Arnold Donald Interview with Porthole Cruise

[BlerkOne]

Carnival is anxious to get back to cruising, as are customers, as are ports.

 

https://www.porthole.com/carnival-corp-ceo-talks-covid-19-response-with-porthole-cruise/

[Honolulu Blue]

Thanks for sharing.  I'm looking forward to the promised part 2!

[ontheweb]

That article really did not say very much. The basic point was that they reacted before others. He is trying to say they were unfairly criticized, but I don't know if it is a strong enough argument to counteract the public perception of "a floating petri dish". Perception is important, and there are as he says lots of people itching to get back on cruises, but there are also several who have cruised who are at best hesitant. Also one has to combat this public perception in order to get new customers.

[Organized Chaos]

Great interview. I think there's a lot of people who should see it. I'm tired of hearing the rhetoric from everyday folks, politicians, and govt. entities (i.e. CDC) for targeting the cruise industry for not stopping operations sooner. Just as Donald said, at the time, no one in the U.S. realized how much of a problem it was actually going to be. No one was talking about shutdowns, closures, a halt to our economy, lock-downs, etc. If no one was shutting down, including airlines which did far more to spread the virus worldwide, why should Carnival, or any other cruise line, have done it first? User ontheweb used the phrase, unfairly criticized, and I believe that's exactly what's happening.

 

I'm glad they didn't get a bailout. Carnival Cruise Lines alone is a money-making machine and I, personally, didn't think they deserved a bailout. With that said, I agree with Donald that they should participate in whatever they are allowed, in regards to the stimulus packages, as long as there's some oversight to make sure that money isn't being used to simply pad company coffers or line the pockets of executives. There are big companies out there that have gotten stimulus dollars that shouldn't have, so a line does need to be drawn. But I see nothing wrong with helping out the regular (U.S. citizen) employees of cruise lines, because they deserve it as much as other workers who are benefiting from it.

 

For those who are still too scared to return to cruising anytime soon, they have that right. But stop trying to shame those who are willing to cruise as soon as they return or within the coming months. Looking forward to part 2 of the interview.

[Joe817]

Excellent interview. He put forth an honest assessment of the events that lead up to the cruise industry pause. I too am looking forward to part 2 of the interview. Thanks for posting BlerkOne.

[BlerkOne]

You're welcome. I also like that Arnold touched on taxes and Carnival certainly does pay a lot of taxes.

[Honolulu Blue]

Part two is up and ready for viewing:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdsxqVAECOI

 

 

A few quick impressions:

 

• Mr. Donald deemphasized the projected August 1 date, instead saying they will start cruising when ready
• He hinted at further delays with the Mardi Gras but gave no specifics
• He said they have two private islands and four private destinations.  I know the islands (Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays).  I assume two of the destinations are Grand Turk and Amber Cove.  But what are the other two?  I thought Costa Maya was a co-op with at least one other cruise line.  And they do have their own dock and terminal in Cozumel, but everybody and their brother goes there.

[Don Kehote]

I'd rather be on a floating petri dish than a stationary one any day of the week, thanks.

[ninjacat123]

On 5/9/2020 at 7:30 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

Thanks for sharing.  I'm looking forward to the promised part 2!

Here's part 2...sorry, didn't see you already posted it😜

 

Edited May 26, 2020 by ninjacat123

[ninjacat123]

3 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Part two is up and ready for viewing:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdsxqVAECOI

 

 

A few quick impressions:

 

• Mr. Donald deemphasized the projected August 1 date, instead saying they will start cruising when ready
• He hinted at further delays with the Mardi Gras but gave no specifics
• He said they have two private islands and four private destinations.  I know the islands (Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays).  I assume two of the destinations are Grand Turk and Amber Cove.  But what are the other two?  I thought Costa Maya was a co-op with at least one other cruise line.  And they do have their own dock and terminal in Cozumel, but everybody and their brother goes there.

I wondered about the "six" private islands/destinations as well.  Dubai sounds exciting!

Edited May 26, 2020 by ninjacat123

[BlerkOne]

46 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

I wondered about the "six" private islands/destinations as well.  Dubai sounds exciting!

 

Some time ago Carnival Corp signed a contract to help develop a new cruise terminal at Dubai. It's no secret Saudi Arabia want more cruise ships to visit and/or home port. It could be one of the reasons they invested so heavily in Carnival. I wouldn't expect Carnival Cruise Line to expand to Dubai but more likely one or more of the other Carnival brands that already cruise in Europe.

 

Before Covid, I think Carnival was considering an amazing, multi-experience, private island, but those plans may have been shelved.

 

 

[BlerkOne]

I think Carnival now owns the terminal in Costa Maya and they are a partner in Mahogany Bay.

[BlerkOne]

On Carnival Dubai

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news-headlines/carnival-corp-meraas-team-new-dubai-cruise-terminal

[Honolulu Blue]

45 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I think Carnival now owns the terminal in Costa Maya and they are a partner in Mahogany Bay.

 

Aha!  Thanks!  I had forgotten about Mahogany Bay.  That makes the list...

 

CARNIVAL CORP. PRIVATE ISLANDS - Half Moon Cay, Princess Cays

CARNIVAL CORP. PRIVATE DESTINATIONS - Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Costa Maya, Mahogany Bay

[BlerkOne]

9 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

Aha!  Thanks!  I had forgotten about Mahogany Bay.  That makes the list...

 

CARNIVAL CORP. PRIVATE ISLANDS - Half Moon Cay, Princess Cays

CARNIVAL CORP. PRIVATE DESTINATIONS - Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Costa Maya, Mahogany Bay

 

You're welcome. Other cruise lines visit Costa Maya so I'm not sure if that counts, but I haven't been able to think of anything else in the Caribbean. Carnival operates cruise terminals in other parts of the world.

[MeganGC1983]

5 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

Aha!  Thanks!  I had forgotten about Mahogany Bay.  That makes the list...

 

CARNIVAL CORP. PRIVATE ISLANDS - Half Moon Cay, Princess Cays

CARNIVAL CORP. PRIVATE DESTINATIONS - Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Costa Maya, Mahogany Bay

Even if it’s private- GT will do what they want to do! We were on the leap day cruise and GT denied the carnival ship and accepted the other ship in port. We had zero Covid cases. Their excuse was we had “too many infirmary visits”. 🙄 Some of those were cuts and broken bones. Absolute garbage on their part. 

[DGP1111]

11 hours ago, Don Kehote said:

I'd rather be on a floating petri dish than a stationary one any day of the week, thanks.

 

For me, I'll choose the 'neither/nor' option at the present time.

 

.

[DGP1111]

7 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

I think Carnival now owns the terminal in Costa Maya and they are a partner in Mahogany Bay.

 

Carnival doesn't own it, but did help out financially (along with others) after Dean did such horrible damage.  I'm still amazed how long that original pier was.

 

.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

 
Carnival doesn't own it, but did help out financially (along with others) after Dean did such horrible damage.  I'm still amazed how long that original pier was.
 
.

I love Costa Maya and it had always baffled me why CCL didn’t use it rather than Progresso. A year or so ago, I was delighted to see them visiting there.


76 past cruises
Upcoming:
CCL Dream 8/22/2020. Western Caribbean
NCL Breakaway 1/10/2021 Western Caribbean
CCL Dream 5/16/2021 Western Caribbean
NCL Star 6/27/2021 - Scotland, Norway & Iceland

[outdoors27]

I liked the part 2 interview and even more curious about new terminal in Dubai. In the article it references Carnival specifically and then mentions sister brands, if I read it correctly. So I'd be curious if Carnival would position a ship there. I think that would be awesome. 

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-to-develop-major-dubai-cruise-terminal/24571

Edited May 27, 2020 by outdoors27
Typo

[Organized Chaos]

I've only ever seen a few videos of Donald being interviewed, but he seems like a genuine, down to Earth guy. With that said, I was disappointed in his answer about the private islands. Will the private islands be utilized more during the start-up? It's a very good question to cruise lines because those islands could be used as a way to stir up some cruises without the possible problems that would go along with populated island nations during the initial start-up. But all he said was, our private islands/destinations are an important part of our itineraries, but it's important to experience what the other islands of the Caribbean have to offer, so it's all about the combination of the two. That was kind of a politician's answer. Since he didn't come right out and say yes, they'll utilize their private islands more in the beginning, I'm going to take that as a no. Other than that, there wasn't much to this second part.

[outdoors27]

20 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

I've only ever seen a few videos of Donald being interviewed, but he seems like a genuine, down to Earth guy. With that said, I was disappointed in his answer about the private islands. Will the private islands be utilized more during the start-up? It's a very good question to cruise lines because those islands could be used as a way to stir up some cruises without the possible problems that would go along with populated island nations during the initial start-up. But all he said was, our private islands/destinations are an important part of our itineraries, but it's important to experience what the other islands of the Caribbean have to offer, so it's all about the combination of the two. That was kind of a politician's answer. Since he didn't come right out and say yes, they'll utilize their private islands more in the beginning, I'm going to take that as a no. Other than that, there wasn't much to this second part.

Last week when I spoke with my long time PVP I asked her about what port might get substituted for Grand Cayman on our August 2nd Horizon sailing since its well know now that it's pretty much shutdown until September for cruises. She advised me that the private island are an option but also said things are fluid with the ports right now. If the August sailings even happen I think it's too early to know exactly what ports will be open vs utilizing private island.. I think they'll have a better mid June to early July.. 

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

I was disappointed in his answer about the private islands. Will the private islands be utilized more during the start-up? It's a very good question to cruise lines because those islands could be used as a way to stir up some cruises without the possible problems that would go along with populated island nations during the initial start-up. But all he said was, our private islands/destinations are an important part of our itineraries, but it's important to experience what the other islands of the Caribbean have to offer, so it's all about the combination of the two. That was kind of a politician's answer. Since he didn't come right out and say yes, they'll utilize their private islands more in the beginning, I'm going to take that as a no. 

 

i interpreted what he said slightly differently.  I thought what he was saying is that they wanted other ports open along with their private islands.  Kind of a lobby job to places like Aruba, St. Lucia, Belize, and the others saying, "Come on!  Join the fun!!"  It's going to take a lot more than that to move the needles, but I don't blame him for trying.

 

BTW, I do think they'll use their private islands (and possibly the private destinations also) more in their first cruises for at least four reasons.  First, they're very close to their most important embarkation ports.  Second, they control most of the affairs there, so it's just a matter of convincing the Bahamas that they'll take care of things there.  Third, I think the Bahamas will probably be one of the first areas to open up their other ports, and those private islands are very close by.  And fourth, other ports may take a while to be convinced to be convinced that we won't overwhelm their countries with diseased passengers.

[Joebucks]

It's a shame that true context doesn't find its way as much as rage and myth do. "Petri dish" "Greedy CEO" etc will rule.

 

23 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

I've only ever seen a few videos of Donald being interviewed, but he seems like a genuine, down to Earth guy. With that said, I was disappointed in his answer about the private islands. Will the private islands be utilized more during the start-up? It's a very good question to cruise lines because those islands could be used as a way to stir up some cruises without the possible problems that would go along with populated island nations during the initial start-up. But all he said was, our private islands/destinations are an important part of our itineraries, but it's important to experience what the other islands of the Caribbean have to offer, so it's all about the combination of the two. That was kind of a politician's answer. Since he didn't come right out and say yes, they'll utilize their private islands more in the beginning, I'm going to take that as a no. Other than that, there wasn't much to this second part.

 

He gave the perfect answer on this. No one knows for sure what the future of all of the ports look like. They can't send every ship to HMC and PC. People want black and white answers, and then they want action and compensation when those promises can't be met. It looks to me they are going to look at what they have, and go from there.

[Butterbean1000]

https://www.caribjournal.com/2020/05/26/us-virgin-islands-tourism-open/

This is good news, more ports opening.