Thorncroft

The numbers that I find a bit troubling are Oasis OTS at 225,000 tons carries 5400 passengers while Vista at 133,000 tons carries 4000. Carnival is really packing the passengers into a significantly smaller ship.

Carnival doesn't need any new ships right now. Sure, new ships are nice, but until they can get rid of some of the old, they'll create an over capacity that will drive prices down again. Right now is not a good time to be trying to sell off the older ships. No one wants them. I think that RCI is finding itself in the same situation, although they seem to be sending some of their newest ships to China. It will be interesting to see if China turns out to be a bust for the US based cruise lines. It seems like some of the shine is wearing off of China rather quickly.

Why would anyone buy those? Besides the booze cruises Carnival use them for now, they have no use.

They won't. That's why Carnival is keeping them running.

For whatever reason it is, they have decided to stay committed to the Fantasy class and also not end of with 30+ ships (if they continued with new builds).

Fantasy class is not going anywhere anytime soon. It's not a sellers market. RCI has the same problem. The days of passing along their old ships to their small, boutique cruise lines are over, at least for now. The new, start up cruise lines are all going with their own newbuilds.

We were never asked, he cleaned the room twice a day. Perhaps it was the $20 bill I gave him when we met.

Or perhaps you weren't on one of the ships in the pilot program.

I saw this on JH FB, seems legit since it did come from the head CD.

That card has yet to make it to any of the ships, it seems. It's elusive and mysterious. No one but the brand ambassador seems to have seen it.

Ya, isn't that what Kodak and Blackberry said?

BB is attempting to stage a comeback with an Android phone. Looks interesting.

I think we will be seeing the older ships staying around a while longer. It's not a seller's market right now. Even RCI has decided to keep Majesty after initially trying to move it out of the fleet, and they're even bringing Empress back into the fleet after taking it back from Pullmantur.

Havana can't handle the larger ships, so some of the smaller, older ships may be just the ticket when they start sailing to Cuba.

erm carnival destiny 1995, 21 years old. 3 years old, good one. That was a bit too rose-tinted.

lol!!!!!

It's my understanding that Havana can't handle the larger ships. Something like 2000 passenger max is what I'm hearing. I don't think that any of the ships in Galveston would qualify, would they?

Not all stewards on all test ships.

 

We sailed the Pride and my parents asked for - and received twice a day service.

 

I asked for once a day service and most of the time received twice a day service anyways.

 

There was no pressure on us to choose only 1.

The Dream seems to be the problem ship. It's almost like it belongs to another cruise line. A lady just off the Dream posted on JH's page today that she was told to choose one or the other, but she could not get both. She was told that it's Carnival's new policy. There seems to be a huge disconnect between the official dialog and actual practice on the ships.

You'll find almost all of the hotel, restaurant and attractions info that you need on this website.

http://mobile12-px.rtrk.com/

Don't know if this helps---but here is the form given to passengers, one of the choices is BOTH.

 

What ships is that form being used on? Has anyone ever actually seen THAT elusive form?

Thing is, are they really cutbacks, or just a sign of changing times? Tablecloths, are they cut backs, or just moving to a more modern 21st century dining style? Once a day stateroom cleaning, is it a cutback, or just a move to a more standard service like provided by almost all hotels? Ala carte pricing, is it a cutback or just a way to lower fare costs and allowing those that want high-end food/beverages to pay an upcharge versus making all pay for it?

 

I don't care about tablecloths. Then again, I don't have this nostalgia to want to cruise like it was the 1980s.

This poster answers you well.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=49410549&postcount=23

*applause* Thank you! Nowhere in any cruise documentation did it ever mention twice a day stateroom service. Not in the contracts, not online, not anywhere. Ever. I still have the pdfs of cruise contracts from years ago. They are all complaining about something that was never promised in the first place. All this talk about cutting tips is just them throwing a tantrum which only sticks it to the little guy. Going from 20 to 35 rooms is a 75% increase in workload! We had a 15 page thread expressing outage over $1 increase in a measly pack of water, but a 75% increase in backbreaking work for the people who make your cruise wonderful is acceptable? WTH?

What Carnival does with or to their employees is not our problem or concern. Carnival has their reasons for doing things the way they do them. If their employees are unhappy, they're free to vote with their feet.

That's a large assumption. Being that many are stating they demand twice a day service, I expect many, like myself, to cut my steward portion of the tip in half.

Carnival's mistake was rolling out those flawed Comfort Matters cards. They should've just quietly gone to once a day service without any fanfare, and they probably could've gotten away with it. Eventually, I look for once a day service to be the norm. It's just taking a circuitous and painful journey getting there, now. ;)

So the numbers are just from thin air then?

No. I believe I explained the math.

The problem with cutbacks is this: cruiseline makes a cut and the majority of their customers say "oh well, I'm on a cruise, I don't care". Then the cruiseline makes another cut and gets the same response. Soon they're emboldened to make more cuts and the dominoes keep falling unless and until there's some pushback, at which point they say "oops, I think we've reached the limit of their tolerance", and they stop. I see an awful lot of cheering about cuts that's spun as "it's not a cut, it's a change". Their "death by a thousand pin pricks" model is getting old. Stop settling and start pushing back!!

Where are you getting these from?

My thoughts on what is going on. It all looks like a cost cutting adventure to me. :)

I'm thinking that the plan is to reduce the cleaning staff, increase the number of cabins that they service from 20 to 35, and by implementing once a day service fleetwide, the stewards will actually have a reduced workload and assuming tips stay the same, a huge raise.

Would love to see one from a current cruise.

From the Dream a few weeks ago

Just saw that John posted the comfort matters form they are using on the trial ships. Says turn down morning, evening or both....... Not sure how that is a cutback. Guests can choose whatever they want. I would love to hear where you get your reduction numbers from.

That form has not made it to the ships yet, evidently. He keeps showing that form, but many others coming off the ships are posting images of forms that don't have "both".