Christine Duffy | |
|---|---|
 Duffy in 2017 | |
| Born | 1960or1961(age 62–63) [lower-alpha 1] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | President of Carnival Cruise Line |
| Spouse | Andrew Duffy |
Christine DeVone Duffy is an American businesswoman. She is the president of Carnival Cruise Line.
Duffy was born and raised in Northwood, Philadelphia to an entrepreneur father, mother, and sister. She attended H.R. Edmunds Elementary School and Warren G. Harding Middle School. [2]
After graduating from Frankford High School, Duffy attempted to become an airline attendant but was too short. [3] Her dream to become a flight attendant grew from the travelling she did in her youth to visit family in Europe. [4]
After being rejected from her dream of becoming a flight attendant, Duffy accepted a placement as a receptionist at Rosenbluth Travel. [2] Duffy eventually earned a position as a travel agent at McGettigan Travel in Philadelphia. She stayed with the company for 20 years and eventually became president. When the company was bought out by Maritz Travel Co., she became Maritz’s president and chief executive. [4] She was the first female president in Maritz Travel Co. history. [5] While serving as president, she also sat on the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) board of directors and was its chairwoman in 2005 and 2006. She also founded MPI’s Women’s Leadership Initiative and served as its inaugural chairwoman. In 2010, Duffy left Maritz to become president of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). [6] As President, she was named the godmother of AmaWaterways ship the AmaCerto in 2012. [7]
In 2015, Duffy became the first female president of Carnival Cruise Line, replacing Gerald Cahill. [8] Upon accepting the promotion, Duffy visited all Carnival ships, met with employees, and shadowed staff members to understand the cruise line. [9] [10] In 2018, she was honored by the South Florida Business Journal as an Influential Business Women. [11]
In June 2022, she was recognized by the International Hospitality Institute as one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Hospitality. [12] [13]
Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This trademark funnel design is built onto the line's ships. Carnival is ranked first on the list of largest cruise lines based on passengers carried annually.
A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships that operate on ocean or rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from passenger lines which are primarily concerned with transportation of passengers. Though cruise packages provided by cruise lines vary, there are some features most have in common, such as accommodation, all meals and entertainment. They may include alcohol and shore excursions, sometimes on additional payment.
Carnival Sunshine is a cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. She debuted in 1996 with several size records. She was the first passenger ship ever built to exceed 100,000 gross tons, and was the world's largest passenger vessel built up to that time, holding it until 1998. Built by Fincantieri at its Monfalcone shipyard in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, she was christened as Carnival Destiny in Venice, Italy, in November 1996 by Lin Arison, the wife of Carnival Cruise Line founder Ted Arison.
Celestyal Journey is a cruise ship completed in 1994 and initially sailed for Holland America Line as Ryndam. After nine years she was transferred within the Carnival group to P&O Cruises Australia and renamed Pacific Aria. Plans that she would sail for Cruise & Maritime Voyages as Ida Pfeiffer from 2021 were abandoned, and P&O sold her instead in 2020 to Seajets, who laid her up as Aegean Goddess. In 2023 she was resold to Celestyal Cruises and renamed Celestyal Journey. In December 2023, the Celestyal Journey was chartered by German-based cruise line, Phoenix Reisen. The ship was then used for the first section of the company's world voyage, which was originally intended for MS Amera, one of Phoenix Reisen's other ships, who was held up at the shipyard.
Carnival Radiance is a Destiny-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. Ordered by Carnival in 1997, the 101,509 GT vessel was the third Destiny-class cruise ship to join the fleet after her debut in 2000 and became one of the largest cruise ships of her era. In 2021, she was renamed Carnival Radiance after a US$200 million refit was completed in October and she commenced service under her new name in December.
Carnival Spirit is a Spirit-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Built in Helsinki by Kværner Masa-Yards, she was the first Spirit-class cruise ship to join Carnival's fleet after she was delivered in 2001.
RMS Transvaal Castle was a British ocean liner built by John Brown & Company at Clydebank for the Union-Castle Line for their mail service between Southampton and Durban. In 1966 she was sold to the South Africa-based Safmarine and renamed S.A. Vaal for further service on the same route. Following cessation of the service between the UK and South Africa in 1977 the ship was sold to Carnival Cruise Line and rebuilt in Japan as the cruise ship SS Festivale, re-entering service in 1978. In 1996 she was chartered to Dolphin Cruise Line and renamed IslandBreeze. In 1998 the ship was sold to Premier Cruise Line, which renamed her The Big Red Boat III. Following the bankruptcy of Premier Cruise Line in 2000, The Big Red Boat III was laid up until 2003 when she was sold to scrappers in Alang, India. She was renamed The Big Red Boat for her final voyage to the scrapyard.
Azamara Pursuit is a cruise ship operating for Azamara Club Cruises. The ship was built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at their shipyard in St. Nazaire, France in 2001.
Carnival Magic is a Dream-class cruise ship which entered service on 1 May 2011. The ship was named and christened in Venice by her godmother Lindsey Wilkerson Alsup, a former patient and current employee at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Silversea is an ultra-luxury and expedition travel brand headquartered in Monaco. Founded in 1994 by the Vlasov Group of Monaco and the Lefebvre family of Rome, it pioneered all-inclusive cruising with its first ship, Silver Cloud. Since July 2020, it has been owned by Royal Caribbean Group.
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is a cruise line trade association. It merged with International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL) in 2006, forming an expanded organization incorporating the existing functions of both organizations. The merged organization, which uses the CLIA name, is located in Washington, D.C.
Carnival Breeze is a Dream-class cruise ship of Carnival Cruise Line which was laid down on 20 November 2008, launched on 16 September 2011 and completed on 3 June 2012.
Avalon Waterways is a river cruise company owned by the Globus family of brands and offers cruises in Europe, China, Southeast Asia, South America, India and the Galápagos Islands. The company became a member of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) in August 2009.
Carnival Vista is a cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. She is the lead ship of her namesake class, which includes two additional Carnival ships, Carnival Horizon and Carnival Panorama, as well as two Costa ships, Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze.
Carnival Horizon is a Vista-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. She is the 26th vessel in the Carnival fleet and is the second of Carnival's Vista class, which includes Carnival Vista and Carnival Panorama.
Cruise Planners is a home-based travel agent franchise network. The company is headquartered in downtown Coral Springs, Florida. The company's travel agency franchisees specialize in booking luxury vacations, cruises, tours and travel to destinations around the world. The company has more than 2,500 franchise owners in all 50 states.
Carnival Panorama is a Vista-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. After Carnival finalized the ship's order with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri in December 2016, the vessel had her keel laid in January 2018. She was formally delivered in October 2019 as the last Vista-class vessel and as the flagship of the fleet; she has served in the latter role until the Mardi Gras debuted in 2021. Measuring 133,868 GT and 323 m long, she is the largest of Carnival's three Vista-class vessels. Since her debut in December 2019, she has been homeported at the Port of Long Beach and sails week-long itineraries to the Mexican Riviera.
Mardi Gras is an Excellence-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. She is Carnival's lead vessel of the fleet's Excel-class, a subclass of the Excellence class, and was built by Finnish shipbuilder Meyer Turku in Turku, Finland. She also has often been incorrectly referred to as Carnival Mardi Gras, though Carnival has specified that her name does not include the "Carnival" prefix, a first since the Fantasy-class vessels originally omitted "Carnival" in their names upon their debuts. Mardi Gras has been subject to numerous delays in her construction, delivery, and debut amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent impact on tourism. First scheduled for a summer 2020 delivery and debut, she was delivered to Carnival on 18 December 2020. After her debut was postponed on numerous occasions, Mardi Gras began operating weekly sailings on 31 July 2021.
Jan G. Swartz is an American businesswoman. She is the Group President of Holland America Group, responsible for Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourne, and P&O Australia, as well as Holland America Princess Alaska Tours and inter-group operations.