Is Carnival Falling Behind?

[Hendricks Clan]

I disagree. NCL's product is nearly identical to Carnival's, with the only difference being the larger selection of restaurants on NCl. On the other side, Carnival's kids' program is better than NCL's.

 

In the meantime I haven't noticed a decline in product quality on Carnival, nor a lack of activities or innovation. In fact our B2B on Victory last year were among the best we've ever taken in 10 cruises on Carnival over the past 9 years.

 

I couldn't disagree more. IMHO NCL offers a lot more right now than CCL can even dream of. In my 15 CCL cruises I can't remember a single ship offering bowling, where as I can do that on NCL. Fireworks on CCL, I don't think so but those just a couple of things and I could go on and on. I think the kids program can be subjective based on ship and crew. I will say this the kids in our group much prefer NCL kids/teen program but once again thats subjective.

[DGP1111]

Why would you want a carousel? ... I dont know... I just dont get it.

 

On a ship the size of those two, they simply had the available space to install them . . . and they fit in perfectly with the theme of that neighborhood.

 

No matter if a passenger personally experiences/rides the carousel while onboard, it definitely creates a positive 'experience' for that passenger.

I'll admit I rode it on a whim embarkation day, and that was a "one and done" but I enjoyed it, and glad to be able to say I did it. ;)

 

Along the same subject, I don't personally see the need for a monorail onboard a cruise ship, but when that infamous concept video for the Pinnacle Project appeared a few years ago (the one that also showed a rock climbing wall and a physically impossible water attraction) some of the strongest CCL supporters got so excited that they almost had to change their pants.

Innovation excites the consumer.

 

True. :)

.

[StaceySteveDMB]

Really! Since they don't go to any ports in Europe, I don't see how that is possible.

 

 

On 7 day eastern Caribbean cruises Carnival has four ports. Both NCL and RCL have three. Btw Carnival Corp. is very much still in Europe.

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

Isn't there a charge for that? Talk about nickel and dime, now you have to pay for good entertainment. That's ok, if I want to see a concert, I'll stay on land.

That's weird because I was going to say the same thing about 2nd rate off broadway productions. If I want to see Hairspray or bluer mans group or whatever they have I will go to Broadway....much better. BTW, the nichel dime is my line....and it still applies

[jimbo5544]

On a ship the size of those two, they simply had the available space to install them . . . and they fit in perfectly with the theme of that neighborhood.

 

No matter if a passenger personally experiences/rides the carousel while onboard, it definitely creates a positive 'experience' for that passenger.

I'll admit I rode it on a whim embarkation day, and that was a "one and done" but I enjoyed it, and glad to be able to say I did it. ;)

 

Along the same subject, I don't personally see the need for a monorail onboard a cruise ship, but when that infamous concept video for the Pinnacle Project appeared a few years ago (the one that also showed a rock climbing wall and a physically impossible water attraction) some of the strongest CCL supporters got so excited that they almost had to change their pants.

Innovation excites the consumer.

 

True. :)

.

I would not be happy with a monorail either. I also think we have seen as real as Pinnacle will become.

[morganboys]

this us vs them is getting old folks. we enjoy both ccl and rccl and sail both. here is my frustration with carnival ships. WOW me with something new that isn't a cookie cutter same ole same ole ship. there is no need for carnival to attempt to compete for the largest ship contest. That doesn't mean they can't build more smaller ships? I'm waiting for a line to add a lazy river to the lido deck. Now that would be cool to float on my tube right up to the bar for a bucket of beers and then float on down the river while enjoying my cold ones. now that would be innovative!

[undertheradar]

That's weird because I was going to say the same thing about 2nd rate off broadway productions. If I want to see Hairspray or bluer mans group or whatever they have I will go to Broadway....much better. BTW, the nichel dime is my line....and it still applies

 

I was pointing out that on one hand you have free verses fee for hamburgers. On the other hand you have free verses fee for entertainment. I actually would pay to see some of the bands offered on Carnival Live. I only put in the part about staying on land to show how inane it sounds when somebody says the same thing when talking about options that are offered by other cruise lines. No one is forcing anybody to do something they don't want to do, but isn't nice to have that option? And I'm not going to argue about the quality involved between the different entertainment offerings.

 

Great to see your Rangers knock out the Penguins. Sorry, but I have to root against them in the next round. I don't like the Rangers, but I hate the Penguins.

[cruzfitter]

Btw Carnival Corp. is very much still in Europe.

 

 

 

I know some people posted things in this thread about Carnival Corp. but the OP's originally was talking about Carnival cruise line. And when reading your post that I quoted, you were talking about Carnival cruise line also.

[EZ4]

I know some people posted things in this thread about Carnival Corp. but the OP's originally was talking about Carnival cruise line. And when reading your post that I quoted, you were talking about Carnival cruise line also.

 

Carnival Corp. has two budget lines. Carnival and Aida. They have N. America and Europe covered with their cheapest lines. These two lines are in a class all of their own. Carnival Corp. competes with the other mass market lines with their other cruise lines.

Edited May 14, 2014 by EZ4

[cjknox]

It has nothing to do with the "biggest ship" game. NCL for example hasn't built anything close to the size of Oasis/Allure, yet find better use for open/wasted space by adding venues and amenities that guest enjoy.

 

When comparing Dream/Magic/Breeze (130,000) to Breakaway/Getaway/Epic (146,000/150,000) Both classes of ships have many similar features and amenities:

 

Both have a wide variety of dining offerings. For the young cruisers/families both are great and have ample options specifically for them like the kids clubs, ropes course, water park etc. Both classes have various forms of entertainment including stage productions, specialty shows and live music options.

 

Of course personal preferences will determine which one you prefer and these are just some of the various offerings on board but this just solidifies the notion that Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian are more similar to one another with some on board and operational differences. Yet with all of the similarities to the "innovators", Carnival is somehow still not innovating at all and are light years behind them.

 

Yeah..... um okay.

[cjknox]

Carnival Corp. has two budget lines. Carnival and Aida. They have N. America and Europe covered with their cheapest lines. These two lines are in a class all of their own. Carnival Corp. competes with the other mass market lines with their other cruise lines.

 

No that's Carnival and Costa.

[cruzfitter]

this us vs them is getting old folks. we enjoy both ccl and rccl and sail both. here is my frustration with carnival ships. WOW me with something new that isn't a cookie cutter same ole same ole ship. there is no need for carnival to attempt to compete for the largest ship contest. That doesn't mean they can't build more smaller ships? I'm waiting for a line to add a lazy river to the lido deck. Now that would be cool to float on my tube right up to the bar for a bucket of beers and then float on down the river while enjoying my cold ones. now that would be innovative!

 

I agree. Make a ship with a lazy river and I don't care who it belongs to, I'll be on it.

I also agree with your us vs. them statement. It bothers me when somebody puts down an option offered on another cruise line as a way to make there chosen cruise line look better.

As you can see most of my cruises have been with RCL, but I don't think all the things they do are perfect. Carousel-not going to use it. Flowrider- spent hours trying to master it. Bumper cars- maybe once. Skydiving simulator-love to try it if I ever get on Qos or Aos. Also liked the slides on Epic and would like the rope course on CCL.

[EZ4]

No that's Carnival and Costa.

 

No.

[cruzfitter]

Carnival Corp. has two budget lines. Carnival and Aida. They have N. America and Europe covered with their cheapest lines. These two lines are in a class all of their own. Carnival Corp. competes with the other mass market lines with their other cruise lines.

 

I'm aware of this. The person I was responding to switched from talking about Carnival cruise line to Carnival Corp. to try to justify his statement.

 

Check out the wealth of info at Cruisemarketwatch.com

[Hendricks Clan]

On 7 day eastern Caribbean cruises Carnival has four ports. Both NCL and RCL have three. Btw Carnival Corp. is very much still in Europe.

 

 

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I can go anywhere in the Eastern and Western Caribbean on NCL that CCL goes to with the exception of HMC and Grand Turk. NCL has their own GSC which cancels out HMC. Im not a fan of Grand Turk so I'm ok with not going there. NCL will begin to offer Banana Coast, Honduras this fall, unless Im mistaken CCL doesn't go there. Also, NCL will bring on a new port in Belize that CCL will not be going to. Finally, NCL signed an exclusive agreement with Tortola which will limit/block many other cruise lines from being able to visit. The list can go on and on like NCL's unmatched Hawaii cruises, the only mainstream cruise line to have weekly visits to Alaska's Glacier Bay, NCL is unmatched in Bermuda with the most preferred weekdays in port, CCL doesn't offer anything close to NCL's new S. America itineraries, and lets not even compare Europe where NCL has once again for a number of years in a row been voted "Europes Leading Cruise line" for Americans. So to say RCI and NCL can't compete is one of the most ridiculous statements I've ever read on here.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Hendricks Clan

[zephyrhillscruisers]

Perhaps I'm a little lazy or just not in the right economic class, but Carnival has suited my wife and I well. We've repeated a few ports and usually just browse the towns.

 

Living in Florida, we get news of the constant economic and social upheaval in Mexico and parts of Central America like Honduras and South America such as Venezuela. Absolutely zero desire to visit those stops. We've been there, done that, got the Yard at Senor Frogs in Cozumel.

 

If Cuba doesn't get taken over by the Chinese, or the Russians (who once again have subs docked in Havana) I would like to cruise there someday.

[cjknox]

I agree. Make a ship with a lazy river and I don't care who it belongs to, I'll be on it.

 

It looks like your next cruise will be on AidaPrima. You better brush up on your German!:D

 

http://d1ozq1nmb5vv1n.cloudfront.net/fileadmin/user_upload/v3/Presse/PM_2013_Q4/AIDAprima_4_Elements_Lazy_River.jpg

[LMaxwell]

Why am I not surprised that the question of is Carnival innovating or losing an edge has turned into an echo chamber of the same people reposting that they want a cheap cruise and don't add anything.

 

Don't worry, Carnival isn't adding anything. Except Decks. And Crowds. And if that's what it takes to make the cruise fare low and make you happy, A-OK with me. But it's not innovation. I don't think there is anything wrong in stating Carnival gave up on being innovative a long time ago. They provide a certain experience for a certain price. People unwilling to see what they are missing outside of Carnival really paint themselves into a corner saying they love everything the way it is; how do you know?

 

And Carnival does not need to make monster ships or have a million pay for venues in order to innovate. That's not the only thing innovation means.

[StaceySteveDMB]

I can go anywhere in the Eastern and Western Caribbean on NCL that CCL goes to with the exception of HMC and Grand Turk. NCL has their own GSC which cancels out HMC. Im not a fan of Grand Turk so I'm ok with not going there. NCL will begin to offer Banana Coast, Honduras this fall, unless Im mistaken CCL doesn't go there. Also, NCL will bring on a new port in Belize that CCL will not be going to. Finally, NCL signed an exclusive agreement with Tortola which will limit/block many other cruise lines from being able to visit. The list can go on and on like NCL's unmatched Hawaii cruises, the only mainstream cruise line to have weekly visits to Alaska's Glacier Bay, NCL is unmatched in Bermuda with the most preferred weekdays in port, CCL doesn't offer anything close to NCL's new S. America itineraries, and lets not even compare Europe where NCL has once again for a number of years in a row been voted "Europes Leading Cruise line" for Americans. So to say RCI and NCL can't compete is one of the most ridiculous statements I've ever read on here.

 

 

Go back and read my posts. I never said RCL and NCL "can't compete ". As far as saying CCL has more ports, I am referring to a single 7 day cruise both eastern and western. CCL goes to four ports while NCL, RCL, and Disney typically only visit three. We have sailed NCL and though we didn't like it as much as CCL, we will one day cruise with NCL again and check out the new ships. The cost, though I can easily afford it, is more than I care to pay while there is still much we want to do on CCL. We have never sailed RCL or Disney, but again cost, variety of ports, and our happiness with the product is keeping us with CCL.

 

 

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[mz Miami]

Why build a big ship that can't even fit 90% of the ports ? All the huge ships can only go to certain places that don't make no sense at all .IMO

[Tapi]

Why build a big ship that can't even fit 90% of the ports ? All the huge ships can only go to certain places that don't make no sense at all .IMO

 

 

 

Because those ships ARE the destination. They offer a different option for people who cruise for the ship, rather than the destination.

 

Even on the most port intensive itinerary, you still spend most of your time on the ship. I wrote on another post that on our cruise aboard the Allure, we spent a grand total of 11 hours ashore out of 168 hours in a week (roughly 6% of our time). We had little interest in going ashore. The ship was all we were interested in.

 

 

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Edited May 14, 2014 by Tapi

[Tapi]

Carousel-not going to use it.

 

 

You know what was the one thing that we used the most when we sailed on the Allure? The Carousel! :o If you'd asked me before our cruise what was the one thing I was most looking forward to, the Carousel would've been dead last!

 

But were traveling with a 2 year old and we had a Boardwalk facing stateroom, so the Carousel was in our face all the time. Our son was super excited about it and would sit in our stateroom and watch that darn thing incessantly. It became a habit to ride the Carousel on our way out from our stateroom as well as on the way back! Thank goodness it was free!

 

As a general comment: All of these offerings, including the Carousel, are about one thing: CHOICES. Instead of the senseless bantering about who's better, people should instead be glad that there are CHOICES. The cruise industry would be VERY boring if my ONLY choice was Carnival, or Royal, or NCL. I'm glad that my last cruise was on Holland, the one before that was on Carnival, our next one will be on Royal, and the one after that will be on Princess. :D

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

You know what was the one thing that we used the most when we sailed on the Allure? The Carousel! :o If you'd asked me before our cruise what was the one thing I was most looking forward to, the Carousel would've been dead last!

 

But were traveling with a 2 year old and we had a Boardwalk facing stateroom, so the Carousel was in our face all the time. Our son was super excited about it and would sit in our stateroom and watch that darn thing incessantly. It became a habit to ride the Carousel on our way out from our stateroom as well as on the way back! Thank goodness it was free!

 

As a general comment: All of these offerings, including the Carousel, are about one thing: CHOICES. Instead of the senseless bantering about who's better, people should instead be glad that there are CHOICES. The cruise industry would be VERY boring if my ONLY choice was Carnival, or Royal, or NCL. I'm glad that my last cruise was on Holland, the one before that was on Carnival, our next one will be on Royal, and the one after that will be on Princess. :D

 

 

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Choices are not a bad thing. Our grand kids loved the carousel as well and I echoed your comments during the last night of the cruise on Oasis as they were on their 20th ride, if it were not free, I would have been broke.

[meatloafsfan]

Because those ships ARE the destination. They offer a different option for people who cruise for the ship, rather than the destination.

 

Even on the most port intensive itinerary, you still spend most of your time on the ship. I write on another post that on our cruise aboard the Allure, we spent a grand total of 11 hours ashore out of 168 hours in a week (roughly 6% of our time). We had little interest in going ashore. The ship was all we were interested in.

 

If we ever sail the Allure or the Oasis, I don't plan on getting off the ship at all (until we debark).

 

Kind of the same when we sail Disney. The ship IS the destination (especially when you have the same Caribbean ports, again and again). There's so much to do onboard, it's like a floating resort. We got off the ship a few times for very short periods before heading back to the ship. Even on Castaway Cay day, my dad got off the ship and snorkelled (one of the first ones off and in the water before all the sand gets kicked up). He came back onboard to grab my mom and I and I decided to go to the AquaLab and then Satellite Falls instead (2 more unique water features on the Disney Fantasy).

 

Carnival has a good mix of onboard activities, varied ports, varied embarkation ports, good food (especially with the 2.0 improvements) and a certain "Fun" factor.

 

At the basis, all cruises are the same (ship, food, ports, entertainment). What they do with each of those factors is what makes the cruise lines different. It's why I don't really see settling down to 1 and only 1 line for us. Each cruiseline has it's plusess and minuses. I hope they don't all become the same.

 

Carnival doesn't need to add exactly the same things that Royal is adding or NCL. They are adding/including what makes them Carnival (Funship 2.0 upgrades - Rope Courses, Waterslides, Brunch, etc).

[JerrynClaire]

Carnival falling behind NCL and RCCL? LOL... How? Because they don't want to build those Mall size ships that can't dock in a lot of ports, making them unappealing? hmmm.... RCCL and NCL builds nicer ships? Why? Because they're bigger? Need you be reminded Carnival owns MANY brands in the cruise industry and NONE of them are targeted at each other's demographic market. RCCL and NCL have NOTHING that can get even close to comparing with Cunard, a Carnival owned line. Bigger and newer is not better people... its all based on each person's opinions. Princess ships are every bit as "Nice" as any of those 2 lines... HAL is even nicer. Carnival is in a class all it's own. They are the leader in cheap, affordable cruises, and THAT is exactly the market they chose for THAT line... Cunard blows away EVERYTHING out there in elegance, once again, owning their demographic market. HAL does quite nicely in attracting the older crowd that still has some life left in them.

 

Personally, I have sailed RCCL and never care to do it again. Those huge Mall Of The Seas ships have no interest to me whatsoever, but if that's your cup of tea, have at it...

 

Carnival will be around as long as they want to be, and will continue to dominate their desired market.