New Carnival ship downunder?

[jessica3152]

Sutho, I admire your passion for P&O and recognise that you have cruised with the very different UK brand a number of times but you seem to naively believe that maintaining a unique Australian brand makes some sense in what is a global industry.

 

Why is it automatically assumed that ships must be built over 100,000tons. I think most people would be happy with a new build between 70,000 and 100,000tons.

 

There is no need for the global cruise companies to buy newbuilds in the 70K-100K tonne range. They have plenty of them already and can rotate them between lines and locations as needed. Carnival Corp has Spirit Class, Sun Class and Vista Class in this range whilst RCI have the Millenium, Rhapsody and Radiance Classes. The global lines are seeing demand in the 130K+ range in their primary markets so that is where they are concentrating their newbuilds. The US based lines will have even less use for the smaller ships in the next couple of years once the works on the Panama Canal are completed and the 100K+ ships are able to transit it.

 

Sun, Dawn and Sea Princess are now operating from Australia on a regular basis. Why is Princess retaining these ships??

Because Princess is their global brand for this market segment, one step above mass-market but below their more formal premium lines such as HAL and Cunard.

 

British have no problems sailing with Australians on P&O World Cruises and Americans have no problems sailing with Australians on the likes of Princess, Celebrity etc

The Australian market is much smaller than the British and American markets so doesn't justify its own brand. It is easier to market an Australian based Carnival cruise in America than a P&O Australia cruise which is a brand with no recognition in that market.

 

To me sending the Carnival Legend here is a slap in the face to P&O Australia and it is a clear sign that the parent company intends to let P&O Australia die a slow death and not replace its ships.

It's not a slap in the face. There are no unique P&O Aust staff; they are all Carnival Australia staff (and mostly hired via Princess' LA headquarters) and all probably very aware what the long term strategy is. Carnival has decided to retire the P&O Aust brand and replace it with Carnival. This has been obvious ever since P&O Aust adopted its nothing livery and the Spirit's arrival was announced. The only question is whether any of the existing fleet are upgraded and rebranded as Carnival Jewel etc or retired along with the brand.

[Sutho]

Thats what P&O Australia have always had the former Princess ships and at one stage a former Carnival ship the Jubilee if I remember correctly.

 

I personally do not think splitting Carnival in two is a good idea. When Carnival operates out of UK/Europe it is still the main Carnival brand, yet when they come to Australia they want to seperate us from them.

 

If I were to try Carnival I would not be interested in Carnival Australia, I would go to the US brand. Princess will never split their fleet up between countries, Celebrity did not. In some ways it does seem like an insult to the Australian market how we get the oldest ships and worst conditions considering recent statistics suggest our cruise growth is second only to the US market.

[Royalty X]

I do have to admit, it is odd that they've split the Spirit off from the US Carnival brand (US residents can't book the Spirit on the US site, in fact it doesn't even exist on the site). I would've thought that they would leave it on there for US people to try Aussie itineraries (like Princess). The only reason to have Australian management is if there is a unique brand in the market (in this case P&O). With it only cruising seasonally, I'm very interested to see what they do with the Legend. Will you be able to book on both US and Aussie sites...?

[bazzaw]

P&O AUS must be doing something right. Today, we waved off friends on a short 7 day coastal cruise to Cairns by Pacific Dawn from Brisbane. 14 friends booked over 6 months ago for this cruise. I thought they paid well over the odds for the cruise (far in excess of what we paid for a cruise on VOS earlier this year) - so I adopted my usual tactic of waiting for the "deals" to come out a few months before the cruise sailed. Said deals did not eventuate - and the ship sailed FULLY BOOKED in all categories - and we were left on the dock :o

 

I think P&O know the Aussie market well and have been the only cruiseline to operate PERMANENTLY from an Australian port other than Sydney. Without P&O AUS we would have no cruising industry operating in Australia - except for the "pick the eyes out of the market" Princess line and the "visiting" other carpetbaggers. It appears that Carnival will now march alongside P&O AUS as a permanent cruising presence. I think that having a Company known as P&O which is completely different from another Company known as P&O is crazy - perhaps the parent Company Carnival Corp thinks this too??

 

Barry

[The_Big_M]

With it only cruising seasonally, I'm very interested to see what they do with the Legend. Will you be able to book on both US and Aussie sites...?

 

I expect that the seasons will be available on the respective web sites.

 

I.e. while it is in Australia you need to book via the Australian office. While in the US, bookings will be available through the US.

[Lukius]

Hi all,

 

I sailed on the Carnival Legend last November, and loved her. I was excited to read she was coming to Australia soon. :-)

 

I didnt really see her as an "older" ship at all. Carnival has much much older ships in their fleet - such as the Carnival Fantasy (build year 1990), Carnival Ecstasy (1991), Carnival Sensation (1993) etc. The Carnival Legend, build year 2002, in comparison is a much more modern ship. And yes, all these "old ladies" as some said, are still sailing from the US, and presumably, still making a good profit. Now it would be a slap in the face to the Australian market if they sent some of these "old ladies" over here. Instead they sent a modern ship, as large as the facilities here can handle. I think that is a sign of their confidence in the Australian Market, not the lack thereof.

 

Yes, the Legend had the usual signs of wear that any facility with that many people coming and going gets over time, but I really did love her style! The glass stairway to the Steak house is fabulous. The "Enchanted forrest" was fabulous too. I loved all the Egyptian designs everywhere. I gave up trying to count the numbers of urns! LOL We spent some time in "Serenity" as well and loved the Adults only retreat. And yes, you can sit at the back of the ship and watch the wake from Serenity. I loved sitting in the Legends cafe, sipping coffee, and watching the waves as we cruised along.

 

I am booked on "Spirit" in August this year, so am looking forward to comparing the two. Yes, I know they are the same class ship but was intersted to see what differences she has from the Legend. The only thing I did not like about the Legend was the food. I hope the food on the Spirit is better.

 

Cheers,

 

Rebecca

[MMDown Under]

Carnival Cruises Pull Ships out of UK and Europe News -

 

Perez said "We made tweaks for the UK and European Markets - British Comedians, tea and coffee making facilities, marmite and brown sauce".

 

Redeploying Carnival Legend seasonally out of Sydney, Australia in 2014.

 

Wonder what tweaks they plan for the Australian market this time.

 

Curious about the brown sauce. Could that be HP Sauce or Worcestershire Sauce?

 

In that case would be happy if "brown sauce" is retained, as well as the tea and coffee making facilities.

 

How many passengers on Legend? Later 2,124 - mid size ship.

 

Pity "seasonally out of Sydney" probably means the northern winter season.

[Royalty X]

Carnival Cruises Pull Ships out of UK and Europe News -

 

Perez said "We made tweaks for the UK and European Markets - British Comedians, tea and coffee making facilities, marmite and brown sauce".

 

Redeploying Carnival Legend seasonally out of Sydney, Australia in 2014.

 

Wonder what tweaks they plan for the Australian market this time.

 

Curious about the brown sauce. Could that be HP Sauce or Worcestershire Sauce?

 

In that case would be happy if "brown sauce" is retained, as well as the tea and coffee making facilities.

 

How many passengers on Legend? Later 2,124 - mid size ship.

 

Pity "seasonally out of Sydney" probably means the northern winter season.

Brown sauce is HP sauce. :)