CCL's target customer base ?

[luv cruising 007]

[quote name='firefly333']I would eat at Golden Corral. I like their food and love any kind of salad bars. Often thats all I eat on board the ship for lunch too, is a big ole salad.

I must be the only one who doesnt think Golden Corral is a dump ...but maybe they vary from city to city? I also like fish night with friend shrimp. I never knew people thought they were so bad.[/quote]

Im with you! The Golden corral's I went to are not a dump! The fresh bakery station they have is really good as well!

[capndinghy]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]Darn...I guess I am just not a big enough[SIZE=4][B] SNOB! [/B][/SIZE][/SIZE][/FONT]

[firefly333]

[quote name='luv cruising 007']Im with you! The Golden corral's I went to are not a dump! The fresh bakery station they have is really good as well![/quote]

Thank you, glad we are not alone. My Dad has always fussed going into a sit down restaurant and having to wait for food. Golden Corral is a big hit with my family. Man ... I have no class. No wonder I like both RCL and Carnival and am happy with each.

[nessz79]

[QUOTE]We sort of "penny pinch" at the booking phase because we have a set vacation budget for each trip, land or sea and the less we spend on the booking the more we get to spend on the ship and excursions. We still booked a balcony for this next cruise but we decided to get an obstructed view and booked during a sale for a good price.

We also like Carnival right now for another factor besides price - they're the "fun ships" and we like the party, semi-Vegas atmosphere a lot right now at this point in our lives. We will probably stick with Carnival when we start a family and have kids in the next 5 years or so because we've heard great things about the kids' programs, but we imagine that someday when our not-born-yet kids are grown and we're retired that we'll move towards lines like Celebrity. We put a substantial portion of our income into retirement accounts for pretty much that purpose [/QUOTE]

I'm with you! We have young kids and Carnival is the only way we can cruise comfortably. We like to have a balcony and Carnival is the most affordable for this.

When we get older and our kids move out, we may still do Carnival. But I'll also be open to the more expensive lines as well.

[thecrab]

Don't do chain italian. I've never been suckered into Macaroni Grill, but Olive Garden sucks too. I'm a NYer-- We do Italian correctly here! Northern Italian food is more veggie/meaat and less pasta, so try that before you give up on the cuisine altogether.

The first time I was in Texas someone pulled out a pizza and I said 'what's that'? So I can kind of see where you're coming from. Texas is just not known for italian cuisine, IMHO.

[bobkamusician]

Norwegian is a cruise line. Royal Caribbean is a cruise line. Cunard is a cruise line. They all have ships, food, activities, and amenities. I have cruised all 4, and actually have no preference. I booked a NCL cruise prior to the Carnival sailing I'm going on in April, only to have to cancel it when I discovered how difficult and expensive it was to fly to the San Juan home port.

The geniuses at NCL didn't bother to mention that I'd be having to take 3-stop flights and pay $950 a pop for air fare. That's not honest. At least the Carnival people were straight with me about what I was getting when I booked with them, and yeah, they gave me a good deal.

After 4 lines, I'm gonna book on whomever has the best itinerary for the best price. I wouldn't buy a Beemer for status, I'd buy it because it's a great performing car. I'm the driver - not anyone else.

You could book on Seaborn and wind up with a mass-murderer in the next cabin. Like everything else in life, the experience is what you make it. The line doesn't make the cruise. [I]You[/I] make the cruise.

[richstowe]

Don't want to hijack the thread but was looking at a European cruise with MSC Cruises. Then I read the reviews.

Wow! I think that line is closer to OPs points then Carnival is. Maybe Carnival isn't the entry cruise line.

[richstowe]

[quote name='bobkamusician']
You could book on Seaborn and wind up with a mass-murderer in the next cabin. Like everything else in life, the experience is what you make it. The line doesn't make the cruise. [I]You[/I] make the cruise.[/quote]

[SIZE=3]Yes but they would be a [COLOR=red]rich [/COLOR]mass-murderer !:p[/SIZE]

[StingRaysfan]

[quote name='thecrab']Don't do chain italian. I've never been suckered into Macaroni Grill, but Olive Garden sucks too. I'm a NYer-- We do Italian correctly here! Northern Italian food is more veggie/meaat and less pasta, so try that before you give up on the cuisine altogether.

The first time I was in Texas someone pulled out a pizza and I said 'what's that'? So I can kind of see where you're coming from. Texas is just not known for italian cuisine, IMHO.[/QUOTE]

BUT... for a chain... Carrabba's isn't bad at all.. MMMMMMM MMMMM MMMMM

also adding after reading this thread that "stewpapa" was right on. In my line of work I've become aquainted with many many people that most likely don't even do vacations because they can barely afford gas to get to work and food (from Walmart) for their families. There are actually kids out there that have never been out to eat at a sit down restaurant, and there are kids who only get the lunches they get in school, and whatever they can scrounge up to eat every day.
I don't think that average cruisers on Carnival are "low class" or even "low income"... Not by the standards that we are made out to be... for the most part, not even close...

[DZNYROX]

[quote name='elcuchio24']You can paint it however you want. They cater to middle class americans.[/quote]


Is there something wrong with middle class americans?:confused:

[MountainLakesDrive]

[quote name='H82seaUgo']a fool and his money are soon parted.

on any line.[/quote]

And there's a sucker born every minute.....
Thanks for your insightful, succinct post!

[MountainLakesDrive]

[quote name='momof4boys']well said. :) although in truth, i don't care what anyone says. When i sail, i take my entire family and our friends take their kids and their families. We usually have 7 rooms between us. Dh and i pay for 5 rooms-- with the two of us having always booked a grand suite--"the meeting place." i want a large enough space for all of us to get together and visit, play games, or just relax. You can bet we look for the best value when we book 5 rooms...and if we could find it somewhere else, that is the line we would use.

Fiscally conservative, frugal, or penny pinchers--who cares! Sail what you like and don't worry about what others think. :cool:[/quote]

right on!!!!!

[MountainLakesDrive]

[quote name='firefly333']I would eat at Golden Corral. I like their food and love any kind of salad bars. Often thats all I eat on board the ship for lunch too, is a big ole salad.

I must be the only one who doesnt think Golden Corral is a dump ...but maybe they vary from city to city? I also like fish night with friend shrimp. I never knew people thought they were so bad.[/quote]

One hundred miles north of Boston there is not a single Golden Corral:
DH is not a happy camper!!!

[MountainLakesDrive]

[quote name='suzinva']i still don't get it, but whatever. Class has nothing to do with money.[/quote]

amen!

[MountainLakesDrive]

[quote name='bobkamusician']Norwegian is a cruise line. Royal Caribbean is a cruise line. Cunard is a cruise line. They all have ships, food, activities, and amenities. I have cruised all 4, and actually have no preference. I booked a NCL cruise prior to the Carnival sailing I'm going on in April, only to have to cancel it when I discovered how difficult and expensive it was to fly to the San Juan home port.

The geniuses at NCL didn't bother to mention that I'd be having to take 3-stop flights and pay $950 a pop for air fare. That's not honest. At least the Carnival people were straight with me about what I was getting when I booked with them, and yeah, they gave me a good deal.

After 4 lines, I'm gonna book on whomever has the best itinerary for the best price. I wouldn't buy a Beemer for status, I'd buy it because it's a great performing car. I'm the driver - not anyone else.

You could book on Seaborn and wind up with a mass-murderer in the next cabin. Like everything else in life, the experience is what you make it. The line doesn't make the cruise. [I]You[/I] make the cruise.[/quote]

Thank you for a post that is full of insight!

[Chowder_17]

When I booked my 1st cruise for my husband and I in late 2008 to sail in early 2009, I honestly didn't know about other cruiselines expect for Carnival. We had such a blast on our 1st (and we have our 2nd booked for later this year) that we plan on sailing on Carnival for a long time.

I've since learned a bit more about the other cruiselines and wouldn't mind trying them in the future for some of the different perks (Celebrity for the drink packages, Princess for the long cruises/other world locations, RCL for the wave pool/rock climbing stuff, and possibly MSC for kids under 11 cruise free), but my husband and I feel very comfortable with Carnival :)

[Sargent_Schultz]

[quote name='Bigbob75'][FONT=Times New Roman]Article from The Motley Fool by Rick Munarriz…March 24[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]One of the best things about living most of my life in Miami is that I was introduced to cruise ships at an early age.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]I love cruising. I try to set sail once a year or so. I know all of the players well.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Carnival's namesake brand is the industry's mass-market vehicle. [B]It's an entry-level cruise line that caters to penny pinchers and first-timers. It's the Golden Corral of cruise ship lines, where passengers get a good bang for their buck as long as they're willing to sacrifice a little bit in quality for the sake of quantity.[/B][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Don't get me wrong. I'm no sea snob. I still go on the occasional Carnival cruise, and here's me [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9mdINjvS6M"][COLOR=#0066aa]enjoying the Chukka zipline[/COLOR][/URL] in Jamaica as a shore excursion during a Carnival Destiny sailing last summer.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Interesting perspective on the target customer from an investor /advice / analyst [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Do you agree? Penny pinchers??? The Golden corral??? [/FONT][/quote]

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Never been to a Golden Corral but someday will try. I'm approaching double milestone on Carnival. My first (pleasure) cruise was about 45 years ago and I've been on some luxury lines.
[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]IMO, [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial][SIZE=3][SIZE=3]Rick Munarriz is[/SIZE] a jackwagon that, well, doesn't know jack. It isn't about quantity or penny pinching - it's about value and FUN. Even Warren Buffett understands value.[/SIZE][/FONT]