Cruise Lines - all same company????

[9327]

Hi all,

I am new to cruising and just read on a site:

 

"Carnival Corporation & plc is a global cruise company with a portfolio of 12 distinct brands comprised of the leading cruise operators in both North America, Europe and Austrailia. Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Windstar Cruises, AIDA Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises, Ocean Village, Swan Hellenic, and P&O Cruises Australia are all included in this group."

 

 

So -- ALL of these cruise lines are part of the same company???? That strikes me very strange -- but I suppose they have each kept their own identity so are still like different cruise lines.

 

No different than all the food companies that merge and maintain their same food names -- right?

 

Just trying to figure out what line I'd like to try!

[bububr]

Which wasn't to my liking.

 

I have friends that have travelled Costa for many years. They say that since Carnival bought them out it is more like Carnival, than a Costa. With the exception of the toga parties.

 

I have noticed that Celebrity IS starting to be a little more like RCCL over the last couple of years. Not happy about that...but with all the larger companies buying eachother out...whadya gonna do?

 

Dave:eek:

[wwinfl91]

Unfortunately although the various "brands" under the Carnival umbrella do operate with some independence they are tending to become more and more similar all the time. We have cruised on HAL, Costa and Princess as well as on Carnival's rival, RCI, which has RCCL and Celebrity.

 

Some of Carnival's brands are more regional specific, Costa, P&O Cruises Australia and Swan Hellenic come to mind. HAL, Princess, Carnival, Seaborn, Windstar and Cunard sail ships all over the world.

 

Because they are all owned by one master corporation the various brands tend to trade ships. Generally as the top names, HAL, Princess, Carnival get new and bigger ships they move their older and smaller ships to one of the other cruises lines within the brand family.

 

If you are American and are looking to go on your first cruise, I would suggest trying Princess, Carnival or HAL. HAL will have an older clientel with a little less frantic drinking and partying than Carnival. Princess falls somewhere between.

 

Check out the brand specific boards for more information on each cruise line and get additional information on the specifics of each cruise line.

 

Have a great first cruise.

[9327]

Thank you both for your informative and quick posts - very helpful indeed!

[Coolmama_1]

Different lines for different clientel. GM after all sells Chevys, Buicks, Oldsmobiles, and Cadillacs. Same principle here.

[momofmeg]

Hi all,

I am new to cruising and just read on a site:

 

"Carnival Corporation & plc is a global cruise company with a portfolio of 12 distinct brands comprised of the leading cruise operators in both North America, Europe and Austrailia. Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Windstar Cruises, AIDA Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises, Ocean Village, Swan Hellenic, and P&O Cruises Australia are all included in this group."

 

 

So -- ALL of these cruise lines are part of the same company???? That strikes me very strange -- but I suppose they have each kept their own identity so are still like different cruise lines.

 

No different than all the food companies that merge and maintain their same food names -- right?

 

Just trying to figure out what line I'd like to try!

 

Take a Carnival cruise-then take a HAL cruise-the two lines are complete opposites. Carnival is party-party, HAL has nothing outside of the casino going on after 10 pm, Princess is in the middle as far as entertainment. I like Princess best. For the most part all 3 lines had great food-except I felt my Carnival Inspiration cruise the food was below par.

 

I have also been on RCCL and Celebrity-which are also owned by the same corp. Celebrity is MUCH nicer then RCCL.

 

 

I think these big companies own multiple lines so they have something to attract ALL of the cruise market-differant people want differant things. These lines are NOT the same.