Mardi Gras West Coast Sailings?

[CruiseLoverFromNorCal]

Anyone know if the Mardi Gras will eventually do any west coast sailings, possibly out of California? I would love to sail on this ship but can’t fly to Florida. Thanks!

[1025cruise]

Who knows what the future holds.

[BlerkOne]

Doubtful.

[sanmarcosman]

Carnival's LNG filling station will be in Florida.

[LandlockedCruiser01]

I don't think so.  Newest ships usually sail in Europe for a season or two, before moving to a US port.  Florida ports get the best ships, along with Fantasy class ships acting as short cruise workhorses.  But I remember reading that New Orleans will be getting the Mardi Gras.  How appropriate!

 

Long Beach doesn't usually get the latest and the greatest ships.  I recall reading that Horizon will relocate to Long Beach; there were rants about a possible parking shortage as a result.  I can only imagine what a cluster**** parking will be like if an even bigger ship, like the Mardi Gras, moves in.

Edited July 17, 2019 by LandlockedCruiser01

[jbethel11]

You guys have the Panorama! Although it can't compare to the Mardi Gras, it's still the flagship of Carnival for now!

[shof515]

57 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

Carnival's LNG filling station will be in Florida.

 

it will be interesting to see how carnival plans to refuel the ship in new york for its 2 cruises

[jbethel11]

1 minute ago, shof515 said:

 

it will be interesting to see how carnival plans to refuel the ship in new york for its 2 cruises

That is exactly what I was thinking! Carnival MUST have some sort of plan with their LNG fueled ships, and undoubtedly station one in NYC in the future. 

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

I don't think so.  Newest ships usually sail in Europe for a season or two, before moving to a US port.  Florida ports get the best ships, along with Fantasy class ships acting as short cruise workhorses.  But I remember reading that New Orleans will be getting the Mardi Gras.  How appropriate!

 

Long Beach doesn't usually get the latest and the greatest ships.  I recall reading that Horizon will relocate to Long Beach; there were rants about a possible parking shortage as a result.  I can only imagine what a cluster**** parking will be like if an even bigger ship, like the Mardi Gras, moves in.

 

Not sure where you are getting your information, but most of it is wrong. For starters, Mardi Gras is going to Port Canaveral, not New Orleans. For the past several years, Victory and Liberty have been doing 3 and 4 day cruises out of Florida ports. Neither ship is a Fantasy class ship. Finally, Carnival’s newest ship, Panorama, is going to Long Beach this year. 

[jbethel11]

2 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

For the past several years, Victory and Liberty have been doing 3 and 4 day cruises out of Florida ports.

Well, Sensation has been doing 2-5 day sailings from Miami, and will continue to do so through 2021! Port Canaveral also uses Elation for 2-5 day sailings. I assume that is what the poster was talking about. 

[PhillyFan33579]

5 minutes ago, jbethel11 said:

Well, Sensation has been doing 2-5 day sailings from Miami, and will continue to do so through 2021! Port Canaveral also uses Elation for 2-5 day sailings. I assume that is what the poster was talking about. 

 

There have been a few exceptions, but usually Elation and Sensation, along with Paradise out of Tampa, are on a 4,5,5 days rotation. Horizon has done a 2 day cruise out of Miami, but I wouldn’t say Horizon is used for short cruises out of Florida. 

 

On the the other hand, Victory and Liberty have mainly been on a 3,4 days rotation the last several years. This will continue in the future, with Conquest replacing Victory when she gets transformed to Radiance. 

[jbethel11]

5 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

There have been a few exceptions, but usually Elation and Sensation, along with Paradise out of Tampa, are on a 4,5,5 days rotation. Horizon has done a 2 day cruise out of Miami, but I wouldn’t say Horizon is used for short cruises out of Florida. 

 

On the the other hand, Victory and Liberty have mainly been on a 3,4 days rotation the last several years. This will continue in the future, with Conquest replacing Victory when she gets transformed to Radiance. 

Yes. I speculate the Vista class ships won't do 2-5 day sailings in the near future. 

[BlerkOne]

I wouldn't be surprised if Mardi Gras moves to New Orleans after a season or two. Louisiana has and is building some large LNG facilities and has lots of natural gas. Texas is also building.

[jasong38501]

51 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Mardi Gras moves to New Orleans after a season or two. Louisiana has and is building some large LNG facilities and has lots of natural gas. Texas is also building.

Why in the world would Carnival put Mardi Gras in a port that couldn't support the capacity of a Dream class ship? The 7 day sailings on Dream were consistently the lowest price 7 day cruises with the exception of Fascination out of San Juan. It is no wonder they replaced Dream with a smaller ship. With the cost of infrastructure improvements being made by Carnival at Canaveral to support Mardi Gras, I doubt she will be moving from there for quite some time unless she is replaced by her sister ship coming in 2022. If I was going to bet on the homeport of the second ship in that class, I would look to Fort Lauderdale. Carnival does not have any ships homeporting there for five months next summer, which could very easily be to allow for the necessary port improvements to accommodate the new ship in 2022. 

[Sailor Taylor]

Any chance for Miami?

[jasong38501]

51 minutes ago, Sailor Taylor said:

Any chance for Miami?

That's a great question. I don't know to be honest. When I sailed out of there in November there was a ton of construction and I couldn't even keep track of what was being built where. I would wonder if Carnival has the ability to do any expansion or construction there over the next few years with the non stop use of facilities. In Canaveral they are building a new terminal separate from the two they currently use so that construction will not impact current use of facilities. I don't know if there is available room in Miami for that to be possible, perhaps someone else has a better idea than that. I also know Royal has expansion plans in Galveston for a terminal capable of homeporting an Oasis class ship. I don't know if that would impact Carnival's ability to expand there in the next few years or not. I really hope where ever they put the second XL ship though, they make sure the terminal is capable of handling that many people. 

[shof515]

3 hours ago, jasong38501 said:

That's a great question. I don't know to be honest. When I sailed out of there in November there was a ton of construction and I couldn't even keep track of what was being built where.

 

the construction at miami is for Norwegian cruise line new terminal for their new ships like the Norwegian encore and the encore sisters.

[PhillyFan33579]

7 hours ago, jasong38501 said:

Why in the world would Carnival put Mardi Gras in a port that couldn't support the capacity of a Dream class ship? The 7 day sailings on Dream were consistently the lowest price 7 day cruises with the exception of Fascination out of San Juan. It is no wonder they replaced Dream with a smaller ship. With the cost of infrastructure improvements being made by Carnival at Canaveral to support Mardi Gras, I doubt she will be moving from there for quite some time unless she is replaced by her sister ship coming in 2022. If I was going to bet on the homeport of the second ship in that class, I would look to Fort Lauderdale. Carnival does not have any ships homeporting there for five months next summer, which could very easily be to allow for the necessary port improvements to accommodate the new ship in 2022. 

 

This is just an educated guess, but with the money Carnival is investing in a new terminal at Port Canaveral, it wouldn’t surprise me if they based both new ships there. They could have both ships do 7 day cruises, one every Saturday and one every Sunday. 

[BlerkOne]

10 hours ago, jasong38501 said:

Why in the world would Carnival put Mardi Gras in a port that couldn't support the capacity of a Dream class ship? The 7 day sailings on Dream were consistently the lowest price 7 day cruises with the exception of Fascination out of San Juan. It is no wonder they replaced Dream with a smaller ship. With the cost of infrastructure improvements being made by Carnival at Canaveral to support Mardi Gras, I doubt she will be moving from there for quite some time unless she is replaced by her sister ship coming in 2022. If I was going to bet on the homeport of the second ship in that class, I would look to Fort Lauderdale. Carnival does not have any ships homeporting there for five months next summer, which could very easily be to allow for the necessary port improvements to accommodate the new ship in 2022. 

 

The name alone suggests it.  The proximity to Galveston to catch the overflow another reason.

 

Dream was replaced with a smaller ship; Triumph with a larger. Worst case, a wash. NCL put the largest ship in New Orleans the port has had, and Disney is moving in. Royal will be returning. Carnival needs to step up its game.

[jasong38501]

7 hours ago, shof515 said:

 

the construction at miami is for Norwegian cruise line new terminal for their new ships like the Norwegian encore and the encore sisters.

And Royal opened a new terminal last fall for it's Oasis class ships. And Virgin is building for their new cruise line, and soon MSC will be building a new terminal there. Lots and lots of growth going on at Miami.

[jasong38501]

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

 

The name alone suggests it.  The proximity to Galveston to catch the overflow another reason.

 

Dream was replaced with a smaller ship; Triumph with a larger. Worst case, a wash. NCL put the largest ship in New Orleans the port has had, and Disney is moving in. Royal will be returning. Carnival needs to step up its game.

Why would they put a ship in New Orleans to catch overflow from Galveston instead of just putting the larger ship in Galveston?

Carnival has never seemed interested in trying to match ship for ship with their competitors. Even if they did, Breakaway is only there seasonally. By your logic they should be matching Royal's announcement of year around sailings by Majesty of the Seas from New Orleans. Even Glory seems brand new compared to 27 yo Majesty OTS.

[glrounds]

15 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

Not sure where you are getting your information, but most of it is wrong. For starters, Mardi Gras is going to Port Canaveral, not New Orleans. For the past several years, Victory and Liberty have been doing 3 and 4 day cruises out of Florida ports. Neither ship is a Fantasy class ship. Finally, Carnival’s newest ship, Panorama, is going to Long Beach this year. 

 

Excellent CORRECTION . . . very accurate.

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, jasong38501 said:

And Royal opened a new terminal last fall for it's Oasis class ships. And Virgin is building for their new cruise line, and soon MSC will be building a new terminal there. Lots and lots of growth going on at Miami.

 

2 hours ago, jasong38501 said:

Why would they put a ship in New Orleans to catch overflow from Galveston instead of just putting the larger ship in Galveston?

Carnival has never seemed interested in trying to match ship for ship with their competitors. Even if they did, Breakaway is only there seasonally. By your logic they should be matching Royal's announcement of year around sailings by Majesty of the Seas from New Orleans. Even Glory seems brand new compared to 27 yo Majesty OTS.

 

You seem to be arguing both sides. and overlooking a different cruise line - Disney is trying out the New Orleans market.

 

As we have recently seen, a small tropical disturbance can wreak havoc with cruise ports. A cruise line would be foolish to put too many eggs in one basket - it is better to distribute. Florida is extremely top heavy in that department. Too many ships will have no place to go.

 

MSC, a privately held company, is still aggressively trying to get a foothold in the American market. Let them spend their money to lose more money.

 

Florida has some LNG production, but is behind the curve.

[jasong38501]

31 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

 

 

You seem to be arguing both sides. and overlooking a different cruise line - Disney is trying out the New Orleans market.

 

As we have recently seen, a small tropical disturbance can wreak havoc with cruise ports. A cruise line would be foolish to put too many eggs in one basket - it is better to distribute. Florida is extremely top heavy in that department. Too many ships will have no place to go.

 

MSC, a privately held company, is still aggressively trying to get a foothold in the American market. Let them spend their money to lose more money.

 

Florida has some LNG production, but is behind the curve.

I don't even understand what you are talking about at this point. If you think Carnival and Disney compete for business you have obviously never priced a Disney cruise.

Do you really think a cruise line is going to place a ship in a particular port over another because there is a small chance that one or two of it's sailings could be impacted by weather? I mean seriously?

What does MSC have to do with Mardi Gras going to New Orleans? I only mentioned the new terminal they are building in Miami because we were talking about all the terminal construction going on there.

And how in the world do you say Florida is behind the curve in LNG when the only LNG cruise ship in the Western hemisphere is about to be home ported there in 15 months?

[BlerkOne]

30 minutes ago, jasong38501 said:

I don't even understand what you are talking about at this point. If you think Carnival and Disney compete for business you have obviously never priced a Disney cruise.

Do you really think a cruise line is going to place a ship in a particular port over another because there is a small chance that one or two of it's sailings could be impacted by weather? I mean seriously?

What does MSC have to do with Mardi Gras going to New Orleans? I only mentioned the new terminal they are building in Miami because we were talking about all the terminal construction going on there.

And how in the world do you say Florida is behind the curve in LNG when the only LNG cruise ship in the Western hemisphere is about to be home ported there in 15 months?

 

Any business that doesn't take disaster planning and recovery into account is begging for trouble. Seriously. When New Orleans was wiped out by Katrina, it was a lot more than a few cruises and cruise lines impacted.

 

I counted the number of LNG facilities and capacities in Florida compared with some other states.

 

Why would Carnival put more ships in saturated ports when more and more people are driving to cruises and choosing not to fly?