David Dingle appointed chairman of Carnival UK

SOUTHAMPTON, England, Sept. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc today announced that David Dingle has been appointed chairman of Carnival UK and David Noyes, currently executive vice president operations, has been promoted to the CEO role, with operating responsibility for the UK-based brands P&O Cruises and Cunard Line.  Dingle and Noyes will take up their new roles on October 1, and will both report to Carnival Corporation & plc president and CEO Arnold Donald.

"This moves allows us to strengthen further our overall leadership in the critically important UK marketplace, while also promoting from within to leverage the skills, experience and capabilities of our executive team," said Donald.  

Dingle, who became CEO in 2007, joined P&O Cruises in London in 1978 where, after holding a series of commercial positions, he became managing director in 2000. At the time of the merger of P&O Princess Cruises plc and the Carnival Corporation in April 2003, he became managing director of Carnival UK.

Noyes joined Carnival UK in 2011, in his current position.  Prior to joining Carnival, he worked in the UK travel industry for 25 years, mainly with British Airways, where he was responsible for BA's worldwide customer services operation, and latterly with Gray Dawes Travel as CEO.

Elaine Holt will join Carnival UK on October 1 as David Noyes' replacement as executive vice president operations following a highly successful career in the rail, road and airline industries. She has led a series of transformational programmes as executive chairman of East Coast Mainline and before that as managing director of First Capital Connect.  Most recently she has acted as a non executive director of the Highways Agency. 

Commenting on the appointments, David Dingle said:

"David Noyes is exceptionally placed to lead P&O Cruises and Cunard into the future and grow the business for the next generation. Elaine brings with her a strong blend of operational and customer services skills and will be a very valuable addition to our executive team."

Dingle is a former President of The UK Chamber of Shipping and the European Cruise Council (now CLIA Europe) and continues to serve on the boards of both groups. In 2009, he joined the board of the European Community Shipowners Association. He has previously served as a director of the Association of British Travel Agents and The UK Passenger Shipping Association.  

P&O Cruises fleet of seven ships offers holidays uniquely tailored to British tastes and combining genuine service, sense of occasion and attention to detail, ensuring passengers have the holiday of a lifetime every time.  Whilst P&O's roots go back to 1837, the naming of Oriana in 1995 by Her Majesty The Queen heralded a new beginning for the P&O Cruises fleet, which has most recently grown with the launch of Azura in 2010, named by Darcey Bussell CBE and the addition of Adonia in 2011, named by Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE. Britannia, a new 141,000 ton cruise ship and the largest built exclusively for Britain, will be added to the fleet in March 2015.

Cunard's iconic liners Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth epitomise the grandeur and luxury of the ocean-going tradition, carrying forward a unique heritage symbolised by their fabled Transatlantic crossings and world cruises.  Cunard's modern fleet began with the naming of Queen Mary 2 by Her Majesty The Queen who returned to name Queen Elizabeth in 2010.

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise company in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK). Together, these brands operate 101 ships totalling 212,000 lower berths with seven new ships scheduled to be delivered between fall 2014 and summer 2016. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.

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SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc