CARNIVAL PLC
CUK
Consumer Discretionary
3
exclusion reasons
2 themes
CARNIVAL PLC is screened out under 3 exclusion reasons spanning 2 issue categories.
This page is part of our public exclusion list — a transparency tool that shows which companies we screen out and why. It is not investment advice, and it is not an accusation. It is a statement of values.
Carnival Corporation & plc operates the world’s largest cruise line, generating revenue from onboard food service and animal-related excursions that rely on the commercial exploitation of animals. The company’s global food supply chain historically sourced eggs from caged hens; in 2022, Carnival introduced a global cage-free policy for shell eggs, a change that applies to its nine cruise brands and marks a shift in its animal product sourcing.
The company’s excursion offerings have included elephant encounters and other wildlife experiences. In 2025, following advocacy from Cruelty Free Investors, Carnival Corporation confirmed it no longer offers elephant excursions to operations that force abused captive elephants. This policy change followed documented concerns about the beating and chaining of elephants at such tourist attractions.
While Carnival has made recent policy commitments on specific animal welfare issues, its core business model remains dependent on animal exploitation at scale, from food provisioning to entertainment-linked excursions. The company has not published a comprehensive animal welfare policy covering all species in its supply chain or a phase-out plan for all animal-derived products and experiences.
Carnival Corporation & plc operates a global cruise business that externalizes costs onto customers, destinations, and the environment while employing pricing and marketing strategies that obscure the full risks of the cruise experience.
In 2019, Carnival's Princess Cruise Lines pleaded guilty to environmental probation violations, including discharging plastic waste into Bahamian waters and falsifying records, resulting in a $20 million criminal penalty. Litigation in J.F. v. Carnival Corporation (11th Cir. 2025) alleges the company failed to protect a minor from a foreseeable sexual assault by fellow passengers onboard.
Post-pandemic recovery has not included demonstrable reform of these practices, leaving customers exposed to significant and often hidden risks.
Carnival PLC, operating through its cruise line subsidiaries, has established a documented pattern of regulatory violations across environmental, cybersecurity, and labor compliance domains. In 2019, its subsidiary Princess Cruise Lines and the parent company pleaded guilty to six environmental probation violations, including dumping plastic waste mixed with food in Bahamian waters, resulting in a $20 million criminal penalty. This followed a previous environmental conviction. Separately, in 2022, the New York State Department of Financial Services fined Carnival $5 million for cybersecurity failures, finding the company filed improper compliance certifications from 2018 to 2020, failed to implement multifactor authentication, and delayed reporting data incidents by 10 months. ViolationTracker data further documents a $6.25 million settlement in 2006 for federal wage and hour violations. This multi-year, multi-jurisdictional record of serious infractions indicates systemic compliance failures.
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Companies appear on our exclusion list based on our investment judgment — not because they've done anything illegal. This is a difference of values and opinion, not an accusation of wrongdoing. Exclusion does not constitute a recommendation against investing in any company, and absence from the list does not constitute a recommendation to invest.
This information is provided for educational and transparency purposes only and should not be relied upon as investment advice. Data is drawn from independent watchdogs, NGOs, government registries, and Ethical Capital's ongoing research — see Research Sources for the full list.
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