New Carnival ship downunder?

[GHDPeter]

Reports on some groups on facebook say that Carnival Legend will be heading down to Australia, anyone else heard this?

[cruiselover53]

On our recent Spirit cruise the Maitre'D told our "behind the fun tour" that he had heard a Dream class ship would be heading here!!!So who knows,these rumours are always around. :)

[gbenjo]

Carnival Cruise Lines to deploy Carnival Legend down under

Carnival Cruise Lines has just announced that its Carnival Legend will sail the summer season from Sydney effective from 24 Sep 2014.

Legend is a sister ship to the 2680-passenger Carnival Spirit which already operates year-round from Sydney, with the second vessel heading to Australia after a dry dock in 2014 when she will be upgraded "to ensure she's perfectly suited for the tastes of the Aussie market," according to Carnival Cruise Lines director Australia/NZ, Jennifer Vandekreeke.

"We will be using our valuable learnings from the first year of Carnival Spirit's deployment to decide on the best features and enhancements for Australians," she said.

Vandekreeke said Legend would operate a series of 8-12 day cruises, then spend the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere before returning again to Australia in the spring of 2015.

Bookings for the second ship will open next month.

More information in today's issues of Travel Daily and Cruise Weekly.

This Cruise Weekly breaking news brought to you by Cruise Weekly.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Good one.:)

Heres a link to a photo tour of Carnival Legend.

 

http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalLegend-Profile.html

 

[bazzaw]

Looks like another modern design ship - very similar to all the others! :) Built to maximise balcony cabins - with not a lot of exterior space. It even comes complete with head high glass barriers on the upper forward deck - like the others.

 

Looks like the days of lazing on an aft upper deck and wistfully watching the ship's wake left behind is a thing of the past :( or walking around the ship and feeling close to the sea. )

 

SIGH! - at least there is still Oriana , Aurora and QM2 left -- anybody know of any others ??

Barry

[VK3DQ]

Hi Folks

 

Thanks to David for the link to beyond ships

Where we see another of Joe Farcus's nightmares.

 

 

Outside the ship is as Barry says like many others , inside a garish missmash another one on my "avoid" list .. I sure it will be very popular in Australia

 

 

Just my 2 bobs worth ...

 

Best regards

John

[VK3DQ]

Looks like another modern design ship - very similar to all the others! :) Built to maximise balcony cabins - with not a lot of exterior space. It even comes complete with head high glass barriers on the upper forward deck - like the others.

 

Looks like the days of lazing on an aft upper deck and wistfully watching the ship's wake left behind is a thing of the past :( or walking around the ship and feeling close to the sea. )

 

SIGH! - at least there is still Oriana , Aurora and QM2 left -- anybody know of any others ??

Barry

 

The little old and delightful "Funchal" which I hope will soon be in service again

 

 

Best regards

 

John

[Neil R.]

Hi - its the same class of vessel as the Sprit.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Legend) Issue is that in the Pacific is that the Islands cant handle anything bigger at this point in time. Well its always good news when a new ship is heading into our region - another one to tick of the list!

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Can the Spirit and Legend get under the Gateway Bridge in Brisbane?

 

 

[VK3DQ]

Can the Spirit and Legend get under the Gateway Bridge in Brisbane?

 

 

 

They cannot get under Sydney , but I think they might just get under gateway , but not sure, another blow for "White Bay" ??

 

Best Regards

 

John

[Sutho]

This will be interesting to see if it sells. It is exactly the same as Carnival Spirit so no real insentive to try a "different" ship. Unlike Royal Caribbean they sent (probably by private charter first) Rhapsody of the Seas here followed by Radiance of the Seas and then Voyager of the Seas. All totally different ships. I vaguely remember they tried Legend of the Seas here way back close to 2004 but its season was not much of a success until Rhapsody built up the following.

 

At this stage I am not keen on trying Carnival. Too over priced, too many extras to pay for and the ship is over crowded in comparisson to others of similar size.

[VK3DQ]

 

At this stage I am not keen on trying Carnival. Too over priced, too many extras to pay for and the ship is over crowded in comparisson to others of similar size.

 

These ships are firmly aimed at the family holiday market, butlins at sea aka rina del mar or years gone by

 

 

if priced at acceptable levels they will do well, but they are not for me

 

best regards

 

John

[jessica3152]

This is good news. For years, we have all complained that we get old junk. Carnival are now sending 2 relatively new ships into the Australian market. Sure, Carnival isn't for everyone but over the summer peak the choice of other lines such as HAL, Cunard or Celebrity remains and Princess are in the market year-round.

 

This is a seasonal deployment which makes sense given the market quietens down over winter and there are excellent port facilities in Singapore and Hong Kong from which to base the ship during these months.

 

It will be interesting to see if Legend is Sydney based, (problematic given the congestion at the OPT over summer) or whether they choose to base it out of Brisbane or Melbourne.

 

I think the deployment of Legend downunder means we will never have another new P&O Australia ship. I still believe the existing fleet will be rebranded to Carnival over the next few years or retired. Carnival are actively building their brand awareness in Australia and when they reach critical mass they will park the P&O Australia brand forever.

[GHDPeter]

Carnival does have a lot of TBA booked in the Sydney Ports Cruise terminal Schedule.

 

Not sure if it would fit in Brisbane Cruise Terminal

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I think the deployment of Legend downunder means we will never have another new P&O Australia ship. I still believe the existing fleet will be rebranded to Carnival over the next few years or retired. Carnival are actively building their brand awareness in Australia and when they reach critical mass they will park the P&O Australia brand forever.

 

I fully agree .

P&O Australia ships cannot and will not be able to compete .

The public have spoken .:)

 

 

[gbenjo]

Carnival does have a lot of TBA booked in the Sydney Ports Cruise terminal Schedule.

 

Not sure if it would fit in Brisbane Cruise Terminal

 

More pressure on Sydney Ports / Govt. to upgrade the Overseas Passenger Terminal........... yet another ship that will not fit under the bridge and be able to use White Elephant Bay.:mad::mad:

[The_Big_M]

Bit surprised by this, given demand has been a bit weak over Winter - but certainly good over Summer. Guessing they have excess capacity in the US, plus are lightening the sailings from Europe.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

More pressure on Sydney Ports / Govt. to upgrade the Overseas Passenger Terminal........... yet another ship that will not fit under the bridge and be able to use White Elephant Bay.:mad::mad:

 

 

The cruise lines will not sit around sucking their thumbs forever while Sydney makes up its mind.

 

Sounds like a case of we are coming ...ready or not.

 

It would not surprise me for the lines to approach somewhere like Newcastle , ask for a good deal, and get it.

 

The public just love cruising.

They will travel to join the ship.

Think of all the fun travelling on the "Boat Train" to join the ship....

you could check in at Central and then enjoy a few drinks as you travel to the ship.

 

People in London ,and from all over Britain , travel to Southampton to cruise.

 

 

[paulvdb1]

At this stage I am not keen on trying Carnival. Too over priced, too many extras to pay for and the ship is over crowded in comparisson to others of similar size.

 

I don't quite get this comment. The pricing is the same or cheaper than most of it's competitors. The only real extras are the same ones you get in all ships - eg alcohol, fancy restaurant, soft drinks. Re busy-ness. I've been on the ship probably at it's maximum capacity and it wasn't really an issue. As always you need to pick your timing for specific events but wasn't an issue for us. I've seen however charts showing pax/ship size that shows Carnival at the upper end but realistically it wasn't a big issue.

[sheridan318]

I just got an email from an online travel agent and its definatly on the cards according to them its just been announced it will be Carnival Legend and will be here for a six month period from 2014 out of sydney.

[Tigerman00]

I think the end may be closer than you think for P&O.... The Jewel is already way past it !

 

K

[Sutho]

I don't quite get this comment. The pricing is the same or cheaper than most of it's competitors. The only real extras are the same ones you get in all ships - eg alcohol, fancy restaurant, soft drinks. Re busy-ness. I've been on the ship probably at it's maximum capacity and it wasn't really an issue. As always you need to pick your timing for specific events but wasn't an issue for us. I've seen however charts showing pax/ship size that shows Carnival at the upper end but realistically it wasn't a big issue.

 

On many of the Carnival brands there are pay to use ares like sanctury, retreat or whatever they want to call it where you get private deck space. On Celebrity and Royal Caribbean you get that fancy furniture at no extra cost. Thats just one example.

 

Also when looking at cruises now I examing passenger space ratio. Carnival is notorious for the least amount of space per passengers. It may be a trivial thing but try going on an early Grand class Princess ship opposed to a later version with the extra deck and more passengers and you will soon realise how valueable space is or how much more relaxing the ship feels with less passengers, less lines, no queues etc.

 

That is not to say Carnival is off my to do list.

[need_a_holiday]

It will be open for bookings in June. This has become a no brainer for cruise companies, sail in Australia from September to April, you get almost three months of nsw, vic and qld school holiday travel. Head to Asia in winter and grow that market.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/travel/news/carnival-cruise-lines-to-bring-second-ship-to-australia-to-meet-demand/story-fn32891l-1226638070387

 

I wonder if they will put a different water park on it during the refurb.

[sheridan318]

Hi Ken noticed you are on the three day Solstice same as us, have you sailed on it before/ we did twelve nights really lovley ship you will enjoy it

[fishtaco]

I don't quite get this comment. The pricing is the same or cheaper than most of it's competitors. The only real extras are the same ones you get in all ships - eg alcohol, fancy restaurant, soft drinks. Re busy-ness. I've been on the ship probably at it's maximum capacity and it wasn't really an issue. As always you need to pick your timing for specific events but wasn't an issue for us. I've seen however charts showing pax/ship size that shows Carnival at the upper end but realistically it wasn't a big issue.

 

I tend to agree with you. I did a Carnival cruise out of LongBeach so not the Aussie branded Carnival but in some respects it well outclassed RCI,s brand!

 

I thinks its great The Legend is coming here because it opens up the competition which will result in cheaper cruises.

 

Carnival USA have adult only pool areas that are free of charge same as RCI?

 

I cruised in USA Summer and never once felt there were way too many families /kids / drunken yobbos ect that are always mentioned ? we just kept to adult areas so its all well avoidable.

 

If my next cruise came down to carnival V RCI then price for cabin choice would be the main winning factor, but ease of booking & online pre cruise sales with Carnival wins for sure!

 

How do I think Carnival outbranded RCI in places? Food/drink presentation was at least 30% superior (not to say it tasted better) Carnival also wins with alternative food choices to Dinning room/ Standard Buffet that were fully included. Staff were a lot more fun/happy and they had Adult only shows available every night.:)

 

I dont like Aussification though as all that really means is "What can we rip them for" when all they need to do in reality is change the slots in the casino lol

 

Den