14 KEYNOTE The power of people Josh Weinstein explains to Rebecca Gibson why supporting employees, advancing sustainability initiatives and finding innovative ways to enhance the guest experience are his key priorities for Carnival Corporation For some a career at sea is a life-long dream. However, Josh Weinstein, president and CEO of the world’s biggest cruise company Carnival Corporation, stumbled into the industry by chance. “I was working as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer but not particularly enjoying it, and one day I happened to see a classified advert for a corporate attorney position at Carnival Corporation in the newspaper,” he says. “Frankly, I knew absolutely nothing about the company – or even the cruise industry – but I did have the broader legal expertise the leadership team was looking for, so my wife cajoled me into submitting my resume. The next day, I got a call asking me to attend an interview immediately as the company was on the verge of making an offer to someone else. I ran out of my office in a panic, rang my brother-in-law (who is a stockbroker) and asked him to tell me anything and everything about Carnival Corporation!” Fortunately, for Weinstein, he impressed his interviewers and was quickly offered the job. “It was a steep learning curve, but I knew I’d made the right decision straightaway because I loved the people, the work I was doing and the company’s values,” says Weinstein. “About six months into the job, I was invited on my first cruise and met some of our guests for the first time, which was a lightbulb moment for me. It suddenly struck me that the goal of Carnival Corporation is to make guests happy, and that every employee, no matter what their role, plays a pivotal part in making that happen. “I realised that everything I did in my administrative role would have an impact somewhere else in the business and ultimately affect its ability to deliver amazing experiences for guests. This gave me an incredible sense of purpose and satisfaction.” This strong sense of purpose is what is still keeping Weinstein at Carnival Corporation more than 20 years later. After spending five years in the corporate legal department, he was appointed as the corporation’s treasurer and in 2017, he moved to the UK to become president of Carnival UK, the operating company of both the P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard brands. In 2020, he became the corporation’s chief operations officer, overseeing global
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