Colorado Beach Bum

8 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Amazing how some think without the casino, Carnival would fail. The casino is just one player on the team. Without the rest, the casino and Carnival would sink like a rock.

Agree.  It takes all revenue centers to make a profit - same for most companies.  Although many can be loss leaders to drive other more profitable departments. Who knows what is really driving what?  But as you said, they need each other.  As a career corporate finance guy I’d like to see all the p&l’s by department.  And the analysis of what happens to each department when something is pushed in one vs another. 

13 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

If spending money is the consideration for free cabins, how about free cabins for those who actually pay for cabins? Or drinks? Or specialty dining? Or spa treatments? Or shore excursions? Or anything else on the ship?

When they figure out how to make more money off of these spends then they do off of casino spends I’m sure they will. 

3 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Which department eliminated the $25?

Probably the same one that added it. 

13 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Each Carnival component is run as a separate business and Corp expects each to turn a profit. It is absurd to try to lump them together and say it is all the same company. That isn't how a legitimate business operates.

Each may be run as a separate business for a variety of purposes but to think they don’t analyze how department A helps and or hurts profits of department B and are completely independent of each other is wrong. Legitimate businesses analyze every aspect of the business and the impacts of each and every department or entity. 

4 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

That's true - at one point they were giving either OBC or Freeplay up to $2,000 along with the room. Now most seem to max out at about $500.

 

Tom

But they certainly haven’t dried up or even lessened.  Maybe slightly lees free play but still plenty of free rooms (net deposit and OBC) on every cruise. 

10 hours ago, dallasdan said:

doesn't the casino pay Carnival the room fare and pay for the free drinks?  

It’s all the same company.  

22 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

With ships sailing full, they no longer need to give away $10 to earn $11. Better to let everyone pay for cabins. The casinos will still be full, but this time with paying customers.

Do we know if they are only earning what say above?  Didn’t someone mention earlier that rooms alone are losing money?

15 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

The saying is the only constant is change. Kowtowing to gamblers will also pass.

 

There is always Margaritaville Lines.

Only when they find something that generates more revenue.  Offers are still coming so it hasn’t happened yet. 

With self debarkation you should be able to. 

None of the subsidiaries of Carnival corporate report their own earnings so isn’t it all just carnival corporate earnings?  What difference is it really?

5 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

I was rather surprised to open my mailbox yesterday and find a check from Carnival... from a cancelled sailing on the Liberty in December of '21 !!!

 

I can't wait to check the mail again today, and the next, and the next --- as, you never know !   LOL

 

 

Tom

A couple more blackjack hands for you on your next cruise.  

3 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Do they make as much as the casino operating as normal though? I guess that's the question.

For the tournaments it was buy one get one free so did make some money vs just giving away $25 in free play with no guarantee of them spending more.  There’s plenty of time during the day to operate the tournaments that wouldn’t take away from regular gambling going on. 

Surprised they haven’t brought back the slot and blackjack tournaments.  Those seemed like huge money makers.

1 hour ago, hurricane0226 said:

No porters, and it is a walk over a hundred yards for sure.

I’m sure the porters were on the first floor of the garage collecting luggage before we walked over to the terminal. 

Most cruises these days are either ultra, premier or elite cruises.  And other casino offers aren’t even those so you end up with a bunch of casino players on almost every cruise. Elite cruises used to have the lowest number of invited guests but that has changed post COVID.  From my experience though elite cruises seem to be the least crowded and ultras by far the busiest.  The ones you want to avoid are the slot tournament cruises - those are extremely busy. 

2 hours ago, mamiamjo said:

Hmm, looks like they changed the schedule and put Ringmaster Rhapsody on instead of TMMC 🙁. Not sure why but debating going to Love and Marriage instead 

Yeah, what happened.  I looked at schedule yesterday and figured we catch circus tonight.  Was surprised and disappointed in what we got.  Thought I misread until I saw this. Thanks. 

14 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

I just found her latest update on TT. She said that she posted a screenshot of her Carnival app countdown on social media, and that screen also included her booking number. Someone created a fake profile on Carnival’s website and was able to somehow link to her booking number and cancel the cruise. The $10K Carnival offered was actually OBC, not cash, which she doesn’t want since she doesn’t plan to cruise with Carnival ever again. Crazy!

How do you spend $10k in OBC.  We gamble a bunch and that would be a lot to blow through. 

Carnival now saying it was identity theft and that led to someone cancelling the cruise.  Carnival offered her 10k if she posted something positive. She declined.  It’s a pretty crazy situation.  I’m sure more to come.

14 hours ago, VictorWI said:

Those will be very full ships with very full casinos.

Every cruise is some type of casino special these days and always packed.  It’s the new model to make money. 

It’s the law of averages. They know some will tip extra and some won’t.  At the end of a week I’m sure it all averages out. 
 

That being said, we always tip extra and the bartenders know it and recognize it.  We’ve had superior service because of it and always have drinks made right away when we walk up to a bar.  

3 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

Survived Monday at work, and took an extra long walk afterwards. Picked up a big piece of salmon at Trader Joe's along with a fresh ear of corn. Going for night number one sober tonight, and I'm hoping to make three in a row, since I only made it to two last week.

 

In other news: Remember about a month ago the entire colonoscopy ordeal? Well, normally when I've had any type of procedure in the past they try to get you to make a payment for the deductible up front, prior to doing anything. Even on the day of the procedure I had my credit card in my pocket, thinking they're going to want me to pay something beforehand. That never happened, and here we are almost a month later and I still haven't received anything from them or the health insurance company.

 

Last week I ended up getting a bill from the anesthesia company for a little over $1,000, so I called them up and explained the situation to them. They took down my insurance information and said to just ignore the bill until they run it through the insurance, and it might take a month or more.

 

So, today I call the insurance company and explain all this to them, and they tell me that the provider (meaning the colonoscopy company) has a responsibility to get pre approval from them BEFORE doing the procedure. Apparently they didn't, and according to the insurance company the fact that they "dropped the ball" means there's a possibility that they'll have to eat the cost of the procedure. I can't imagine getting that lucky, and I'll still owe something to the anesthesia company either way. 

 

Anyhoo, we'll see what happens.

 

More free $

5 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Celestial Strings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So much better on Vista class than excel class. 

6 hours ago, xyzcruiser said:

the casino is seriously crowded on these premier cruises

Seems like every cruise is now a premier, ultra or elite.  We usually just book a regular casino offer and every time it’s been one of the hosted events.  

37 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Because some things are included in base fare and some are not..  It is not up to us to decide what is included in base fare and what is not.  Internet is not.  Does not matter if you use a pool, it is included.  Does not matter if you think hot tubs, they are included.  Same for the rest.  Has absolutely nothing to do with you putting a word like luxury on it.  Still makes no sense.  

That was the point. 

Most amenities are not used by every single guest.  Cruise lines decide which ones they can charge extra for and which ones are included.  What may be luxury for some may not be for others.  You could have this same discussions about every amenity - I don’t use the pools and hot tubs, why should I be subsidizing those that use them? Piano Bar, Comedy, Pizza and on and on.