Carnival Corp Repurchase Shares, Increasing Dividend!

Hi Everyone,

I received this press release from the Carnival Corporation and
thought it would be of interest. If there had been any doubts
regarding the business plan of this company, then this announcement
should put it to bed. If you have missed any of my news' postings,
they are available on my web site.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com


Carnival Corporation & plc Announces Capital Deployment Plan
Authorizing Repurchase of $1 Billion of Company's Shares and
Increasing Dividend 20 Percent

MIAMI, Oct. 25
Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE: CCL; LSE (NYSE: CUK) today
announced its capital deployment plan with the company's board of
directors authorizing the repurchase of up to an initial $1 billion of
Carnival Corporation & plc shares and approving an increase in the
quarterly dividend by 20 percent to $0.15 per share.

The stock repurchase will commence in 2005 and take place from time to
time in open market or privately negotiated transactions in accordance
with all applicable laws, rules and regulations. The stock repurchase
program reflects the company's continued strong cash flow and is also
in response to the Standard & Poor's index float adjustment scheduled
to be implemented in March and September 2005. Following the S&P float
adjustment companies will be weighted in the S&P Index by reference to
the free float and not the total number of shares outstanding and this
may result in possible increased sales volume of the company's stock.
Carnival believes that during the course of this process attractive
purchase opportunities may arise and this authority puts the company
in a position to react accordingly.

The quarterly dividend will be increased by 20 percent to $0.15 per
share from $0.125 per share and will be payable to holders of Carnival
Corporation common stock and Carnival plc ordinary shares. The board
approved a record date for the quarterly dividend of November 19, 2004
and a payment date of December 10, 2004. This follows the company's
last dividend increase of 19 percent which was announced in October
2003.

"We have consistently stated our priorities for capital deployment to
maximize return on invested capital -- building new ships to grow our
business, maintaining a strong balance sheet and credit rating, and
returning excess cash flow to our shareholders -- and we are doing all
three of these," said Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation & plc's
chairman and CEO. Just last week Carnival announced that it placed an
order with German shipyard Meyer Werft for two AIDA ships for delivery
in 2007 and 2009. That followed a five-ship order with Italian
shipbuilder Fincantieri for deliveries in 2007 and 2008 that was
placed in September. "We are in the unique position of having strong
cash flow to fund our growth initiatives internally, as well as free
cash flow to return to shareholders without increasing our debt
levels," he said.

The company's current $7 billion newbuilding program includes 14 new
ships scheduled for delivery between November 2004 and spring 2009 -
one more in fiscal 2004, three each in 2005 and 2006, four in 2007,
two in 2008 and one in 2009.

The stock repurchase plan will apply to both Carnival Corporation
common stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange and Carnival plc
ordinary shares traded on the London Stock Exchange and repurchases
may be made by either Carnival Corporation or Carnival plc. However,
under the dual listed company (DLC) equalization agreement, the
company would be permitted to repurchase Carnival plc shares only
after April 17, 2005, and up to five percent a year for the next three
years. These purchase restrictions were agreed at the time of the
merger in order to protect Carnival plc shareholder interests. In
addition, the repurchase of Carnival plc shares requires Carnival plc
shareholder approval and the company intends to seek approval of a
general authority to make purchases at the next annual meeting in
April of 2005.

The dividend will be payable in U.S. dollars to holders of Carnival
Corporation common stock or Carnival plc ADSs. The dividend for
Carnival plc ordinary shares will be payable in U.S. dollars or
sterling. In the absence of instructions or elections to the contrary,
holders of Carnival plc ordinary shares will automatically receive the
dividend in sterling. Dividends payable in sterling will be converted
from U.S. dollars at the exchange rate quoted by the Bank of England
in London at 11 a.m. on December 1, 2004. Holders of Carnival plc
ordinary shares wishing to receive their dividend in U.S. dollars or
participate in the Carnival plc Dividend Reinvestment Plus must elect
to do so by November 19, 2004.

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the
world, with a portfolio of 12 cruise brands in North America, Europe
and Australia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America
Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Windstar Cruises, AIDA,
Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises, Swan Hellenic,
and P&O Cruises Australia. Together, these brands operate 77 ships
totaling more than 128,000 lower berths. Carnival Corporation & plc
also operates the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian
Yukon, Holland America Tours and Princess Tours. 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.