Brochures, itinerary changes and fuel

[DebJ14]

I had a conversation yesterday with a Carnival employee. I asked about the lack of brochures and was told that the lead time is so long that by the time they are printed they are obsolete because of all the changes in deployments. The answer to that is set your schedule like the other lines manage to do, print your brochures and stick to your deployment schedule. Such uncertainty does not endear you to your clients.

 

As for all the time changes in ports and port call swaps they are all due to fuel savings,as is the decision to drop Baltimore because of the Chesapeake restrictions. Under the new laws they can only burn the cheap bunker fuel 200 miles out and have to use the expensive low sulphur fuel the rest of the time. They are trying to design the itineraries to burn the least amount of the expensive fuel. Thus, we are leaving some ports much earlier so they can sail more slowly to the next port and use less fuel.

 

It was also confirmed that the issue with Key West is lack of berths due to the Navy dock taken out of the mix. They are replacing some of the KW calls with Great Stirrup Cay.

 

I say if they want to save fuel they should go to Costa Maya instead of running all the way down to Roatan, especially out of Galveston. It is only the cruises out of Florida that stop there, except on occasion. I miss going to Costa Maya. Silver prices were much better in Costa Maya than Cozumel.

[Cruising Golfer]

AND?????:confused:

[cjknox]

This is all pretty much accurate. Very Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[jwalk03]

Printed brochures are never coming back. They are a total waste in the age of the internet, tablets, laptops, smartphones, etc.

[martinchem]

My mother cruises all the time and will never have internet, laptop or tablet.

[Sparky2]

I had a conversation yesterday with a Carnival employee. I asked about the lack of brochures and was told that the lead time is so long that by the time they are printed they are obsolete because of all the changes in deployments. The answer to that is set your schedule like the other lines manage to do, print your brochures and stick to your deployment schedule. Such uncertainty does not endear you to your clients.

 

As for all the time changes in ports and port call swaps they are all due to fuel savings,as is the decision to drop Baltimore because of the Chesapeake restrictions. Under the new laws they can only burn the cheap bunker fuel 200 miles out and have to use the expensive low sulphur fuel the rest of the time. They are trying to design the itineraries to burn the least amount of the expensive fuel. Thus, we are leaving some ports much earlier so they can sail more slowly to the next port and use less fuel.

 

It was also confirmed that the issue with Key West is lack of berths due to the Navy dock taken out of the mix. They are replacing some of the KW calls with Great Stirrup Cay.

 

I say if they want to save fuel they should go to Costa Maya instead of running all the way down to Roatan, especially out of Galveston. It is only the cruises out of Florida that stop there, except on occasion. I miss going to Costa Maya. Silver prices were much better in Costa Maya than Cozumel.

 

Interesting!

[jwalk03]

My mother cruises all the time and will never have internet, laptop or tablet.

 

Yes and she probobly still uses a travel agent which is a dying industry as well, right along with the printed brochures.

[nhraformula00]

The lack of printed materials has put me into early retirement at the age of 55. Worked in the printing industry for 37 years and with all the downsizing and the poor economy I was the 2nd of 8 employees to be laid off perm. Our company had never had a lay off in 57 years.

[firemanbobswife]

I really miss the printed brochures. Glad I saved mine from before. I still like to go back and reference them.

 

Just ordered a new one from RC because we were considering going on the Allure.

 

But that could be one reason why RC is normally priced higher than Carnival. I really don't know.

 

I would be happy with paying like $5 for a brochure if given the option. But that's just me. I get tired of having to stare at everything on a computer screen.

[Sh1035]

What's a brochure? I googled and got some old car pictures. How do you change the options and colors and see what the car looked like?

 

Can't change a loosing cruise port or route because you still have brochures left? Is that what happened to Pontiac?

 

Also, I think in a poll you will find Roatan far more popular. The reef, beaches and water are fantastic. But never selected a port for cost of silver? But they could certainly breeze by Belize for more costa maya. Belize is too spread out to see the beauty in 10 hours.

[cjknox]

What's a brochure? I googled and got some old car pictures. How do you change the options and colors and see what the car looked like?

 

Can't change a loosing cruise port or route because you still have brochures left? Is that what happened to Pontiac?

 

Also, I think in a poll you will find Roatan far more popular. The reef, beaches and water are fantastic. But never selected a port for cost of silver? But they could certainly breeze by Belize for more costa maya. Belize is too spread out to see the beauty in 10 hours.

 

Wait.....what are you talking about??????:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

[AdGuyMG]

I had a conversation yesterday with a Carnival employee. I asked about the lack of brochures and was told that the lead time is so long that by the time they are printed they are obsolete because of all the changes in deployments. The answer to that is set your schedule like the other lines manage to do, print your brochures and stick to your deployment schedule. Such uncertainty does not endear you to your clients.

 

I have 2013 / 2014 / 2015 brochures from Princess, Holland and Royal and each of them has a few itineraries and deployments that are different from what I see currently on their website.

 

Certainly not endearing when trying to make future plans.

[vols_159]

Printed brochures are never coming back. They are a total waste in the age of the internet, tablets, laptops, smartphones, etc.

 

Love the brochures I get in the mail from other cruises lines..

[TruckerDave]

Printed brochures are never coming back. They are a total waste in the age of the internet, tablets, laptops, smartphones, etc.

 

ding ding ding.

 

A change in port visit or homeport can be changed by some IT person in Miami and along with any news, new features can be sent out to everybody around the world in an instant. No need to spend thousands of dollars on them when all they have to do is update their website.

[TruckerDave]

Yes and she probobly still uses a travel agent which is a dying industry as well, right along with the printed brochures.

 

I agree with this as well. I never have understood paying somebody to make my travel plans when I have a computer, internet connection and credit cards. With the vast amount (and sometimes too much) of information out there (such as this website) I just don't see the need for a travel agent anymore.

[firemanbobswife]

Love the brochures I get in the mail from other cruises lines..

 

Me too. I like being able to lay in bed without the iPad or laptop and just read.

 

I use them more for the deck plans than anything else. Now that I think about it, that's all I use them for. Maybe they could just have printed ones of the ships themselves.

[Tapi]

Call me old fashioned, but I LOVE brochures!

 

I have a magazine rack filled with them at home (well for all cruise lines EXCEPT Carnival which is the only major cruise line currently not printing them). I find deck plans A LOT easier to read on a glossy brochure than scrolling through a computer image.

 

And even if a brochure becomes outdated, it's easier to get a quick glimpse at a cruise line's itineraries by looking at a brochure than by checking a websites. The current Worldwide cruise atlas from Royal Caribbean, NCL, Princess, and Holland America are phenomenal.

I also subscribe to cruise magazines. :D

[plattwear]

How will we be notified if they changed the port from Key West to Stirrup Cay? Does anyone know?

 

I loved the cruise brochures as well... I could look at them during my lunch hour at work without having to use Iphone (which is harder to see) and I can not use company computer for personal use during lunch but... like all things that change, I am using the internet at home to do research etc., on my cruise, which will do just fine. ;)

[SadieN]

California has required the more expensive fuel in port for many years and soon we will have two and a half ships here year round. The Imagination will be coming in a few months and the Miracle is splitting her time between Alaska, Hawaii & Long Beach. Haven't had this many Carnival ships on the West Coast in a long time.

 

OTOH The Imagination and Inspiration cruises only go 200 miles to Ensenada and 26 miles to Catalina. Gotta love in-county cruising. Long Beach and Catalina are both part of Los Angeles county.

[cjknox]

Call me old fashioned, but I LOVE brochures!

 

I have a magazine rack filled with them at home (well for all cruise lines EXCEPT Carnival which is the only major cruise line currently not printing them). I find deck plans A LOT easier to read on a glossy brochure than scrolling through a computer image.

 

And even if a brochure becomes outdated, it's easier to get a quick glimpse at a cruise line's itineraries by looking at a brochure than by checking a websites. The current Worldwide cruise atlas from Royal Caribbean, NCL, Princess, and Holland America are phenomenal.

I also subscribe to cruise magazines. :D

 

You and I both Tapui. I love just holding a tangible brochure; and online version can't replace it.

[Darkstrike]

Isn't Great Stirrup Cay NCL's private island?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

[rkacruiser]

I appreciate the OP's message and I think it is quite accurate in its content.

 

Carnival is missing a segment of the population that is not electronics savy and relies on what some on this Board consider out-dated media. Given the difficulty the Company is having in booking their ships, I am hopeful that the Senior Executives will finally realize that they need us who prefer "catalog" shopping over on-line shopping. Nothing replaces the ease of searching for a cruise than a brochure.

 

And, nothing will ever replace having an excellent, professional travel agent when one's travel plans get messed up. A top notch agent is worth finding and using!