Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan, 2009). Each brand
controls its own niche and is differentiated from the other subsidiaries controlled under Carnival Corporation. Each
line offers themes based on its geographical location or destination point. Also, there are differing levels of
amenities and associated pricing levels offered. This allows Carnival Corporation to capture a larger portion of the
market through differentiation. What was once seen as strictly an activity for rich vacationers is now available to a
wider range of individuals (Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan, 2009).

The concept of the cruise industry lends itself to international business and Carnival has certainly capitalized on the
phenomenon. This advantage gives the company both human and non-human resources from around the globe.
Their scope of business also provides Carnival with the capability to transfer assets to sites where they are most
valuable at the time. For example, the company often moves their cruise ships to wherever they will service the
most customers. Having 75 ships operating under 12 brands gives them the freedom to do so (Applegate,
Kwortnick, & Piccoli, 2006). During the period after the 9/11 terrorist attack, Carnival was able to stave off a major
drop in business by redeploying ships to the US instead of European destinations, thus allowing travelers to enjoy
cruises without having to fly to get to them (Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan, 2009).

Being global in scale allows Carnival to create competition for ship building in countries from around the world. Due
to the fact that building a ship uses so much material and requires a large amount of available labor hours,
governments will frequently subsidize the building of ships, in turn giving kick backs to Carnival and thus saving the
company money. This kind of transaction is advantageous both for Carnival, as well as the country that is building
the ships by providing a rise in employment and capital. Additionally, Carnival is able to save more money by
avoiding taxation from any one country. Since they are oceanic, governments cannot tax the revenue the ships earn
(Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan, 2009).

Carnival utilizes its global position to staff their ships with well trained international employees at a lower cost than if
they were to only employ Americans. This reduces overhead costs without sacrificing service to valued customers.
In addition, by employing individuals from over 100 countries, Carnival should be able to increase their appeal to a
wider audience than just North Americans. Although the employees are thoroughly trained in English and thus can
provide requisite service to Americans, they should also help the company navigate untapped markets in nations that
have yet to be exploited through the input and impact of hiring employees from around the world. Having input
from foreign workers allows the company to gain access to and valuable experience with different cultures and may
in turn allow them to market to a wider range of nationalities and groups of people (Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan,
2009).

However, this wide-ranging employee base is not necessarily a selling point to the American public and the vast
majority of Carnival Corporations patrons are Americans (Applegate, Kwortnick, & Piccoli, 2006). While they are a
publicly traded company based on US shores (Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan, 2009), they have capitalized on the
opportunities of globalization by off-shoring both the building of ships as well as the labor necessary to operate the
ships. As pointed out, they avoid taxes levied by the American IRS. Therefore, they are able to gain major
advantages in their business without providing much of anything back to the American economy.

Although the outlook for Carnival Corporation is quite good, there are a number of issues facing Carnival in order to
continue expansion of their business. Carnival has yet to fully tap into the vacation market, especially on a global
scale. Due to constraints of ports, there are only so many locations Carnival can go to, many of which are also
offered by competitors. Cruises are limited by having an exact route to follow, and repeat customers will not want to
keep traveling the same routes over and over again (Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan, 2009),. Even more so than
competition from other cruise lines, land-based vacations to resorts and places such as Disney, New York City and
Las Vegas remain the biggest threat to the success of Carnival (Applegate, Kwortnick, & Piccoli, 2006). It is safe to
say that many travelers do not think of cruises as their first choice when planning a vacation.

As Carnival Corporation continues to develop their brand globally, it is vital that they continue to keep up with current
trends in marketing. As advertisement has moved further into the realm of internet marketing, it is apparent that
Carnival Corporation has embraced this direction. By employing internet marketing techniques, companies reach a
large range of individuals who are actually seeking out a certain product or service. A simple search on any of the
major search engines will yield multiple results and advertisements which generally direct one to Carnivals website.
Their website is easy to navigate and contains a wealth of information, including direct access to booking trips,
available specials, images of cruise ships, customer support and information about various destinations and shore
excursions (Carnival, 2010).

As the most-visited cruise line website, with over 5 million hits per month, carnival.com continues to garner awards
and acknowledgements throughout the cruise line industry. Most recently, they have earned top honors in overall
customer experience studies performed by an outside party. They placed highest among competitors in customer
satisfaction--which analyzes users satisfaction as they navigate the site, brand impact--which gauges customers
perception of Carnivals online presence and conversion impact--which signifies users desire to return to the
website. Furthermore, carnival.com does a great job of merchandising key elements of its brand. According to the
study, participants felt as though carnival.com was exciting, fun, friendly and offered a good value. The
consistency of their brand, as well as ease of access to their product, should continue to grow the company and have
a positive impact on its global appeal (Carnival Web Site Rates High, 2009).

Conclusion

Through expansion of their business over the years, Carnival currently accommodates a very diverse population by
offering different brands of cruises. They offer cruises that last only a few days up to a few weeks. They offer cruises
to cater to every financial plan. Finally, they offer cruises to numerous diverse geographic sites (Daniels, Radebaugh,
& Sullivan, 2009). At this point, Carnival should continue its global expansion. Carnivals biggest challenge in the
future will be its ability or inability to forge development in the Asian market. As the economies of these countries
continue to grow, they will provide an untapped resource that could ultimately dictate the success of Carnival
Corporation verses its competitors. Given the status of the company, they can afford to aggressively market to Asian
countries as well as other key locales. They should buy out smaller cruise lines in key areas if the opportunity
presents itself in order to have a base in untapped regions. Carnival should also carry on with developing and
building newer and larger state-of-the-art ships that may broaden appeal to a greater audience of non-cruisers. They
must increase port destinations as much as possible in order to keep patrons coming back for more. And finally, it is
imperative that Carnival differentiate themselves from competitors by offering a wider selection of activities and
destinations, all easily accessed though their website.