When I started working at Carnival Cruise Lines it only had seven ships and it was possible to know most employees. Now the company is the biggest cruise line in the world with about 40,000 employees. It has merged with other large cruise lines like Princess Cruise Lines (Love Boat) and Holland America Lines, even the QE2 is now part of Carnival Corp.
When I was there the late Ted Arison was the owner of the company, now his son Mickey Arison is the owner. Mickey has helped Carnival grow into the huge Fortune 500 Company it is today. He is expanding into Europe and Asia, as well as buying travel agencies, hotels, casinos, and other non cruise properties. The company continues to grow rapidly and is building ports all over the world.
The company is very profitable in August 31, 2007 it recorded a record $1.38 billion in net profit. I helped set up the systems for the casino. After the bar, the casino is the biggest cash generator for Carnival Cruise Lines.
When I first stated out the ships were a lot smaller than now, about 700 passengers, so I thought of them as floating hotels, but now the new ships have about 5,000 people on them and they are more like a floating city.
Much has changed as the company grew in size, but the company kept their headquarters in Miami, Fl - the cruise capital of the world. Thanks to the Arisons, cruising once the privilege of the very rich has become possible for most Americans.
