Carnival Cruise Lines Fundraising Efforts For St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® Surpass $5 Million

MIAMI, July 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Through a variety of innovative fundraising activities, Carnival Cruise Lines has raised more than $5 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® for the hospital's many lifesaving pediatric cancer research and treatment programs.

In addition to its Care to Play: Carnival for St. Jude Kids shipboard fundraising campaign, the cruise line also serves as the Official Celebration Partner for St. Jude, supporting birthday parties, proms and other celebratory events at the Memphis, Tennessee, hospital. 

Carnival Cruise Lines is on track to raise $8 million by 2017 through a range of engaging activities, both on board and ashore.  These include Groove for St. Jude, a fun dance activity where guests make a $10 donation and receive a Care to Play T-shirt and wristband, and the Beary Cuddly program where kids can build their own stuffed animal with optional accessories such as medical scrubs, all available for purchase with proceeds benefiting St. Jude.

Planned for this year is a special bingo game with a portion of each card benefiting St. Jude, as well as a water slide activity with a $1 donation for each ride during a specified time on board. And when guests purchase a designated bakery item from the line's on-board shops or prior to their cruise on carnival.com, Carnival donates a portion of each item sold to St. Jude.

Carnival's Official Celebration Partner activities include supplying entertainment at the annual St. Jude Teen Formal and hosting an annual Day of Play with music, food, dancing, giveaways and more.  Earlier this year, in conjunction with National Dance Day, Carnival provided kids and their parents an afternoon of fun at the first-ever in-hospital Groove for St. Jude, modeled after the popular shipboard activity.  Birthdays are also celebrated at the hospital with a special gift from Carnival complementing traditional festivities.

"St. Jude has truly become part of the Carnival family," said Gerry Cahill, president and CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines. "Our employees, guests and travel agent partners take tremendous pride in our role as a financial supporter and provider of fun and memorable experiences for the patients of this truly extraordinary hospital and research institution."

Carnival has also revamped the St. Jude portal within its web site (www.carnival.com/stjude) which includes information on the partnership and a chart reflecting progress toward the company's $8-million fundraising goal.

About Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival, a unit of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), is "The World's Most Popular Cruise Line®" with 24 ships operating three- to 23-day voyages to The Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, New England, Bermuda. Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Tahiti.  The company's 25th ship, the 135,000-ton Carnival Vista, is scheduled to enter service in 2016.

About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other deadly diseases. St. Jude has the world's best survival rates for the most aggressive childhood cancers, and treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since we opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent in the next decade. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs we make, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org or following St. Jude on facebook.com/stjude and twitter.com/stjude.

SOURCE Carnival Cruise Lines