tidecat

Or Aladdin is heading to sea: https://www.cnet.com/culture/entertainment/disney-announces-next-cruise-ship-the-treasure/

The Grand Port website still lists Mobile and Brisbane as year-round homeports. I wouldn't read too much into it. Now if it shows up that way on Carnival.com

Joe Farcus also designed a number of Costa ships, although he was not involved with the Vista/Venezia class for Carnival or Costa.

I did it on the Sunshine in February 2017. I know it was offered on my September 2018 Splendor sailing, as well as Triumph and Victory in February 2019 and 2020.

It was originally announced as April 2023.

Costa Venezia's cruises from December 1, 2022 have now been canceled, leaving a five month gap between her last revenue sailing for Costa and her first for Carnival. Will her Carnival deployment begin earlier? Will this be a more involved rebranding? Is this a defensive move in an era of supply and labor shortages? Five months still seems excessive even for a massive drydock. The Destiny/Sunshine and Triumph/Sunrise conversions we're nowhere near that long.

Yes, Piano Bar will be aft on the starboard side.

There is no code. The discount is automatic if there are eligible treatments. At least that's how it's supposed to work

Mobile's real problem is its proximity to New Orleans. Spirit has to be put somewhere during the winter months. There is no room at Long Beach (Miracle, Radiance, Panorama). San Diego just cannibalizes Long Beach. Carnival could have done a third ship in Tampa or New Orleans alternating 5/4/5 day sailings with the Paradise or Valor, but Carnival chose Mobile. The things that worked in Mobile's favor is that there are no 3-day itineraries on the Gulf Coast, and that Carnival is wanting to have the Spirit do 6-8 day itineraries rather than 4-5 day itineraries. Since both Tampa and New Orleans have another ship doing 6-8 day cruises, they can't accommodate a ship doing 5 day cruises unless if you do something silly like have 7 day cruises departing on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The problem is no one can build a smaller ship for anywhere near $200,000 per lower berth (in today's dollars). So even if Carnival builds something comparable to the Spirit class, it can't charge Carnival prices. Carnival Pride cost $375 Million in 2002, which would be around $618 Million today, or just under $291,000 per lower berth. Mardi Gras was just under the $180,000 mark when she was delivered in 2020, although that would be just over $200,000 in 2022 dollars. Although if Maryland and DC has so much money, I guess they can afford it. 😉

Mobile doesn't have height restrictions, but the terminal would probably need to be expanded to host a larger ship on a permanent basis. The Conquest and Triumph (now Sunrise) have docked there before. The channel is being dredged and widened to allow for a larger turning basin, but is adequate for cruise ships now. Jacksonville likely would be folded into Port Canaveral. Baltimore would probably be replaced by Norfolk, although New York might be an option as well. Tampa might be the trickier one - Port Canaveral is closest, but it obviously would struggle to do shorter Western Caribbean itineraries. Tampa's service may have to be consolidated into Miami (and/or Fort Lauderdale). We'll sort of get a trial run as Charleston signs off in 2024. The closest port to Charleston is Jacksonville, but the Sunshine can't fit in Jacksonville. It is also possible Carnival sells the Sunshine presumably 3-6 years earlier than planned to avoid the 2024 drydock. Personally I would move the Spirit from Mobile to Jacksonville for the winter months (while continuing to sail to Alaska from Seattle in the summer) and then have the Sunshine spend summers in Norfolk and winters in Mobile. I don't think Tampa will be an issue before 2028 (when Paradise and Elation turn 30), most likely into the start of the 2030s. Given how long most infrastructure projects take, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Baltimore need to be planning now if they needs to break ground potentially as soon as four years from now.

The easiest thing to do might be to base it on the fare paid, i.e., X points to the dollar. An inside cabin on an Alaska sailing the week of July 4 might be the same price as a balcony the first week of November on a Caribbean sailing.

I think they were all cancelled by 2019, but Carnival Corp was actually producing three TV shows simultaneously: Good Spirits (which I believe Princess has based onboard bars on several ships), Ocean Treks (highlighting shore excursions), and Vacation Creation (whee a family who has undergone hardship is given a cruise vacation). I'm sure buying 60 minutes of airtime on broadcast TV and 30 minutes on A&E each week had a fairly healthy cost - effectively they were infomercials, even though Ocean Treks and Vacation Creation were used to meet the FCC's E/I programming requirements.

If it ever comes back, history would suggest it would be sometime between June and September 2023 for a January 2024 sailing. Note that Faster to the Fun benefits may not be offered if there are a large number of Diamond/Platinum guests. And if the OP has anything from that sailing in the 1970s (especially if it has the sailing date), there is a process to claim VIFP points for that sailing.

Yes, check in is always at 12:01 AM Eastern Time, so if you are in the Pacific Time Zone, it will be 9:01 PM the night before.

The original Celebration had separate room keys in her post-Carnival career with Bahamas Paradise. Celebration remained in the Carnival fleet until 2008. I suspect since Inspiration and Destiny were under construction around the same time, the transition began sometime around 1994 or 1995. I suspect Fantasy was likely converted around 2000, which would line up with her 10-year drydock.

Cahill retired in 2014. Arnold Donald retired as CEO on August 1. Josh Weinstein is the new CEO.

Ocean Plaza and Limelight Lounge might actually be the most ambitious items on the makeover. The rest shouldn't involve much construction, and everything but the hull and funnel painting can be done in transit while the ship moves from Europe to Australia. BTW, Spirit had Guy's Burger Joint prior to coming to the US, and Splendor has it now. There was even a secret menu item specific to Australia. I presume that will be on the agenda for the next scheduled dry dock, as well as Carnival Waterworks (which will require significant work).

No Guy's, Blue Iguana, (or even Masala Tiger), however, Old Fashioned BBQ gets prime real estate aft. Mini golf is just a putting green. The spa will be branded as Cloud 9. Fahrenheit 555, The Deli, Pizzeria del Capitano, Alchemy Bar, and the Red Frog Rum Bar make the cut. The Costa-era piano bar will become the Limelight Lounge, but there will be no dedicated space for a piano bar on Carnival Luminosa. Ocean Plaza may serve as a stand-in for it. carnival-luminosa-deck-plan-pdf.pdf

Venezia is supposed to be based in New York as of "Spring 2023". Firenze is supposed to be based in Long Beach as of "Spring 2024". Prior press releases have indicated these cruises will be sold by Carnival, so they should be available through Carnival.com. Sailings will count towards Carnival's loyalty program.

I was in Bonaire in February on the Horizon. Ship kept Eastern Standard Time the whole trip, even though local time was Atlantic Standard (one hour ahead). Keep in mind Bonaire does not observe DST, so it is possible for ship's time to match local time for part of the year.

Both Venezia and Firenze are supposed to have drydocks before repositioning to North America. I'm wondering if those have been finalized, because those will likely have the greatest impact on when service for Carnival begins. FWIW, Luminosa still hasn't opened for booking and is going to sail for Carnival in potentially less than 90 days.

I think most of those were flushed out earlier this year, although there's not to say there might be some out there. There would also potentially be a decent number of people with FCC from the Freedom fire and the related cancellation on the Conquest.

If it approaches $20, I expect there will be a secondary offering to raise funds and pay down debt. There will be plenty who will hop on around $15-$18 then. We may not see $22-$24 until the balance sheet is cleaned up to the point to allow dividends, or more likely, stock buybacks.

Some analysts seem intent on dying on the hill that we're going to have a severe recession. I just don't see Carnival getting to below $7 in the next 12 months as long as GDP stays within striking distance if not above zero.