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Carnival is the biggest and I would

argue most successful and most

influential company when it comes to

cruises. In 1989, they surpassed $1

billion in revenue. And by 2024, that

number had grown to surpass 25 billion.

Twothirds of that revenue comes from

ticket purchases, while the other third

comes from onboard revenue, the money

that the passengers spend while on the

cruise for extra stuff like drinks or

maybe gambling. In 2024, they reported

13.5 million passengers, which

represents around 42% of the global

market, while their closest competitor,

Royal Caribbean, only held a 27% share

of the market. The company operates

multiple cruise lines around the world,

including PNO Cruises in the United

Kingdom, Costa Cruises in Italy, and Ada

Cruises in Germany. All of which carry

over a million passengers each year. But

of course, their most popular and most

recognizable brand is in fact Carnival

based in Miami, Florida. The Carnival

Cruise Line currently consists of 29

ships categorized under 10 different

classes with five additional ships under

contract for construction set to debut

by 2033. As I'm sure you can already

tell by all of this, they offer a

variety of options for anyone looking to

spend their vacation on a cruise ship.

The industry has practically exploded

over the past 50 plus years with more

people going on cruises now than ever

before. And Carnival has been the number

one company to benefit from it. So, in

this video, I would like to explore how

Carnival has grown and helped shape the

industry while identifying what I

believe to be five of the main reasons

behind its success. Starting off, well,

I guess at the beginning, with the

Arison family. I mean, the founder of

Carnival, Ted Arison, an immigrant to

the United States from Israel, has been

nicknamed the godfather of the modern

cruise industry. Long before Carnival

existed, he had experience with similar

businesses. He ran his family shipping

company. He operated his own fleet of

cargo ships and even helped establish

the company that would later become

Norwegian Cruise Line. Well, in 1972, he

teamed up with a partner and spent

around $6.5 million to buy an ocean

liner called Empress of Canada that they

renamed Marty Gro. However, only about 2

years into the business, Ted Ar bought

out his partner share of the company for

the price of $1 along with the

assumption of $5 million of debt that

the company still held. I will go into

more details shortly, but he is

partially responsible for making cruises

more attractive and more accessible to

the general public. In 1979, his son

Mickey Rison took over as CEO of the

company, a position that he held for the

next 34 years. And in 1990, his son also

took over as chairman of the board, a

position that he still holds to this

day. A couple side notes that I think

are worth mentioning here is that when

Ted left the company in 1990, he moved

back to his home country of Israel where

he invested in a bunch of other

businesses. Like in 1997 when he spent

over a billion dollars to buy a

controlling stake of the largest bank in

the country. Also in 1995, Mickey bought

a controlling stake in the Miami Heat

NBA team where he quickly hired Pat

Riley as president. And anyone who

follows basketball would respect the

impact of that decision and understand

why Mickey was recently inducted into

the Basketball Hall of Fame. According

to Forbes, his net worth is just under

$10 billion. So Ted and Mickey Rison

have proven themselves to be impactful

businessmen behind multiple companies.

My next reason behind their success is

going to be the Loveboats. And I realize

this might sound ridiculous at first,

but give me a minute to explain. Before

the 1970s, the vast majority of people

had never been on a cruise. It was like

less than 1% of the country. I do not

even think that most people realized

they existed. Well, The Love Boat

premiered in September of 1977, and for

the next decade, it was one of the most

popular shows on television. It took

place on a cruise ship and is credited

with introducing the concept to millions

of people across the country. Simply

put, people would watch the show and it

would make them want to go on a cruise.

To be clear, the concept was already

creeping into pop culture, but the show

really propelled it forward as the

single greatest example of it. Another

great example you might recognize would

be the song We Are the Champions from

Queen. You know that one line where he

says, "It's been no bed of roses, no

pleasure cruise, which oddly enough was

released within weeks of the first

episode of the Love Boats." Considering

Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Princess

had all started within the past 12

years, they were all emerging companies

that were greatly benefiting from the

popularity of the show. In fact,

Princess specifically was the brand of

ship featured on the show. And the actor

who played the captain of the boat,

Gavin Mloud, later became their

spokesperson for an unprecedented 35

years, which believe it or not is

related to the next reason on my list,

reinvesting. 3 years into the business,

very early on, Carnival started turning

a profit and that money was instantly

reinvested, resulting in a fleet of four

cruise ships by the end of that first

decade. 1982 marked the debut of the

Tropical Hel, considered to be kind of a

turning point within the industry. At

the time, most cruise ships, including

those first four bought by Carnival,

were repurposed ocean liners, meaning

they were older ships originally built

to transport people long distances that

were converted into entertainment

focused cruise ships. To be clear,

competing companies, including Royal

Caribbean, already had ships built for

this purpose, but the scale and the

timing of the Tropical sort of sparked a

new trend where a bunch of cruise ships

were now being built. I do want to

mention that the Tropical is also

notable because it was the first

Carnival ship to have that iconic red,

white, and blue whales tail-shaped

funnel that has since become a

distinguishing feature on their ships,

helping shape the brand's identity. In

1987, Carnival had an initial public

stock offering that raised almost $400

million that again was reinvested,

specifically when they bought Holland

America Line shortly after that, which

is considered to be their first major

acquisition. The deal included four

cruise vessels along with hotel and land

operations that were reported to

increase their capacity by about 50%.

That was then followed by other

acquisitions and purchases that allowed

them to serve new people in new markets

around the world. But the biggest one of

these was in 2003 when they bought PO

Princess cruises for over $5 billion.

Remember Princess is the brand that was

popularized by the Loveboat. So, this

deal I guess further supports the second

reason on my list. Carnival was already

the largest cruise company in the world

ahead of Royal Caribbean. And here they

were lengthening that lead by acquiring

the third largest cruise company. It was

wild circumstances. Following 9/11, the

entire travel industry was suffering and

it was looking like it would be

beneficial for some of these cruise

companies to join forces. You know,

strengthen numbers and economies of

scale. Well, at first it was looking

like Royal Caribbean and Piano Princess

were going to combine, which would have

created a new market leader, but in the

end, Carnival was able to offer more

money. They paid a 9% premium over their

stock price and protected that number

one position that they have continued to

hold on to ever since. These are just a

few of the many highlights to show how

Carnival has kept their foot on the

accelerator to maintain their dominance

over the market. Next up on my list is

what Carnival is trademarked as fun

ships, which is pretty straightforward.

Clearly, a company with the name

Carnival wants to deliver a fun

experience, right? Which was

surprisingly uncommon back when they

started. Back then, cruises were

generally considered to be dull and

stuffy activities mostly intended for

older rich people. You know, the people

eating caviar were the same people that

were going on cruises, not your everyday

individuals looking for a fun vacation.

There was very little mass market appeal

before Carnival set out to change that

perception. They say on their website

that they revolutionized the cruise

industry with a vision to make a

vacation experience once reserved for

the wealthy accessible to everyone.

Compared to the typical cruise available

at the time, Carnivals were generally

slower, shorter, and much less

expensive. They would include casinos

and discos and water slides and all

these other activities to create a

party-like atmosphere to entertain the

passengers. In short, going on a cruise

became much more about the journey

rather than the destination, which I

think you will agree has become the new

standard for cruise ships. I think of

this as like a Chuck-e-Cheese situation.

The games are mostly there to keep

everyone entertained while they're

waiting for the pizza to come out, but

then in the end, the games often end up

being the most memorable part of the

experience. My final reason behind the

success of Carnival is mostly an

extension of the previous one, and that

is going to be their marketing. When

offering something that is so new and

different from what most people have

come to expect, you really have to make

an effort to put the word out about it.

And Carnival has been doing that from

the very beginning. The first ever

voyage taken by a Carnival cruise got

stuck on a sandbar outside the port of

Miami. Over 500 passengers were stuck

there for, I believe, over 24 hours,

which sounds like a terrible start, but

in the end, it turned out to be a bit of

a blessing in disguise. Those passengers

were served free drinks and continued to

have a party. So, when news outlets

reported on the story, it turned out to

be free publicity for the fun atmosphere

that they were trying to create on those

ships. In 1984, over a decade later,

they spent $10 million on a network

television campaign, really the biggest

ever campaign for a cruise company at

that point. And some of the commercials

were even aired during episodes of the

Love Boats. Those commercials featured

Kathy Lee Gford singing about how much

fun it was to go on a Carnival cruise.

And I have to admit that those

commercials do make it seem like a fun

time. She continued to be their

spokesperson for the next 20 years. And

ever since, most of Carnival's marketing

has been focused on fun. Like one of

their more recent campaigns featuring

the word thunder struck that I admit I

just wanted to say that word here.

Carnival has gone on to buy Super Bowl

commercials and I would say overall has

done a great job in getting the brand

out there while conveying a

light-hearted image. Let me know in the

comments what are your thoughts about

Carnival compared to the other cruise

options. What I mean is for anyone that

has been on a cruise before, was it

provided by Carnival? And what were the

factors that went into that decision?

Was it the price, the activities, the

location, or whatever else? What do you

think separates them the most? I am also

curious if you would be interested in a

video about Royal Caribbean, maybe

comparing them to Carnival or the rest

of the market. If you thought that this

was a good topic, that would probably be

the logical next step. So, let me know

what you think. Finally, how do you feel

about the reasons on my list? And do you

think anything should be added or

subtracted from it? I realize that the

reinvesting section specifically could

go really deep when you start talking

about all these ships over the years.

So, please feel free to add to that

discussion and any other thoughts you

have about Carnival, leave them in the

comments. I'd like to hear what you have

to say. Thank you for watching.