tidecat

Industry wide, demand for cruises is higher than it has ever been, even in spite of all of the new capacity that has been added since cruises resumed. You might be able to get some last minute deals out of Florida, as ports in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic historically have tended to command higher prices. People are willing to pay more for the convenience of not flying.

At this far out there may not be a buyer, not even a scrapyard. There is still lots of time to execute the sale. I would not be surprised if Ambassador winds up with Explorer, given they have the former Pacific Dawn (Ambience) and Costa neoRiviera (Ambition). I'd also keep an eye on Margaritaville at Sea, who is probably itching to get rid of Paradise (formerly Costa neoClassica). Fred. Olsen could be in play as well if they are looking either to expand or to replace the 1988-built Balmoral (former Crown Odyssey/Norwegian Crown).

The removal of Pacific Explorer will affect a number of homeports: Auckland, Adelaide, Fremantle, and Melbourne. It will be interesting to see if Carnival uses Adventure or Encounter to serve any of those homeports. Luminosa could also be on the move since Encounter sails for Brisbane year-round.

It would be easier to do this with P&O UK as it serves an English-speaking market. It also would keep them from being confused with P&O Ferries (which was a source of some irritation when Ferries ran afoul of British labor laws). Doing this with AIDA and Costa may be more cumbersome because of the language and cultural differences.

Since Carnival is getting Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter in 2025, what do you think the ships be named? The path of least resistance would be simply to rename them to Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter, but having the shore excursions branded as "Carnival Adventures" is highly problematic. Reusing old ship names may not work here either given that the two Excel class ships scheduled for 2027-2028 will likely pull form the remaining of Carnival's original seven ships (Carnivale, Festivale, Tropicale, Holiday). The Fantasy class will also presumably still exist, but could some of Elation's and Paradise's late sisters be fair game? Ecstasy would probably be out as she briefly returned to service post-shutdown. Fantasy would be out because the class is still in use. Fascination, Sensation, Imagination, and Inspiration might work here. I don't think Destiny, Triumph, or Victory would work here for varying reasons. I also think that Carnival could add a third Fun Italian style ship by renaming Pacific Adventure to Carnival Grandiosa and theming it to Rome. This also serves as a nod to the ship having been built as part of the Grand class. If Grandiosa is problematic from a marketing standpoint, Carnival Vicenza could work here as a nod to the ship having been the Golden Princess, and any theming could be to the Vicenza region. Luminosa could also join the Italian-style fun by being themed to Ostuni, the less famous "City of Light" in Italy, since Venice is already spoken for in the fleet - or you could just copy the Venetian theming on Venezia since few will be likely to sail both Venezia and Luminosa. For Pacific Explorer I'd be more inclined to roll with Carnival Explorer. The Star name will be getting quite the workout in 2025 with both Star Princess and Star of the Seas so Carnival Star likely isn't an option. If you want an outright new name, maybe something like Carnival Solaris? This might also be time to use Carnival Brilliance, which presumably would have been the new name for Costa Magica had she joined the Carnival fleet.

I question whether there's much more left on the table in the US market given that operators are offering discounts this summer given the ongoing issues in the Red Sea: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cruise-operators-offer-summer-discounts-051026361.html I think this move may be more about cost savings, especially since most of the cruising public in AU/NZ will be aware of the Carnival/P&O relationship. Now Carnival only has to run one advertising campaign in the market, consolidate customer service departments, etc. Both Carnival and Royal Caribbean should be at 31 ships by 2028. Carnival might actually be the largest cruise line in the world again, at least intermittently over the next 4.5 years.

PINs can be compromised too as people tend to use things like birthdates. Requiring two-factor authentication would also be a huge deterrent to something like this happening.

I understand the fee based on the size of the ship fee being divvied up based on an estimated number of passengers, but that doesn't explain the comment from @BlerkOne about port taxes increasing when a fare is being repriced ahead of the actual sailing date.

Why would the port taxes change? As long as you are not changing ships or changing the size of your party, the taxes based on the size of the ship and taxes based on number of passengers do not change.

Cucina was never on the Fantasy class (and still isn't on Elation and Paradise). None of the Spirit class, Conquest class, and Splendor have Cucina either. Carnival Magic (2011) was the first to have it, followed by younger sister Breeze (2012). Older sister Dream (2009) still has an upper deck of the Lido restaurant in its place. Sunshine (2013) was the first ship to have it added in a retrofit; her sisters Sunrise and Radiance would eventually follow. The Vista and Excel class ships have had it since they were built. There honestly doesn't appear to be a place to put it on the Conquest class unless if Carnival decides to replace the bar on the port side across from the piano bar (name of the bar varies by ship), but that really only provides space for about 50 diners. Carnival could do a more extensive refurbishment by reconfiguring the theater from three decks to two, but the ROI likely isn't high enough to justify that, especially since Conquest class does primarily shorter cruises.

Princess offers a one-way cruise between Vancouver to Los Angeles that has no other ports of call. Carnival offers some cruises from Australia that are round trip with no ports of call. In both cases these are shorter cruises (3-4 days). Cunard's regular transatlantic voyages between New York and Southampton are typically seven sea days with no other ports. There will be more options outside of the US.

When your cruise is can affect your answer. It was cold and windy on both sea days on my Elation sailing in February, especially on the first sea day, so it made it hard to enjoy the ship's mostly outdoor amenities. Paradise and Elation are the same class of ship, so if I wouldn't want to do a winter sailing on either again. If you're big into gambling or trivia, though, Paradise will have you covered even if the weather is less than ideal.

No one's updated it in the past six months. Firenze is missing also.

Excel class rooms are slightly narrower, but it is not a huge difference for run-of-the-mill balcony cabins. The furnishings certainly are more functional in the Excel class.

Except it isn't just 10 cruises a year. Sailings to the Fjords make up greater percentages of other lines' sailings. Geirangerfjord alone receives roughly 40% of its 800,000 visitors by cruise ship. That capacity has to go somewhere. The regulations also extend to domestic shipping and fisheries. While they will not be emission-free come 2026, there is a target to cut those emissions by 50% by 2030.

Assuming the fourth Excel class in 2027 is accretive to the fleet and not a replacement of an older ship, Carnival would have the option of moving a seasonally-deployed Spirit-class vessel out of Galveston or Mobile and replacing it with something larger. Legend - Tampa (winter)/Europe (summer) Luminosa - Brisbane (US winter)/Seattle (US summer) Miracle - World Cruise (winter)/San Francisco (summer) Pride - Baltimore (year-round) Spirit - Mobile (year-round) Galveston gets a Conquest-class for the #4 spot there, which would now be year-round.

Assuming the fourth Excel class in 2027 is accretive to the fleet and not a replacement of an older ship, Carnival would have the option of moving a seasonally-deployed Spirit-class vessel out of Galveston or Mobile and replacing it with something larger. Legend - Tampa (winter)/Europe (summer) Luminosa - Brisbane (US winter)/Seattle (US summer) Miracle - World Cruise (winter)/San Francisco (summer) Pride - Baltimore (year-round) Spirit - Mobile (year-round) Galveston gets a Conquest-class for the #4 spot there, which would now be year-round.

I was actually inquiring about whether you checked luggage for your flight.

If Carnival were going to reposition a ship to Australia, you could have a World Cruise that starts in Long Beach and a largely-overlapping World Cruise that starts in Brisbane. The first leg could be sold as a combination of the World Cruise from Long Beach and a shorter Transpacific sailing. The last leg would be a combination of the Brisbane World Cruise and another Transpacific. If Carnival plays its cards right, it could line up so that a Spirit class ship winds up in Brisbane for the Australian summer (North American winter) and Luminosa repositions to the US for Alaska and Caribbean service, preferably fresh out of drydock with a more through update to be on brand than she had initially.

I doubt 2025 would be feasible at this point unless if it started in late 2025. If Carnival does this, it would probably be late 2026 or early 2027. Given that the Spirit class is used primarily for Alaska, and that Tampa, Jacksonville, and Baltimore have limited options for what ships can operate there, I could see Carnival doing a world cruise that starts in the fall after the Alaska season from Long Beach. By the time it takes 4-5 months to circle the globe, it's almost time for the Alaska season again. Maybe Carnival tacks on some Hawaii or Mexican Riviera cruises after the World cruise while waiting for the new Alaska season to start.

Did you check any luggage?

The clientele being targeted by newer and larger ships are those new to cruising. More than 80% of the US population has never been on a cruise.

In February AIDA announced a refurbishment program that will cover all of their older ships There certainly would be enough time to change course should circumstances warrant it, but I think Costa would be more vulnerable if current events get out of hand.

Saying something like "gambling is allowed only in the casino or on games sanctioned by the ship" would have been a better way to word it. Because I doubt they'd let people play games like LRC for money even if they were playing in the casino without it being run by the casino department. Princess ran with the concept of the whole ship being a casino by having games that can be played onboard the ship on your device. Even the Princess Prizes feature only works when the casino is open.

The casino department runs Bingo and Deal or No Deal, even if they are held in the theater.