By John Pain
The Associated Press

ABOARD THE QUEEN MARY 2 - Thirty-two years ago, Micky Arison was aboard Carnival Cruise Lines' first-ever voyage. The trip had a rocky start - the decade-old Mardi Gras got stuck on a sandbar off Miami.

"That moment when she ran aground obviously was horrifying," Arison recalled. To keep passengers happy, the crew doled out free drinks while the ship was refloated. "After that, it was party time," he said.

Carnival made its niche fostering that carefree atmosphere and grew from a struggling line with one 950-passenger ship into the world's largest cruise company with 73 vessels across 12 brands.

It also made Arison rich. Carnival Corp.'s chairman and chief executive is Florida's second-richest person and the 33rd wealthiest in America, with an estimated net worth of $5.9 billion, according to Forbesmagazine.

His fierce determination to dominate and buy up rivals helped fuel the Miami-based company's expansion over the past quarter-century, including the recent launching of the $800 million Queen Mary 2, the most expensive cruise ship ever built.

Arison, 54, is known as "everything from Darth Vader to Mister Rogers," depending on whose side you're on, said Rod McLeod, a retired industry executive who's known Arison since the 1970s.

For the most part, Arison shuns the spotlight.

"I absolutely hate it. I try the best I can to minimize it," he said in a recent interview on board the docked Queen Mary 2. "I can't get off the Forbes 400 because they don't allow you to apply for delisting. But if I could get delisted, I would do it.

"I look at the Donald Trumps of this world ... and, you know, I marvel. But that's how they make a living, by promoting themselves. I try to do the exact opposite."

Arison occasionally shows his drive publicly. As owner of the NBA's Miami Heat basketball franchise, he recently yelled at a referee over a missed call on an apparent foul. During Carnival's bitter battle with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. over who would buy P&O Princess Cruises, Arison openly criticized Royal Caribbean's leadership and belittled its rival offer.

Many insiders attribute part of Carnival's growth to Arison's hands-off management style. Although he's involved in setting goals, he said he likes to surround himself with people who know what they're doing and let them figure out how to achieve those objectives day to day.

Tim Conder, an analyst with A.G. Edwards & Sons, said Arison "has helped instill that competitive, entrepreneurial spirit that's pervasive throughout the company." Arison's employees are always pushing to improve costs and boost efficiency, he said.

Half the global cruise passengers each year now travel on a ship owned by the Carnival group, which had $6.7 billion in revenues last year.

Carnival has about a dozen ships being built, so Arison spends much of his time jetting from his $2.5 million beachfront condo north of Miami to European shipyards.