Christine Duffy is a big name in the cruise and travel industry. She began her role as president of Carnival Cruise Line in 2015 and has since led the line to monumental growth, adding nine new ships to the fleet, including the line¡¯s new Excel class ¨C Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration and Carnival Jubilee. Under her leadership, the line was the first to restart cruising following the pandemic pause in service. As we enter into International Women's Month, let's take a look at one of travel's most influential women.

Carnival Cruise Line, like all cruise lines across the globe, was hit hard during the pandemic, since it had to stop operations entirely.?Carnival was the first major cruise line to return its full fleet to service and since then, it's enjoyed massive success. In April, 2022, a few months before its 50th anniversary celebrations were held at PortMiami, the line reported its busiest 7-day booking period in its 50-year lifespan. The 50th anniversary celebration coincided with the debut of the Carnival Celebration.

Christine Duffy commented on the new booking record: "The excitement of the industry's restart, our successful return of our entire fleet, the guest reaction to Mardi Gras, our loyal guest response to our 50th birthday this year, the support of our travel advisor partners-and of course, the amazing work of our Carnival team-have all contributed to the strong demand we are seeing, and this record-breaking booking week."

Okay, maybe it's not that big of a secret that travel advisors hold a powerful and beneficial influence on the cruise line ¡ª one Christine Duffy fully supports through her leadership. She doesn't just make appearances at big trade events: she also attends travel advisor-specific conferences and events. The line has a strong travel advisor following, and it routinely offers travel advisor booking bonuses and other ways to support their important work. In the photo,?Christine chose a group of travel advisors from Vacations To Go to help cut a ceremonial ribbon on the cruise line¡¯s new flagship, Carnival Jubilee, before welcoming the ship¡¯s first guests on board in Galveston, Tex. on Dec. 23, 2023.?

Carnival Cruise Line is the Celebration partner of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and in 2024, the line announced it surpassed its goal of raising $30 million in total by 2030. It has since increased its goals to raise $50 million by 2030. The line has been the organization's partner since 2010. As seen in the photo, Duffy and other members of the Carnival team also volunteer at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis's annual Day of Play, supporting the children and their families that rely upon St. Jude's medical care.

Under Duffy's leadership, Carnival Cruise Line is transitioning to enhance its food and beverage outlets through a new celebrity partnership with Emeril Lagasse. He was appointed Chief Culinary Officer for the cruise line in December, 2022 and since then, he has elevated the line¡¯s dining with?fleetwide menu changes, new curated dishes and Emeril Selects signature menu items.

"Food is key to the fun of a Carnival cruise," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, in a statement in 2022. "Emeril's restaurants on our two new ships have been a great addition to our dining offerings and guests rave about the food, which will also be on Carnival Jubilee come next December. With Emeril's culinary expertise and broader profile on our ships, along with our wildly popular partnership with Food Network star Guy Fieri, Carnival will feature two iconic talents in the food and dining industry across our fleet."

In the photo, you can see Christine Duffy holding the Carnival Jubilee's coin during the ship's coin ceremony, which is an ancient tradition continued from Roman times, held as part of a ship's keel laying. Duffy placed the coin in the keel of the ship to bless the ship with good fortune at the Meyer-Werft Shipyard in Germany. It's the sister ship to the Carnival Celebration and Mardi Gras ships, and Carnival Jubilee calls Galveston, TX her homeport.?

"Carnival was the first cruise line to offer year-round cruising from Galveston in 2000, and we have continued to grow our presence and support of the Port of Galveston's expansion, so we are thrilled to bring our brand-new Carnival Jubilee to Texas and the greater southwest region," Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said in a statement about the ship in November, 2021. "This beautiful, innovative ship will bring an entirely new cruise experience to our guests, and we've got some great surprises to fun it up in ways we know they are going to love."

Christine Duffy has been a powerful voice in the cruise industry, speaking at a number of important events, such as CruiseWorld 2023. In 2023, Duffy had a lot to be proud about with Carnival Cruise Line. One such achievement is Carnival becoming the first cruise line to sail 100 million guests across its fifty-one years in service!

"We're the first cruise line to meet this incredible mark of 100 million guests and I believe it is a testament to the fun, inclusive atmosphere our valued guests and our extraordinary team members have created together on board our ships for the past 51 years," said Duffy in the announcement in March, 2023. "There is certainly much more fun to come. We're continuing to grow our operations at a rapid pace - with three ships joining our fleet by the spring of next year."

The Carnival Celebration hosted the 2023 Dreams Vacations National Conference, which Duffy participated in with panels and other discussions about the industry. In 2023, Carnival Cruise Line announced it was creating a new?exclusive destination solely for the cruise line's use:?Celebration Key, coming in 2025. It's located?on the south side of Grand Bahama Island and will feature?the largest freshwater lagoons in the Caribbean, beaches and other fun activities for Carnival guests to enjoy. Guests can learn more about Celebration Key¡¯s amazing features?here.?Itineraries visiting the island are available to book?now.

¡°As the first port destination exclusively designed for Carnival Cruise Line guests, Celebration Key will provide the ultimate Carnival fun in the sun, immersed in the natural beauty of Grand Bahama. Our guests have a wide range of ships, homeports and itineraries that visit our new exclusive destination to choose from,¡± said Carnival President Christine Duffy in the official announcement.

Christine Duffy was instrumental as a voice of the cruise industry in restarting cruising following the COVID-19 pandemic. She and Micky Arison, former CEO of Carnival Cruise Line and chairman of both the FCCA and Carnival Corporation & plc, were two members of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association's Return to Sail Summit, the first live meeting since the pandemic, held in June, 2021 discussing the restart of cruising. Collaboration and partnerships helped the entire industry to restart following the challenging pandemic era.

Carnival Cruise Line has received numerous awards during Duffy's tenure as president. More recently, Carnival won the Travel Weekly Reader's Choice Awards for 2023, named the best domestic cruise line, the best family cruise line, the best group program and the best cruise line for short itineraries. The line also received 2023 Travvy Awards from TravelPulse, earning several medals in different cruise categories, voted upon by travel advisors.?