Carnival Cruises 2006 Annual Report Download - page 35

Carnival฀Corporation฀&฀plc฀|฀page฀31
To฀the฀Boards฀of฀Directors฀and฀Shareholders฀of฀Carnival฀Corporation฀and฀Carnival฀plc:
We฀have฀completed฀integrated฀audits฀of฀Carnival฀Corporation฀&฀plc’s฀consolidated฀financial฀statements฀and฀of฀its฀internal฀control฀
over฀financial฀reporting฀as฀of฀November฀30,฀2006฀in฀accordance฀with฀the฀standards฀of฀the฀Public฀Company฀Accounting฀Oversight฀
Board฀(United฀States).฀Our฀opinions,฀based฀on฀our฀audits,฀are฀presented฀below.
Consolidated฀Financial฀Statements
In฀our฀opinion,฀the฀accompanying฀consolidated฀balance฀sheets฀and฀the฀related฀consolidated฀statements฀of฀operations,฀cash฀flows฀
and฀shareholders’฀equity฀present฀fairly,฀in฀all฀material฀respects,฀the฀financial฀position฀of฀Carnival฀Corporation฀&฀plc฀(comprising฀
Carnival฀Corporation฀and฀Carnival฀plc฀and฀their฀respective฀subsidiaries,฀the฀“Company”)฀at฀November฀30,฀2006฀and฀November฀30,฀
2005,฀and฀the฀results฀of฀their฀operations฀and฀their฀cash฀flows฀for฀each฀of฀the฀three฀years฀in฀the฀period฀ended฀November฀30,฀2006฀
in฀conformity฀with฀accounting฀principles฀generally฀accepted฀in฀the฀United฀States฀of฀America.฀These฀financial฀statements฀are฀the฀
responsibility฀of฀the฀Company’s฀management.฀Our฀responsibility฀is฀to฀express฀an฀opinion฀on฀these฀financial฀statements฀based฀on฀
our฀audits.฀We฀conducted฀our฀audits฀of฀these฀statements฀in฀accordance฀with฀the฀standards฀of฀the฀Public฀Company฀Accounting฀
Oversight฀Board฀(United฀States).฀Those฀standards฀require฀that฀we฀plan฀and฀perform฀the฀audit฀to฀obtain฀reasonable฀assurance฀about฀
whether฀the฀financial฀statements฀are฀free฀of฀material฀misstatement.฀An฀audit฀of฀financial฀statements฀includes฀examining,฀on฀a฀test฀
basis,฀evidence฀supporting฀the฀amounts฀and฀disclosures฀in฀the฀financial฀statements,฀assessing฀the฀accounting฀principles฀used฀and฀
significant฀estimates฀made฀by฀management,฀and฀evaluating฀the฀overall฀financial฀statement฀presentation.฀We฀believe฀that฀our฀audits฀
provide฀a฀reasonable฀basis฀for฀our฀opinion.
As฀discussed฀in฀Note฀2฀to฀the฀consolidated฀financial฀statements,฀effective฀December฀1,฀2005฀the฀Company฀adopted฀Statement฀
of฀Financial฀Accounting฀Standards฀No.฀123฀(revised฀2004),฀“Share-Based฀Payment.”
In฀addition,฀as฀discussed฀in฀Note฀2฀to฀the฀consolidated฀financial฀statements,฀effective฀March฀1,฀2006฀the฀Company฀elected฀to฀
change฀its฀method฀of฀accounting฀for฀costs฀incurred฀in฀connection฀with฀its฀dry-dock฀activities.
Internal฀Control฀over฀Financial฀Reporting
Also,฀in฀our฀opinion,฀management’s฀assessment,฀included฀in฀the฀accompanying฀Management’s฀Report฀on฀Internal฀Control฀Over฀
Financial฀Reporting,฀that฀the฀Company฀maintained฀effective฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting฀as฀of฀November฀30,฀2006฀
based฀on฀criteria฀established฀in฀Internal฀Control—Integrated฀Framework฀issued฀by฀the฀Committee฀of฀Sponsoring฀Organizations฀of฀
the฀Treadway฀Commission฀(“COSO”),฀is฀fairly฀stated,฀in฀all฀material฀respects,฀based฀on฀those฀criteria.฀Furthermore,฀in฀our฀opinion,฀
the฀Company฀maintained,฀in฀all฀material฀respects,฀effective฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting฀as฀of฀November฀30,฀2006,฀based฀
on฀criteria฀established฀in฀Internal฀Control—Integrated฀Framework฀issued฀by฀the฀COSO.฀The฀Company’s฀management฀is฀responsible฀
for฀maintaining฀effective฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting฀and฀for฀its฀assessment฀of฀the฀effectiveness฀of฀internal฀control฀฀
over฀financial฀reporting.฀Our฀responsibility฀is฀to฀express฀opinions฀on฀management’s฀assessment฀and฀on฀the฀effectiveness฀of฀the฀
Company’s฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting฀based฀on฀our฀audit.฀We฀conducted฀our฀audit฀of฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀
reporting฀in฀accordance฀with฀the฀standards฀of฀the฀Public฀Company฀Accounting฀Oversight฀Board฀(United฀States).฀Those฀standards฀
require฀that฀we฀plan฀and฀perform฀the฀audit฀to฀obtain฀reasonable฀assurance฀about฀whether฀effective฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀
reporting฀was฀maintained฀in฀all฀material฀respects.฀An฀audit฀of฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting฀includes฀obtaining฀an฀under-
standing฀of฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting,฀evaluating฀management’s฀assessment,฀testing฀and฀evaluating฀the฀design฀and฀
operating฀effectiveness฀of฀internal฀control,฀and฀performing฀such฀other฀procedures฀as฀we฀consider฀necessary฀in฀the฀circumstances.฀
We฀believe฀that฀our฀audit฀provides฀a฀reasonable฀basis฀for฀our฀opinions.
A฀company’s฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting฀is฀a฀process฀designed฀to฀provide฀reasonable฀assurance฀regarding฀the฀reliability฀
of฀financial฀reporting฀and฀the฀preparation฀of฀financial฀statements฀for฀external฀purposes฀in฀accordance฀with฀generally฀accepted฀
accounting฀principles.฀A฀company’s฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting฀includes฀those฀policies฀and฀procedures฀that฀(i)฀pertain฀
to฀the฀maintenance฀of฀records฀that,฀in฀reasonable฀detail,฀accurately฀and฀fairly฀reflect฀the฀transactions฀and฀dispositions฀of฀the฀assets฀
of฀the฀company;฀(ii)฀provide฀reasonable฀assurance฀that฀transactions฀are฀recorded฀as฀necessary฀to฀permit฀preparation฀of฀financial฀
statements฀in฀accordance฀with฀generally฀accepted฀accounting฀principles,฀and฀that฀receipts฀and฀expenditures฀of฀the฀company฀are฀
being฀made฀only฀in฀accordance฀with฀authorizations฀of฀management฀and฀directors฀of฀the฀company;฀and฀(iii)฀provide฀reasonable฀
assurance฀regarding฀prevention฀or฀timely฀detection฀of฀unauthorized฀acquisition,฀use,฀or฀disposition฀of฀the฀company’s฀assets฀that฀
could฀have฀a฀material฀effect฀on฀the฀financial฀statements.
Because฀of฀its฀inherent฀limitations,฀internal฀control฀over฀financial฀reporting฀may฀not฀prevent฀or฀detect฀misstatements.฀Also,฀
projections฀of฀any฀evaluation฀of฀effectiveness฀to฀future฀periods฀are฀subject฀to฀the฀risk฀that฀controls฀may฀become฀inadequate฀because฀
of฀changes฀in฀conditions,฀or฀that฀the฀degree฀of฀compliance฀with฀the฀policies฀or฀procedures฀may฀deteriorate.
Miami,฀Florida
February฀12,฀2007
REPORT฀OF฀INDEPENDENT฀REGISTERED฀CERTIFIED฀PUBLIC฀ACCOUNTING฀FIRM