Carnival Cruise Lines president and CEO Gerry Cahill said
Oct. 30 that after 20 years with the company, he’s retiring as of Nov. 30.
Cahill, 63, joined Carnival in 1994 as vice president of
finance, and in January 1998 was promoted to senior vice president of finance
and chief financial officer. He became president and CEO in 2007.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to lead Carnival
Cruise Lines for the past seven years and to work for this great company for 20
years,” Cahill said. “Deciding when to retire is not easy, especially when you
love what you do. I feel the time is good for me personally and the company and
brand are in a good place.”
Carnival said no replacement for Cahill is being named at
this point, and that he’s agreed to stay on in an advisory capacity for an
unspecified time to provide advice and counsel to the leadership team through
the transition period.
Cahill’s tenure was marred in recent years by a handful of
incidents, including a fire aboard the Carnival Triumph in February that
left the ship without power and forced passengers to endure the stench of
backed up sewage systems. The fire followed a handful of other incidents,
including one that saw the Carnival Splendor lose power in 2010
after an engine room fire.
However, also during his tenure, Cahill helped the cruise
line grow to 24 ships – the largest ever in the company’s fleet. He and his
team launched four new vessels and introduced a new class of ships, the Dream
class. Four of the company’s ships are based on the West Coast: the Carnival
Legend, which departs on voyages from Seattle and Vancouver, British
Columbia on trips to Alaska and Hawaii; the Carnival Miracle, which is
homeported at the Port of Los Angeles and sails to Hawaii and Mexico; and the Carnival
Inspiration and Carnival Imagination, both of which sail
to Mexico out of the Port of LA.
