Carnival CEO, family to sell up to 8.5 mln shares

* 5 mln shares held directly or indirectly by CEO Arison

* Shares fall 3.2 pct on NYSE, before paring losses

NEW YORK Aug 13 (Reuters) - Carnival Corp & Plc (CCL.N) (CCL.L) said on Thursday its chief executive and members of his family plan to sell up to 8.5 million of their shares, or about 1 percent of total voting rights for the company.

Five million of those shares are held directly or indirectly by CEO and chairman Micky Arison, who is the son of the company's founder, Ted Arison.

In a statement, the company said the family is selling stock for "tax planning, estate planning and diversification purposes."

Shares fell 0.4 percent, or 13 cents, to $30.34 on the New York Stock Exchange in morning trade; they had dipped as low as $29.49 earlier.

If all the shares were sold, the Arison family and related entities would retain 28 percent of voting rights for the world's largest cruise ship operator.

The Miami-based company said the sellers are expected to submit one or more sales plans under SEC rule 10b5-1, which makes trading while in possession of material nonpublic information illegal. (Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)