Cruising from Charleston SC, No longer after 2024

[Guest BasicSailor]

3 minutes ago, jsglow said:

No skin off my nose.  What I'd LOVE to see is for Carnival to redeploy a now 'extra available' ship (Sunshine is fine) back to San Juan.  We sailed Destiny when she was home ported there.  I think she knows how to go home.

Am I mistaken or did Fascination once port there as well?

[Illbcruzn4life]

2 hours ago, cruisemom2 said:

 

I thought the low was $11.60 yesterday - did you see it lower than that?

Thats about right for yesterday. I remember it hitting $8 a share just a year or 2 ago

[Knights on the Beach]

8 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Thats about right for yesterday. I remember it hitting $8 a share just a year or 2 ago

 

Yes, we paid just a little over $8 in early April 2020.

[Itried4498]

26 minutes ago, jsglow said:

No skin off my nose.  What I'd LOVE to see is for Carnival to redeploy a now 'extra available' ship (Sunshine is fine) back to San Juan.  We sailed Destiny when she was home ported there.  I think she knows how to go home.

 

IMO, San Juan is a legacy port; into the 2000s, Carnival would base multiple ships at San Juan seasonally (for reference, Port Canaveral only had one ship -- the Fantasy).  Miami, Orlando, Houston, etc. have direct air service to most every medium and large community in the country, whereas San Juan lacks service to many large communities.  The hassle of getting there, the cost (generally much more expensive to fly there then Miami or Orlando) and the growing number of 6/7/8-day itineraries that reach Southern Caribbean ports previously accessible only by San Juan hurt the chances of future cruise service there.

[Itried4498]

15 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Thats about right for yesterday. I remember it hitting $8 a share just a year or 2 ago

 

Opps, it did briefly dip below $11 last year, but only for literally a few days.

[sanmarcosman]

9 minutes ago, Itried4498 said:

 

  Miami, Orlando, Houston, etc. have direct air service to most every medium and large community in the country, whereas San Juan lacks service to many large communities. 

Where do these direct flights stop en route? They can be pricier and aren't as convenient.

[Itried4498]

38 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

Where do these direct flights stop en route? They can be pricier and aren't as convenient.

 

The real world definition of direct flights = nonstop.  If you're an airline geek, it has a different definition, but save that for airline geek websites....

[jsglow]

13 hours ago, Itried4498 said:

 

IMO, San Juan is a legacy port; into the 2000s, Carnival would base multiple ships at San Juan seasonally (for reference, Port Canaveral only had one ship -- the Fantasy).  Miami, Orlando, Houston, etc. have direct air service to most every medium and large community in the country, whereas San Juan lacks service to many large communities.  The hassle of getting there, the cost (generally much more expensive to fly there then Miami or Orlando) and the growing number of 6/7/8-day itineraries that reach Southern Caribbean ports previously accessible only by San Juan hurt the chances of future cruise service there.

I'm going to disagree with you.  These days, exactly ZERO Carnival cruises (with the exception of Journey cruises) get past St. Maarten and St. Kitts deeper into the Leewards and Windwards.  Carnival ran the San Juan route, not seasonally but continuously, for many years using (at least as far back as the mid 2000s) Destiny, Valor and finally Fascination in that order.  They left San Juan over a dispute regarding port redevelopment; the details of which are escaping me at the moment. I'd guess this provides some incentive to iron those out.

 

There is no doubt that San Juan was a secondary or tertiary port for them. I agree that an open slot in any of their 3 major ports (MIA, HOU, MCO) would be superior but all 3 of those ports are already maxed out. Same holds true for the next set to include LA, MSY, TPA, etc. Charleston served its purpose as a 'drive to' port for the mid-Atlantic region.  That's no longer an option.  You are correct that it is often more expensive to fly down to SJU but SWA serves the city via one stop service from essentially all of the eastern 2/3 of the country so it is readily accessible.  Frankly, Carnival did themselves no favors by NOT offering an A and B itinerary out of San Juan as other cruise lines have. 

 

Now they might deploy this now surplus ship to Norfolk or NYC to reinforce the 'drive to' option.  But I'd bet that both those truly seasonal ports have also posed challenges.  I suppose it could also mean the end for the two remaining Fantasy class ships as they continue to 'right size' the fleet. Anyway, it'll be interesting to watch.

[CarnivalShips480]

7 hours ago, jsglow said:

I'm going to disagree with you.  These days, exactly ZERO Carnival cruises (with the exception of Journey cruises) get past St. Maarten and St. Kitts deeper into the Leewards and Windwards.  Carnival ran the San Juan route, not seasonally but continuously, for many years using (at least as far back as the mid 2000s) Destiny, Valor and finally Fascination in that order.  They left San Juan over a dispute regarding port redevelopment; the details of which are escaping me at the moment. I'd guess this provides some incentive to iron those out.

 

There is no doubt that San Juan was a secondary or tertiary port for them. I agree that an open slot in any of their 3 major ports (MIA, HOU, MCO) would be superior but all 3 of those ports are already maxed out. Same holds true for the next set to include LA, MSY, TPA, etc. Charleston served its purpose as a 'drive to' port for the mid-Atlantic region.  That's no longer an option.  You are correct that it is often more expensive to fly down to SJU but SWA serves the city via one stop service from essentially all of the eastern 2/3 of the country so it is readily accessible.  Frankly, Carnival did themselves no favors by NOT offering an A and B itinerary out of San Juan as other cruise lines have. 

 

Now they might deploy this now surplus ship to Norfolk or NYC to reinforce the 'drive to' option.  But I'd bet that both those truly seasonal ports have also posed challenges.  I suppose it could also mean the end for the two remaining Fantasy class ships as they continue to 'right size' the fleet. Anyway, it'll be interesting to watch.

No, it can't be the end of the two Fantasy class ships. I don't think they will get rid of a ship, Sunshine has a lot of places to go. Elation also has a dry dock in 2023 so that keeps it in the fleet more.

 

Sunshine is too tall to replace Elation in Jacksonville or Paradise in Tampa.

[Guest BasicSailor]

2 hours ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

No, it can't be the end of the two Fantasy class ships. I don't think they will get rid of a ship, Sunshine has a lot of places to go. Elation also has a dry dock in 2023 so that keeps it in the fleet more.

 

Sunshine is too tall to replace Elation in Jacksonville or Paradise in Tampa.

They still have the spirit class. Which I think will be on the chopping block the next go round.

[CarnivalShips480]

21 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

They still have the spirit class. Which I think will be on the chopping block the next go round.

They should and maybe will try to hold on to those as long as they can. Spirit class is very popular and useful for the height restricted ports

 

I still don't think Elation + Paradise will go within the next few years

[jsglow]

1 hour ago, BasicSailor said:

They still have the spirit class. Which I think will be on the chopping block the next go round.

I don't think so.  I really believe the Spirits will all eventually be Sunshined.

[sgttami]

On 5/25/2022 at 3:55 PM, shof515 said:

Carnival tried year round sailings out of NYC in 2013-2014 with the Carnival Splendor. I guess it never worked out for Carnival which why they stopped doing it

 

I would love more options sailing out of NYC with Carnival. I kind of hate that Carnival is only seasonal with sailing out of NYC for only 3-4 months

My first Carnival experience was NYC on Splendor in Feb, 2014 and sailed 5X that year on Splendor.  Miss those winter sailings on Carnival from NYC big time.  

 

No interest in cruises in summer from anywhere.  Maybe someday it will happen again for winters in NYC.

 

In the meantime, I'll settle for winter cruises from Baltimore, unless I want to fly to cruise or go on another line from NY or NJ.

[Guest BasicSailor]

Just now, jsglow said:

I don't think so.  I really believe the Spirits will all eventually be Sunshined.

Possible, just can't see Carnival sinking that kind of money into them at this date and time. Too many things have happened along with the pandemic. Fire on Freedom, Fumes on Magic etc.

[jsglow]

So there are 4 Spirit Class ships and 2 currently owned by their Chinese JV.  Bridge restricted ports are Baltimore, Tampa and Jacksonville. Any more?  So the inventory exists without any new builds to service those ports, long term.  Again, I really believe those ships will eventually be Sunshined.

[jsglow]

1 minute ago, BasicSailor said:

Possible, just can't see Carnival sinking that kind of money into them at this date and time. Too many things have happened along with the pandemic. Fire on Freedom, Fumes on Magic etc.

I'm not saying soon.  But they certainly like the retrofit strategy as they are doing it with all the Destiny Class boats.  And you can't do a new build for $200MM. 

[Seashell337]

On 5/25/2022 at 7:01 PM, sanmarcosman said:

Where do these direct flights stop en route? They can be pricier and aren't as convenient.

Even my tiny town in northeast TN has direct flights to Orlando, Tampa and Miami. But to get to San Juan we have to go from here to Charlotte or Atlanta then on to the San Juan. 
 

 

[bstel]

2 hours ago, jsglow said:

  Again, I really believe those ships will eventually be Sunshined.

I would agree.  of course that will ruin all that is great about the Spirit class, but there are a few places that they can shove more rooms into pretty easy.

Edited May 27, 2022 by bstel

[Illbcruzn4life]

On 5/25/2022 at 6:53 PM, Itried4498 said:

 

Opps, it did briefly dip below $11 last year, but only for literally a few days.

But you said that Carnivals stock hadn't been as low as Wednesdays price of $11+ since the 1990's. $8 a share in 2020 qualifies as lower .

[Itried4498]

32 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

But you said that Carnivals stock hadn't been as low as Wednesdays price of $11+ since the 1990's. $8 a share in 2020 qualifies as lower .

I acknowledged I was mistaken.  Do you have a point, or are you just gloating?

Edited May 27, 2022 by Itried4498

[SRQbeachgirl]

On 5/26/2022 at 6:29 PM, BasicSailor said:

They still have the spirit class. Which I think will be on the chopping block the next go round.

 

That would eventually mean completely leaving Tampa and Jax as ports, which I don't see happening. Tampa is too popular to abandon. I think they will upgrade the Spirit ships to keep them in service at the height-restricted ports for years to come.

 

Now, if we could just talk Tampa into building that long talked-about terminal west of the Skyway we'd have a lot more options. *shakes fist in a northerly direction*  

[Guest BasicSailor]

1 hour ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

 

That would eventually mean completely leaving Tampa and Jax as ports, which I don't see happening. Tampa is too popular to abandon. I think they will upgrade the Spirit ships to keep them in service at the height-restricted ports for years to come.

 

Now, if we could just talk Tampa into building that long talked-about terminal west of the Skyway we'd have a lot more options. *shakes fist in a northerly direction*  

Carnival has surprised me in the past when it comes to leaving a port in the dust. But I do agree Tampa is a go to port for sure. Building West terminal may become a push, sooner than we think 😉.

[SRQbeachgirl]

23 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

Carnival has surprised me in the past when it comes to leaving a port in the dust. But I do agree Tampa is a go to port for sure. Building West terminal may become a push, sooner than we think 😉.

 

From your lips to the Port Authority's ears! 😁

[tidecat]

The simplest solution would be to have Sunshine move to Miami. Sunrise-which still has a dome over one pool, unlike her older sister-would then do the Miami/Alaska combination. Spirit would then be based in Mobile year-round. Sunrise could also work as a fourth ship out of Galveston outside of the Alaska season-Radiance was originally supposed to be the fourth ship to be based in Galveston prior to the pandemic.

 

Norfolk could also be in play for year-round service, or close to it. I'm sure Carnival has a good idea of how many Virginians currently sail out of Baltimore and Charleston.

 

I don't expect any ship retirements prior to 2024 - even Sunshine, which will the oldest ship in the fleet, will only be 28 years old. Things may get a little messy after 2026 as 13 ships (14 when Costa Magica joins) will turn 30 between 2026 and 2035. If Carnival winds up replacing those with 7-8 XL ships - which still might represent only minimal or even no passenger capacity growth - a lot of places are going to lose ships.

[stobe1]

On 5/26/2022 at 7:27 AM, jsglow said:

  These days, exactly ZERO Carnival cruises (with the exception of Journey cruises) get past St. Maarten and St. Kitts deeper into the Leewards and Windwards. 

 

Carnival routinely has calls to the ABC islands in the deep southern Caribbean. They are non-Journey 8 day cruises. I have done two of them since the restart last summer, both on the Horizon.

Edited May 28, 2022 by stobe1