Carnival Corporation is expected to make a major announcement today that former Carnival Cruise Lines' President and CEO is going to re-join the company for an advisory role specialized in sales and marketing. Stay tuned as we will post more information when available.
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Bob Dickinson at first will focus on strategies in North America for marketing and distribution across the company’s brands. In addition to Carnival Cruise Lines and several brands that operate in Europe, the portfolio includes Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn Cruise Line, the Miami Herald reports.
Dickinson, who will report to Carnival Corp. & plc Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer Howard Frank, served on the corporate board from 1987 until this April.
The group’s Carnival Cruise Lines US focused mass market business was hit by bad publicity in the winter after Carnival Triumph lost power on a Caribbean cruise that forced the ship to be towed to port, while those on board had e.g. no working toilets or air conditioning. Carnival Corp & plc issued a profit warning after the incident that sent, initially, its share price sharply lower.
The company’s woes, while hitting Carnival the hardest, appear to be affecting the public’s perception of the entire industry. An online Harris Poll conducted in May showed that perceived quality, trust and purchase intent had declined compared to a post-Triumph poll.
Compared to results of a survey taken between 19 and 21 February perceived quality across seven brands has dropped 6%, while trust declined 5% and purchase intent is down 5%.
The poll showed that perceived quality of Carnival dropped 12% from the February survey, trust dropped 11% and purchase intent declined 8%, the report said.
