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If you were carnival what would you cut?


geckoaz
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16 minutes ago, ParrotRob said:

 

It doesn't seem like it sometimes when I hear people say "XXX company should cut it's dividends or executive salaries to benefit ME!" - as if we're in business to make money for you.  Yes, there is such a thing as taking too much profit, thus weakening the product and reducing profit, but the art of business is finding the equilibrium that maximizes profit.  It would be nice if you could simultaneously maximize profit AND guest experience, but if you can only maximize one, it will always be profit in a public, for-profit business.

 

Well said. Some folks done understand, a publicly held company's job is making money for its shareholders (owners)

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44 minutes ago, jcearth said:

In order to stretch labor, you need to make it more efficient.  For bartenders, I would eliminate the cans of soda and go to a fountain system. Also, a self service station for sodas for those with a prepaid package. The cans are a huge waste of time and take up way too much space.  I would have the stewards clean the rooms once a day, and make it a premium (suite guest or add-on) for an additional room cleaning per day or butler services, etc.  I would look to update the antiquated ordering system in the main dining room, possibly with an electronic system. Eliminate the assistant waiter position and use food runners to hustle the food out of the kitchen. Turn the MDR into more of a family style restaurant atmosphere with less "service".  Add an additional restaurant where folks can pay a premium to experience a "full-service" restaurant.  Increase the English-fluency of the staff at Guest Services, or just hire native speakers.  Empower staff to be able to fix problems, or if not be straightforward with the guests.

 

And a whole bunch of other stuff that may or may not work.

 

You must work for a corporation. 

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11 minutes ago, bury me at sea said:

 

It seems it is always profit now but thank goodness the Morgans, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Fords, Carnegies, etc. could see a larger picture, and still manage to generate mass profits.

 

I'm not sure what larger picture you are referring to.  I see no value in worker exploitation.

 

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15 minutes ago, bury me at sea said:

 

It seems it is always profit now but thank goodness the Morgans, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Fords, Carnegies, etc. could see a larger picture, and still manage to generate mass profits.

 

That's called philanthropy.  Common in the mega-rich.  I don't think you can put Carnival's shareholders, even the major ones, in the same boat with Morgans, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Fords or Carnegies.  Pun entirely intended.

 

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I would get rid of novelty things like that bike ride (that keeps breaking), or any activity that is likely to cause a an injury and lawsuit like trampolines, bungie cords, surfing, or other such things.

Trying to protect the shareholders... 😂

Edited by VentureMan_2000
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59 minutes ago, jcearth said:

For bartenders, I would eliminate the cans of soda and go to a fountain system.

 

I find it extremely difficult to believe that as big as Carnival is, and as much soda as they sell and pour, that if a fountain system were cheaper they would not already be using it.

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Honestly I thought cruises were great before all the novelty food places, I would prefer less of that and going back to better quality in the MDR.  Unfortunately I think some of that has declined as they are serving way more passengers now.  Seems like really there doesn't need to be so many choices in the Lido either - I can only imagine the waste there.   Go with the most popular choices overall. 

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I make these types of decisions every day and it is much easier than you might expect.  The answer to the question is simple. Cut absolutely anything that you can to increase your profits, while maintaining and improving the quality of the experience for the majority.  People complain most about the "exceptions to the rule" .  If the issue is not an issue that most people have a problem with, then guess what.  It is not an issue.  You have 2500 people on a ship.  If 50 complain about the butter who cares.  If 1251 complain about the butter, then there is a problem.  If 200 people complain because they dont like the new menu, but 2300 people dont complain there is not a problem.  The truth is you cant make some people happy any of the time.  I always like to ask how much of a pay cut are you willing to take at your job so that the product that your company produces can provide a better experience for the end user?

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2 hours ago, dctravel said:

I read somewhere that canned water is coming to the more general market (not just Southwest airlines). Can are more easily recycled than bottles (plastic or glass) or those cardboard containers. Maybe that will be coming?

I can't think of anything less appetizing than canned water.

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4 hours ago, bury me at sea said:

I would stop cutting crew and services and instead cut shareholder returns.

 

 

Share holder returns rates are 4.5%/year. Tell me anywhere else anyone can borrow unsecured cash for that low rate. 

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1 hour ago, ParrotRob said:

 

I find it extremely difficult to believe that as big as Carnival is, and as much soda as they sell and pour, that if a fountain system were cheaper they would not already be using it.

 

In his defense of fountain systems, jcearth used the argument that canned soda takes up way too much space. Well, fountain systems require hoses to be ran, CO2 canisters, & containers of syrup. Those last two take up a lot of space, especially if they were going to localize it behind each bar. If not, they'd have to run hoses from a storage area. That's not very practical or efficient and, in some cases, not even feasible. Then there's all the spare CO2 and syrup they'd have to store. They wouldn't gain any space over cans and would probably even lose space.

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I would, in the main dining room and room service stop playing food with just an entree, why not place everything on one plate? Before you know it you have 4-5 plates that clearly would have been fine on just one plate.  Same goes for room service.  For each item you choose it’s on a plate.  You order several entrees for yourself you get too many plates and utensils.  Then when you put it outside for pickup you look like pigs LOL.  

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I know the newest ships will run on LNG.  Is the gas turbine engine more efficient than the old smokey diesels, or is it just an ecology friendly move to LNG ?   Is  an LGN retrofit on existing power plants a financially viable conversion ?

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1 hour ago, Haveuseen1 said:

I make these types of decisions every day and it is much easier than you might expect.  The answer to the question is simple.

 

I don't think it's as easy and as simple as you claim. I'll address a few things you've said that lead me to say that.

 

1 hour ago, Haveuseen1 said:

Cut absolutely anything that you can to increase your profits, while maintaining and improving the quality of the experience for the majority.

 

It's hard to improve the quality of the experience by making cuts. There might be a magic formula out there where spending cuts improve customer experience once in a while, but that's certainly not the norm.

 

1 hour ago, Haveuseen1 said:

You have 2500 people on a ship.  If 50 complain about the butter who cares.  If 1251 complain about the butter, then there is a problem.  If 200 people complain because they dont like the new menu, but 2300 people dont complain there is not a problem.  The truth is you cant make some people happy any of the time.

 

A large company can probably look passed the complaints of, say, 50 people, to use your example, but it's not going to go over well if they thumb their nose at 200 people, regardless of the total number on a single cruise. Granted, 200 people complaining about something might not reverse a change, but it shouldn't be ignored in the customer service industry. And I don't agree that it has to be one more than half the people to cause the company to react. A few years ago, Carnival decided to make their aft pools on Conquest class ships family friendly. They had been adults-only up until then. It didn't go over well and they reversed their decision not long after the initial change. I don't know how many millions of people have cruised on Conquest class ships, but it surely didn't take one more than half of them to spark the reversal.

 

As for your last sentence, I don't know if you meant to say what you said. I think you're wrong to say you can't make some people happy "any of the time." If a cruise can't make them happy any of the time, they wouldn't be on a cruise. It's more accurate to say, you can't make all of the people happy all of the time.

 

1 hour ago, Haveuseen1 said:

I always like to ask how much of a pay cut are you willing to take at your job so that the product that your company produces can provide a better experience for the end user?

 

I feel like this is a straw-man. Employees don't have to take a pay cut in order for a company to boost their customer experience. If a company decides that the only way they can make their customer's experience better is by cutting the pay of their workers, they're a terrible company and probably shouldn't be in business.

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3 hours ago, jcearth said:

For some, but not for others.  I was just thinking of the most labor intensive things on the ships that could easily be eliminated.

Hmm,  so basically you are reclassifying the assistant servers to food runners.  Same number of people involved, just with different titles.

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1 hour ago, 5000 said:

I know the newest ships will run on LNG.  Is the gas turbine engine more efficient than the old smokey diesels, or is it just an ecology friendly move to LNG ?   Is  an LGN retrofit on existing power plants a financially viable conversion ?

From my understanding LNG is less energy "dense" than diesel.  I.E. if you have a "tank" that is one foot by one foot by one foot. (1 cubic foot).  You fill it with diesel it will drive the ship one foot.  To drive the ship the same foot with LNG would take a larger tank.  Note the tank number/foot number are made up number.  Just trying give an idea that it would take bigger tanks for LNG to get the same range as a diesel powered ship.

 

To answer coevan.  Yes the fuel diesel or LNG, supplies the engines which are actually generators.  They generate electricity to power the motors that turn the propellers.  Not much different that locomative train engines that you see on railroad tracks.

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2 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

In his defense of fountain systems, jcearth used the argument that canned soda takes up way too much space. Well, fountain systems require hoses to be ran, CO2 canisters, & containers of syrup. Those last two take up a lot of space, especially if they were going to localize it behind each bar. If not, they'd have to run hoses from a storage area. That's not very practical or efficient and, in some cases, not even feasible. Then there's all the spare CO2 and syrup they'd have to store. They wouldn't gain any space over cans and would probably even lose space.

 

This would mean less variety too.

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1 hour ago, coevan said:

I could be corrected, need the Chief to jump in, but I believe the engines are electric. The fuel is for the generators.

 

The MOTORS (they're not engines) in the azipods are electric.  The engines indeed run on fuel and generate the electric power used by the motors, along with the HVAC and all other electrical systems in the ship.  It's the same sort of diesel-electric system used on modern trains for many years now.  The engines are no longer attached by shaft to the propellers but are now just power plants.

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