Shakeup at Carnival Continues as the Old Guard Steps Aside

Howard Frank, a 23-year veteran of Carnival Corp. and former CEO and current chairman Micky Arison’s key lieutenant for decades, is stepping aside and into an advisory role, Carnival Corp. announced.

Frank, 71, relinquishes his role as Carnival Corp. vice chairman and chief operating officer, as Alan Buckelew, currently president and CEO of Carnival brand Princess Cruises, takes on a newly created position, chief operations officer, effective December 1, reporting to CEO Arnold Donald.

Frank, who stays on as chairman of the cruise trade group CLIA, becomes special advisor to Donald and Arison, who left his long-time CEO role in July and became Carnival chairman.

The shakeup, which includes a couple of additional moves, occurs one month before Carnival Corp. reports its quarterly earnings, the latest financial glimpse that has been extremely challenging for Carnival in the wake of the Costa Concordia accident and the disabling of the Carnival Triumph.

Buckelew takes up his new role on December 1, a day before Carnival reports its quarterly earnings.

In additiion to the moves involving Frank and Buckelew, Carnival named Jan Swartz as president of Princess Cruises, effective December 1, replacing Buckelew, and Carnival appointed Stein Kruse, currently president and CEO of Holland America Line, as CEO of the Holland America Group.