Midweek Catch-up with Carnival Australia’s Marguerite Fitzgerald

Midweek Catch-up with Carnival Australia’s Marguerite Fitzgerald

What do you get when you mix the Wright Brothers, Ada Lovelace and Ash Barty? A stellar dinner party hosted by Carnival Australia and P&O Cruises’ president, obviously.

What’s your main goal for this year?

To successfully restart our Carnival Australia business.

What’s your favourite thing about working in the travel industry?

What others do for a holiday I get to do for work!

How do you like to spend your free time?

Reintegrating back into the Australian lifestyle after 15 years living abroad! It mostly includes going to Little A’s with the kids on the weekend to watching footy (AFL) games and exploring Sydney’s restaurant scene.

Have you managed to do any travelling since restrictions began to ease (domestic or international)?

Yes. Being based in the US, we were able to do a bit of travel throughout the pandemic.

We explored a lot of Florida – and I am devastated to see Fort Myers Beach destroyed by Hurricane Ian as we spent lots of happy days there.

We also had an awesome family trip to Staniel Cay in the Bahamas to visit the swimming pigs and a week in the Costa Rican rainforest. And of course, a cruise on Mardi Gras, Carnival Cruise Line’s newest ship.

What’s your favourite travel company, besides the one you work for?

There are so many! Perhaps Lonely Planet – I still have my tattered copies from my backpacking trips around Europe, Asia and South America.

If you could invite three famous guests (dead or alive) to a dinner party, who would you choose?

The Wright Brothers (do they count as one or two?), Ada Lovelace and Ash Barty.

What’s something positive you’ve witnessed or experienced since the global pandemic hit?

Spending more time with my children – even if it means they interrupt me during Board meetings when I am working from home.

What’s your advice for others in the travel industry on coping with the global pandemic?

It will be turbulent for a while longer as what we are doing has never been done before.

We are rebuilding an industry from nearly zero to full speed within a couple of years, in a continually changing context.

What we do is important to so many people – whether it is our passengers, our employees or the broader ecosystem that supports us.

Latest News

  • Destinations
  • News

APT Launches 2025 Asia Adventures

APT has launched its Asia Adventures for 2025, including new luxury holidays in India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Five new tours lead guests to the highlights of India, including a seven-night cruise along the rarely travelled Lower Ganges aboard the Ganges Voyager. Further south, Sri Lanka’s greatest destinations are revealed on a new 15-day Land […]

  • Cruise
  • Luxury
  • News

Seabourn announces Western Kimberley Traditional Owners as Godparents of Seabourn Pursuit

Seabourn has named Western Kimberley Traditional Owners, the Wunambal Gaambera, as Godparents of the ultra-luxury purpose-built Seabourn Pursuit. It is the first cruise line to appoint Traditional Owners as godparents of a ship. Seabourn Pursuit embarks on its inaugural season in the Kimberley region this June. The naming ceremony will take place on Seabourn Pursuit’s […]

  • Luxury

Malolo Island Resort opens brand new Spa

Fiji’s Malolo Island has added another string to its bow – opening its $1.3 million day spa on Thursday, 18th April 2024. (Lead Image: matriarch Rosie Whitton with spa staff) Located at the edge of the resort’s luscious patch of tropical rainforest, the new “Leilani’s Spa” adds another level of elevated experiences to Malolo’s already […]