Costa Magica to Carnival Fleet

[MikeC1610]

I have heard that Brisbane is getting a replacement for the Spirit and the Costa Magica was mentioned.  Will be happy never to see the Spirit ever again.  I went on that ship a few years ago and it was bloody awful.  Dark, dingy and typical Farcus.  I don't know what drugs that bloke was on when he did the designs for the Carnival ships. 

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

I really wish The skyway bridge was rebuilt to be higher because Tampa has shown it can fill ships and it would be nice to get some bigger ships here then I wouldn’t have to trek two and a half hours to PC lol but wishful thinking

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

5 minutes ago, MikeC1610 said:

I have heard that Brisbane is getting a replacement for the Spirit and the Costa Magica was mentioned.  Will be happy never to see the Spirit ever again.  I went on that ship a few years ago and it was bloody awful.  Dark, dingy and typical Farcus.  I don't know what drugs that bloke was on when he did the designs for the Carnival ships. 

It’s funny and ironic you say that since the Spirit class is some of the most loved in the carnival fleet

[Hunter69]

1 hour ago, MikeC1610 said:

I have heard that Brisbane is getting a replacement for the Spirit and the Costa Magica was mentioned.  Will be happy never to see the Spirit ever again.  I went on that ship a few years ago and it was bloody awful.  Dark, dingy and typical Farcus.  I don't know what drugs that bloke was on when he did the designs for the Carnival ships. 

The Legend is even more Darker & Eerie then The Spirit.. 

I loved The Legend more then The Spirit. It was like the ugly duckling. It had more sole/heart. Spirit had the so called popular Staff.. .

Spirit leaving wouldn't mind a change, been in Australia since 2012, Splendor hasn't even been here for 100 days...

[brilliantseas]

8 hours ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

I really wish The skyway bridge was rebuilt to be higher because Tampa has shown it can fill ships and it would be nice to get some bigger ships here then I wouldn’t have to trek two and a half hours to PC lol but wishful thinking

 

I suspect it would be far less expensive to build a new cruise terminal outside of the Skyway Bridge, in Clearwater or Sarasota. Unfortunately, this would be far less accessible from the major airport (TPA). 

[snaebyllej]

10 hours ago, MikeC1610 said:

I have heard that Brisbane is getting a replacement for the Spirit and the Costa Magica was mentioned.  Will be happy never to see the Spirit ever again.  I went on that ship a few years ago and it was bloody awful.  Dark, dingy and typical Farcus.  I don't know what drugs that bloke was on when he did the designs for the Carnival ships. 

Farcus also did the Magica.  Wouldn't say she was dark & dingy, though, just bizarre.  Even did a painting of himself as a monk for the library's collection of pictures of famous historical figures.

[KmomChicago]

On 2/20/2022 at 11:12 PM, brilliantseas said:

 

I can't imagine Carnival expanding capacity out of SoCal in the near future. They are doing a lot of discounting for Radiance and Panorama and recent trip reports are stating passenger counts of between 700 and 1,000 on Radiance, which is disappointing for a ship that should be benefitting from the marketing push after her $200 million refresh. 

 

Miracle could stay for Alaska and Hawaii sailings, but I don't expect Carnival to add another vessel for 3/4/5 day sailings out of Long Beach or San Diego anytime soon. 

This time of year is always slow and rock bottom prices plus the recent omicron surge over New Years could be on people’s minds. Thinking ahead to this coming summer, next winter holidays and then spring break and summer 2023 will be more of the picture of post pandemic new normal for the industry.

[Travel With Nick]

Does anybody else see it possible for Magica to take over Radiance’s original  itineraries in Galveston? I’m thinking it’s definitely a possibility due to the fact Carnival had initially scheduled  Radiance to homeport in Tx but switched her to Los Angeles since they had lost older ships to scrap.

[Travel With Nick]

What do y’all think Costa Magica will be named once transferred to Carnival?

I’m hoping for Brilliance or Sunset to match the theming throughout the class of ship.🛳

 

[jsglow]

36 minutes ago, Travel With Nick said:

What do y’all think Costa Magica will be named once transferred to Carnival?

I’m hoping for Brilliance or Sunset to match the theming throughout the class of ship.🛳

 

It'll get a 'sun' related name for sure.

[bmc alabama]

2 hours ago, Travel With Nick said:

Does anybody else see it possible for Magica to take over Radiance’s original  itineraries in Galveston? I’m thinking it’s definitely a possibility due to the fact Carnival had initially scheduled  Radiance to homeport in Tx but switched her to Los Angeles since they had lost older ships to scrap.

I wouldn't be surprised for it to take over one of the current ship's itineraries, and have that other ship move to Mobile to replace Ecstasy.

[toad455]

Not sure what other ships can sail out of Mobile besides a Fantasy-class ship. Though Carnival does plan to return there by Fall 2023.

[bmc alabama]

1 hour ago, toad455 said:

Not sure what other ships can sail out of Mobile besides a Fantasy-class ship. Though Carnival does plan to return there by Fall 2023.

They are expanding the turning basin and widening the waterway, and started work on that about a year ago.  Not sure when it will be done.  Article says "by 2025", but that is everything going down to Dauphin Island.  It is my understanding that they started on the turning basin first, so not sure when that will be completed.

 

https://www.alreporter.com/2021/05/21/port-of-mobile-deepening-widening-to-be-completed-by-2025/

[tidecat]

15 hours ago, toad455 said:

Not sure what other ships can sail out of Mobile besides a Fantasy-class ship. Though Carnival does plan to return there by Fall 2023.

Conquest and Triumph (now Sunrise) docked in Mobile in the past. Conquest is the widest cruise ship by beam (116 feet) and longest cruise ship (952 feet) to have docked in Mobile. Fantasy class ships are 855 feet by 103 feet.

 

The more concerning issue will be going from a ship with around 2,050-2,060 lower berths to anything larger than Elation or Paradise, which are now at 2,190 lower berths after their last refurbishments - the Spirit class vessels only have around 2,124 lower berths each. It's one thing to make a jump of a few percent in inventory, compared to a Conquest-class ship that has roughly 45% more capacity than Fantasy did. Spirit class ships are 3 feet narrower than Conquest class, although they are 11 feet longer than Conquest class, so I don't think that's going to be an issue for Mobile. The azipods on Spirit class might also be a good interim solution until the work on the turning basin is complete.

[jsglow]

17 minutes ago, tidecat said:

Conquest and Triumph (now Sunrise) docked in Mobile in the past. Conquest is the widest cruise ship by beam (116 feet) and longest cruise ship (952 feet) to have docked in Mobile. Fantasy class ships are 855 feet by 103 feet.

 

The more concerning issue will be going from a ship with around 2,050-2,060 lower berths to anything larger than Elation or Paradise, which are now at 2,190 lower berths after their last refurbishments - the Spirit class vessels only have around 2,124 lower berths each. It's one thing to make a jump of a few percent in inventory, compared to a Conquest-class ship that has roughly 45% more capacity than Fantasy did. Spirit class ships are 3 feet narrower than Conquest class, although they are 11 feet longer than Conquest class, so I don't think that's going to be an issue for Mobile. The azipods on Spirit class might also be a good interim solution until the work on the turning basin is complete.

That's really good stuff and I agree that it is a capacity issue.  Carnival has 6 ships left that have the lower capacity AND fit under certain bridges in certain markets. Slots #1 and #2 are undoubtedly Baltimore and Tampa.  That almost certainly accounts for half the Spirit Class fleet. Personally, I'd utilize the two remaining Fantasy ships in Jacksonville and Mobile, Carnival's most 'locals only' ports. You can leave a 3rd Spirit ship out west mostly aimed at Alaska perhaps seasonally transitioning to Australia if they can make more money that way rather than have her do winter duty in LA.  THEN, as suggested by others, I'd Sunshine up the 4th Spirit ship and relaunch her as the premium Journeys ship.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[KmomChicago]

As for the name. I think having sun in the name of 2 ships was a bad move. Many peeps are NOT real great with words and it’s too easy to confuse similar names. 
 

So I’d do something like Helios or Daybreak or Dawn or even Solar/Solaris. I think some other lines already use some of these though - Norwegian Dawn, right? - , and I actually dislike that too. 

[jsglow]

8 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

As for the name. I think having sun in the name of 2 ships was a bad move. Many peeps are NOT real great with words and it’s too easy to confuse similar names. 
 

So I’d do something like Helios or Daybreak or Dawn or even Solar/Solaris. I think some other lines already use some of these though - Norwegian Dawn, right? - , and I actually dislike that too. 

Yeah, I wouldn't use Sunset for sure.  We'd probably fly to the wrong port!

[jasong38501]

1 hour ago, jsglow said:

That's really good stuff and I agree that it is a capacity issue.  Carnival has 6 ships left that have the lower capacity AND fit under certain bridges in certain markets. Slots #1 and #2 are undoubtedly Baltimore and Tampa.  That almost certainly accounts for half the Spirit Class fleet. Personally, I'd utilize the two remaining Fantasy ships in Jacksonville and Mobile, Carnival's most 'locals only' ports. You can leave a 3rd Spirit ship out west mostly aimed at Alaska perhaps seasonally transitioning to Australia if they can make more money that way rather than have her do winter duty in LA.  THEN, as suggested by others, I'd Sunshine up the 4th Spirit ship and relaunch her as the premium Journeys ship.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

While I agree with most of your plan as being a good idea, you leave only one ship in Tampa. Currently there is Paradise there year around doing the shorter trips and Pride there seasonally doing the week long trips. I would prefer to see two Spirit class ships there year around. 

[jsglow]

11 minutes ago, jasong38501 said:

 

While I agree with most of your plan as being a good idea, you leave only one ship in Tampa. Currently there is Paradise there year around doing the shorter trips and Pride there seasonally doing the week long trips. I would prefer to see two Spirit class ships there year around. 

You are correct.  I always find that 'last slot' situation interesting; in my scenario a Mobile ship v. a second Tampa ship.  I could certainly see Mobile closing.  You know they are studying the alternatives.

 

The other interesting question is will Carnival commission the building of a smaller ship ever again.  My bet is No.  And I'd certainly expect a full refurbishment of the entire Spirit Class before that would ever happen.  Clearly they see benefit to the 'Sunshining program'.  Some of those decisions will need to be made by 2025 or 2030.

[jasong38501]

22 minutes ago, jsglow said:

You are correct.  I always find that 'last slot' situation interesting; in my scenario a Mobile ship v. a second Tampa ship.  I could certainly see Mobile closing.  You know they are studying the alternatives.

 

The other interesting question is will Carnival commission the building of a smaller ship ever again.  My bet is No.  And I'd certainly expect a full refurbishment of the entire Spirit Class before that would ever happen.  Clearly they see benefit to the 'Sunshining program'.  Some of those decisions will need to be made by 2025 or 2030.

I'm curious about the two ships Costa was transferring to start a new Carnival China cruise line. I have found very little information about any changes they have made to those ships and I don't know that either of those have sailed for this new China brand. They are both just sitting off the coast of Dubai last time I looked with Splendor. They are both based off the Spirit Class. I would it would be just as easy to convert them to Carnival branding as it would a new Chinese brand. 

[toad455]

Curious, has any other cruise line used Mobile? Can't recall anything recently (past 5 years). Maybe the port of Mobile needs to try and get RCCL to bring a ship in, even on a season basis?

[bamaone]

47 minutes ago, toad455 said:

Curious, has any other cruise line used Mobile? Can't recall anything recently (past 5 years). Maybe the port of Mobile needs to try and get RCCL to bring a ship in, even on a season basis?

No. Only Carnival and they have been in and out since they arrived. Mobile tried to get any ship possible during the previous Carnival pause. That one lasted about 5 years. Pretty much it's Carnival or empty. Unfortunately for Mobile, N.O and Galveston cover the same ports and are a much bigger draw. 

Edited March 3, 2022 by bamaone

[tidecat]

57 minutes ago, toad455 said:

Curious, has any other cruise line used Mobile? Can't recall anything recently (past 5 years). Maybe the port of Mobile needs to try and get RCCL to bring a ship in, even on a season basis?

Azamara made one call there a few years ago:

 

https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2016/10/for_first_time_in_five_years_a.html

Edited March 3, 2022 by tidecat
Added link

[tidecat]

1 hour ago, jsglow said:

You are correct.  I always find that 'last slot' situation interesting; in my scenario a Mobile ship v. a second Tampa ship.  I could certainly see Mobile closing.  You know they are studying the alternatives.

Plenty of room for two Tampa ships and Mobile to coexist. For example:

 

TPA1 - Legend

TPA2 - Paradise

MOB - Miracle

JAX - Elation

BAL - Pride

 

Then you have a tossup as to where Spirit and Costa Magica go, one to California, one to Australia.

[CruiseAdict218]

1 hour ago, jasong38501 said:

I'm curious about the two ships Costa was transferring to start a new Carnival China cruise line. I have found very little information about any changes they have made to those ships and I don't know that either of those have sailed for this new China brand. They are both just sitting off the coast of Dubai last time I looked with Splendor. They are both based off the Spirit Class. I would it would be just as easy to convert them to Carnival branding as it would a new Chinese brand. 

Ownership has been transferred to the China brand, initially they are suppose to stay in Costa livery. 
 

Carnival should have taken the pair over Magica, I do wonder if Carnival will take on Fortuna as well in the future.