John Heald announcement

[jamon]

About two weeks ago John announced on his facebook that he would have an announcement to make soon about some changes.  Does anyone know if he made this announcement and what it was???? Haven't seen any on facebook recently..

[serene56]

Chicken store onboard some ships?

[serene56]

https://www.travelagentcentral.com/cruises/carnival-radiance-to-sail-shaq-s-big-chicken-restaurant

 

 

[1025cruise]

There was also an announcement about some European cruises for the Radiance (I believe) when it leaves dry dock.

[serene56]

Its Brilliant  

[crewsweeper]

There was also an announcement regarding changes in Carnival Smoking Policy.  In the past, if you smaoked in your cabin or on your balcony, including doobies and vaping, you were accessed a fine $250-$500.  Now you and all cabin mates or people in your party, if connected, will be kicked of the ship at the next port of call.   Does NOT apply to casino.

Non-smokers are encouraged to contact guest services rather than confront offenders.

Smokers need to think twice before lighting up in cabins or balconies.  Carnival has upgraded outside smoking areas on many ships, with nice seating and umbrellas and ashtrays. 

[Micahs Grandad]

I think it was an announcement about an upcoming brilliant announcement that will be made next Tuesday unless it is further delayed.

[jamon]

Yes Micah's Grandad I believe that is the announcement that I was referring to...Was hoping it will be about maybe some kind of point merger among Carnivals brands...Arnold Donald talked about this maybe two years ago that it was in the works, and still nothing...thanks

[Mutumbojimbo]

He has hinted at some movement of ships to new home ports, but I'm sure the big announcement was about the European itineraries.

[bigdog1958]

1 hour ago, crewsweeper said:

There was also an announcement regarding changes in Carnival Smoking Policy.  In the past, if you smaoked in your cabin or on your balcony, including doobies and vaping, you were accessed a fine $250-$500.  Now you and all cabin mates or people in your party, if connected, will be kicked of the ship at the next port of call.   Does NOT apply to casino.

Non-smokers are encouraged to contact guest services rather than confront offenders.

Smokers need to think twice before lighting up in cabins or balconies.  Carnival has upgraded outside smoking areas on many ships, with nice seating and umbrellas and ashtrays. 

The smoking rules do not say you will be kicked off,  its says you could be,  big difference,  I do not see carnival throwing people off the ship for smoking.. fines yes...  Carnival contract with cruisers has always said, you can be removed from the ship for breaking any rules, but they don't remove people for just breaking one of the rules

[ProgRockCruiser]

3 hours ago, jamon said:

About two weeks ago John announced on his facebook that he would have an announcement to make soon about some changes.  Does anyone know if he made this announcement and what it was???? Haven't seen any on facebook recently..

 

I started a thread a couple of weeks back, and I tried to keep it as full of updates as I could:

 

 

To me, the major two announcements from last week were the addition of the Big Chicken (Shaq), starting with Radiance, and the announcement of the Radiance itineraries, including sailings in Europe and sailings by it and other ships to Cuba from more ports.

 

He hasn't said much since then on his FB page that I would consider "big news".  I don't believe he has referenced the "new" smoking policy either.

Edited November 20, 2018 by ProgRockCruiser

[shof515]

it is an announcement about an announcement that is about an announcement and so on..

[Micahs Grandad]

9 hours ago, jamon said:

Yes Micah's Grandad I believe that is the announcement that I was referring to...Was hoping it will be about maybe some kind of point merger among Carnivals brands...Arnold Donald talked about this maybe two years ago that it was in the works, and still nothing...thanks

 

I know that they have talked about it internally but apparently decided to either not do it or do it someday when they decide to change the loyalty program. In the meantime we are mostly cruising on Princess and will be elite long before any changes made in loyalty programs.

[BlerkOne]

13 hours ago, jamon said:

Yes Micah's Grandad I believe that is the announcement that I was referring to...Was hoping it will be about maybe some kind of point merger among Carnivals brands...Arnold Donald talked about this maybe two years ago that it was in the works, and still nothing...thanks

 

Perhaps you could quote where he said it was in the works? Carnival Corp is all about branding and brand differentiation. While there might be a loose coupling between a couple of brands (prior perhaps to a merger of those brands?), I would not expect anything corporate-wide.

 

[tidecat]

14 hours ago, Mutumbojimbo said:

He has hinted at some movement of ships to new home ports, but I'm sure the big announcement was about the European itineraries.

There was no specific announcement that I saw, but Magic is moving to Fort Lauderdale to Miami in May 2020, and Breeze is moving from Port Canaveral to Fort Lauderdale in October 2020.

[grandmarnnurse]

4 hours ago, tidecat said:

There was no specific announcement that I saw, but Magic is moving to Fort Lauderdale to Miami in May 2020, and Breeze is moving from Port Canaveral to Fort Lauderdale in October 2020.

The Magic will be moving to Ft Lauderdale BEFORE May 2020, as I am sailing that ship out of Ft Lauderdale in April 2020. 

[serene56]

23 hours ago, jamon said:

Yes Micah's Grandad I believe that is the announcement that I was referring to...Was hoping it will be about maybe some kind of point merger among Carnivals brands...Arnold Donald talked about this maybe two years ago that it was in the works, and still nothing...thanks

Merging carnival with Princess?   I hope not as its two different cruises entirely 

[jimbo5544]

19 minutes ago, serene56 said:

Merging carnival with Princess?   I hope not as its two different cruises entirely 

I think that is the point.  Two weeks ago aboard the Breeze John discussed the need for a loyalty program overhaul and HIS thoughts on what it should be.  WHat prompted that was a question during a Q&A about loyalty rewards across all Carnival brands.  It makes sense, but extremely hard to bring to fruition, for many reasons.

[cruzincat50]

On 11/20/2018 at 9:10 AM, serene56 said:

Chicken store onboard some ships?

 

36 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I think that is the point.  Two weeks ago aboard the Breeze John discussed the need for a loyalty program overhaul and HIS thoughts on what it should be.  WHat prompted that was a question during a Q&A about loyalty rewards across all Carnival brands.  It makes sense, but extremely hard to bring to fruition, for many reasons.

More people are finding out that MSC will offer parity with other brands such as Carnival's VIFP program.  That's a heck of an incentive to give MSC a try in my opinion. We just turned Platinum on Carnival during our 14 day Journeys cruise.  The free laundry was nice, but I don't think I would need it on shorter cruises.  That is the main thing MSC does not have in their program. I can see where CCL starts to see some erosion in cruising loyalty if they don't do something comparable with their other brands.  People want to try something different, even if only to confirm their satisfaction with Carnival.  Allowing them to try out CCL's other brands keeps the money flowing to them.

[ProgRockCruiser]

7 minutes ago, cruzincat50 said:

 

More people are finding out that MSC will offer parity with other brands such as Carnival's VIFP program.  That's a heck of an incentive to give MSC a try in my opinion. We just turned Platinum on Carnival during our 14 day Journeys cruise.  The free laundry was nice, but I don't think I would need it on shorter cruises.  That is the main thing MSC does not have in their program. I can see where CCL starts to see some erosion in cruising loyalty if they don't do something comparable with their other brands.  People want to try something different, even if only to confirm their satisfaction with Carnival.  Allowing them to try out CCL's other brands keeps the money flowing to them.

Indeed, my thoughts exactly.

[Micahs Grandad]

I would have thought they would want to keep cruisers in their "family" as they got older and their cruising desires changed but apparently they are more interested in getting new cruisers than keeping the older ones.

 

Certainly the average new cruiser will spend much more than experienced ones

[xDisconnections]

1 hour ago, serene56 said:

Merging carnival with Princess?   I hope not as its two different cruises entirely 

There already is an overcrowding of Elite Members on Princess and it's not uncommon for the elite laundry to take over 72 hours due to this. During a brief period where all Platinum and Elite Members were given complimentary unlimited Internet, it created bottlenecks, downtimes, and slow Internet performance. On my two most recent cruises, more than 50% of the passengers were Elite on one cruise and over 75% on the other. It's very frequent to find the most traveled passenger onboard with over 2,000 days sailed.

 

Adding in all of the passengers on Carnival who earned status at extremely low per diem rates and gifting them a status that requires 15 cruises or 150 days could be detrimental to the brand. I'm very glad the programs are currently separated and status must be earned on each line. Princess is being Carnivalized enough as it is and this isn't Royal Caribbean where they only have a few brands for distinct tastes.

Edited November 21, 2018 by xDisconnections

[jamon]

BLERKONE: It was published on cruisecritic news on 11/17/2014...Arnold Donald was announcing New marketing program and and resurrection of the World's Leading Cruise Line moniker...As part of this he mentioned that Carnival once had a loyalty program under that name. It was mentioned that the loyalty component will be added later. The quote as mentioned in the announcement from him was "Definitely plans are in the works for a loyalty program that would cut across the nine brands. We do not have it ready yet, but it's coming down the pike." Now that was 4 years ago that it was mentioned. That's a long pike.

[KmomChicago]

It does not have to be so difficult or even a big permanent change. It could be a series of limited special offers. Even if they just said: during off season next year, 2020, we are doing a special (say, last week of August - mid-December, minus Thanksgiving week).

 

You can sail any other line in the Carnival Corp portfolio and your nights will be double credited, to your new membership in the chosen line you are trying, and also credited toward your total on your VIFP account.  So you don't just become some high level Princess or HAL member because of your comparable CCL status on a less-expensive line.  But maybe you feel more inclined to try Princess or HAL.  Even though many people point out the Carnival perks are not a reason to cruise in and of themselves, there is a sense of a reward for loyalty.  You could do the special across any of the lines, as long as the other line is equal or higher level.

 

Others have noted that as people age, some gradually find themselves in more comfortable financial situations. Simultaneously, their tastes may change to match. So, you have the possibility of filling up rooms during off season, making people happy, giving them a reason to spend more on an upgraded experience, maybe they like it enough to stick with it, plus they now have their first nights under their belt for that program. If they don't, they still feel great that they earned more nights toward their Carnival status.

 

This is another of those endless conversations going around and around, but I really don't see why the marketing people can't do something with it.

 

 

[simplelife]

On ‎11‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 12:13 PM, shof515 said:

it is an announcement about an announcement that is about an announcement and so on..

Hee - Hee 😄