Jan Swartz New President of Holland America Group

[Mickb]

I think there will a merger of some of the Carnival brands. At the moment each brand has its own management/ head office set up. IMO the Princess brand is tarnished  and I wander how long Cunard can stand alone with only 3/4 ships. I know there is some back room crossover between Cunard and Princess but once the bean counters really rev up, I can see cuts/mergers right left and centre,

[iancal]

I have no doubt that Carnival Corp have developed a comprehensive short term plan and reworked their longer term strategy  plan to take into account the impact of covid.   I doubt very much whether there are any sacred cows in either plan.  It will be all about revenue growth, market share, profit and cash flow.

 

I also suspect that barring any unforeseen circumstances at Carnival Corp this includes a well considered and detailed  game plan for each/all of their cruise lines.   

 

We will have to sit back and watch it play out.

Edited December 2, 2020 by iancal

[TriumphGuy]

On 12/1/2020 at 1:29 PM, Sir PMP said:

So, what changes can we expect?

Probably removing chairs from standard balcony cabins (not balcony furniture) and below, which is what Princess has done under her watch.
It's why we refuse to sail Princess any longer. Not sure I see this as a good thing.

[iancal]

I suspect Ms. Swartz's attention and laser like business focus will be on more pressing issues than balcony furniture.

[kazu]

4 minutes ago, TriumphGuy said:

Probably removing chairs from standard balcony cabins (not balcony furniture) and below, which is what Princess has done under her watch.
It's why we refuse to sail Princess any longer. Not sure I see this as a good thing.

 

Princess’ OV and balcony cabins are smaller than HAL’s  generally speaking.  Having been in several, it makes sense as the room can be tight.   I doubt there will be a need to remove furniture in the larger rooms on HAL and I suspect there are much bigger priorities on Jan’s plate than removing furniture 😉  

 

[rkacruiser]

I post this knowing that I am going to "step on toes" of some.  But, the removal of chairs from a stateroom....is this significant if one takes a wider view of the current situation?  I had a min-suite on Coral Princess.  There was not another chair.  Did I miss it?  Yes.  Did it ruin my cruise?  No.  

 

11 minutes ago, iancal said:

I suspect Ms. Swartz's attention and laser like business focus will be on more pressing issues than balcony furniture.

 

Why mess with the balcony furniture?  It wouldn't make sense to do so.

[iancal]

Our last two cruises were on Crown Princess (standard balcony) and Sun Princess (mini suite).

 

We did not find our Crown Princess balcony any smaller that our Westerdam verandah.  About the same.  The Sun Princess balcony was bigger but not by much.

 

But.. a few years ago we got assigned a huge gty balcony on Star Princess.  I think a cat C balcony. .  Largest balcony we have ever seen.  Even the covered area was larger than any balcony cabin that we have ever had on any ship.  And yes....we had furniture on all three.  The open area was three times the size of the covered area.

Edited December 3, 2020 by iancal

[rkacruiser]

11 hours ago, Himself said:

Stein is a good man!

 

Yes, and he deserves to leave the Company on his terms.

 

10 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Or too expensive to get rid off? 

 

An interesting thought.  The 2020 Carnival Corporation Shareholder Report might be very interesting reading.  

 

But, not as interesting as a Tom Clancy novel for me.  

[cruisemom42]

14 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

I post this knowing that I am going to "step on toes" of some.  But, the removal of chairs from a stateroom....is this significant if one takes a wider view of the current situation?  I had a min-suite on Coral Princess.  There was not another chair.  Did I miss it?  Yes.  Did it ruin my cruise?  No.  

 

 

 

Yes, but the mini-suites have a loveseat. 

 

Regular balcony, oceanview and inside cabins do not have a loveseat on Princess. And now they have removed the only comfortable chair for sitting more than a few minutes. 

 

Currently (unless I missed something on the Princess boards) the ONLY indoor seating in cabins up to mini-suite category is ONE BACKLESS desk-type chair.

 

 

[bcummin]

On one of our HAL cruises, I was unhappy that we had only one chair in our room along with the loveseat.  Our room stewards brought us a dining room type chair, and I was very happy that we both had chairs.

Barbara

[AtlantaCruiser72]

4 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Yes, but the mini-suites have a loveseat. 

 

Regular balcony, oceanview and inside cabins do not have a loveseat on Princess. And now they have removed the only comfortable chair for sitting more than a few minutes. 

 

Currently (unless I missed something on the Princess boards) the ONLY indoor seating in cabins up to mini-suite category is ONE BACKLESS desk-type chair.

 

 

You are incorrect.  The chairs at the desk have a padded back and seat. They are similar to an armless dining chair in comfort and size.

 

I personally always found the tub style armchairs uncomfortable and an annoyance. I spent far more time relocating the darned things than actually sitting in them, and was not sad to see them removed.  I also find the small round cocktail table to always be in the way. It usually ended up in the corner of my closet used as an additional shelf or ignored. 

Edited December 3, 2020 by AtlantaCruiser72

[cruisemom42]

44 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

You are incorrect.  The chairs at the desk have a padded back and seat. They are similar to an armless dining chair in comfort and size.

 

I personally always found the tub style armchairs uncomfortable and an annoyance. I spent far more time relocating the darned things than actually sitting in them, and was not sad to see them removed.  I also find the small round cocktail table to always be in the way. It usually ended up in the corner of my closet used as an additional shelf or ignored. 

 

Thanks for that. I thought I remembered the chairs being pretty uncomfortable (the desk chairs) but maybe I am confusing with another line...   And I did like the armchair.  I do agree with you about that small table though. 🤷‍♀️

[rkacruiser]

6 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Yes, but the mini-suites have a loveseat. 

 

I guess I have a "good problem" to have.  I am getting my accommodations on which ship confused.  The mini-suite was on Royal Princess, not Coral Princess and it did have a love seat type couch.  On Coral Princess, it was a regular balcony stateroom that did have a padded straight chair.  Not as comfortable as my dining room chair, however.  

[iancal]

We have had equally great cruises on Princess and on HAL.  For us they are a 'big six and a small seven'.   The biggest differences to us are the ships.  We find the service and the staff the same.  Food and entertainment highly variable on both.  A second chair inside our balcony cabin will not be the decision maker or deal breaker for us.  Won't even make it on the list.

Edited December 3, 2020 by iancal