Carnival removing Libraries from ships?

[MrsPeel55]

do we need to worry that they may want to do same in their Cunard vessels?

 

I found the Cruise Mummy site/blog after someone posted a link here, I thought in the beginning that was a good source of info, a young woman in the UK.... but fast I realised it isn't fit for what I am looking for (she is a young mum of young children, enjoys the mega ships...nothing wrong with that, just not my style or my daughter's)

I didn't unsubscribe from the emails because I had caught a couple of articles that were of general interest for any cruiser, when it does not interest me I just delete.

Now this one just arrived in my inbox....

 

I'm quiet sure in this instance it is just their Carnival Line they are talking about... but it really got the seed of a doubt growing in my mind.

 

The Library was one of the features I loved even way before I had the experience of sailing on Queen Victoria...and my love grew hugely after I walked in that beautiful room with that amazing staircase, elegant decor and some wonderful people sitting there reading..... I also have heard QM2's library is something fabulous...

I know the worries about dress code changing is of great important to some, I personally would LOVE Cunard sticking to a strict dress code and can say that was one of the main reasons we went for Cunard, but seeing a few people not going along with it does not bother me as much as the closing of a library would.....

Do you think there is a risk they would want to do away with Cunard's vessels libraries too?

[shippmates]

MrsPeel55 I sure hope not.  I love to take my book up to the library and find a wonderful comfy seat looking out and the sea and read away the day.  I too hope Cunard does not do away with the dress code.  That is the one thing that drew me to Cunard.  Enjoy your next sailing.

[Guest SilverHengroen]

Obviously very different target markets between Carnival cruise line and Cunard, even if they are owned by the same company overall. I would guess that, no, they won't remove the library or anything, but it is notable that on Queen Anne, it already looks much diminished from the big forward-facing room on QM2, and the double deck extravagance of QE & QV. It's tucked away up behind the commodore club, single level and quite small, probably a good view, but they haven't even released a render of it yet, so clearly not a focus of the ship. 

[Host Hattie]

Carnival Corporation has lots of different cruise brands with their own separate identities. 

To be honest from what I've read of Carnival Cruise Lines I'm surprised they had libraries to start with.

[Essiesmom]

1 hour ago, Host Hattie said:

Carnival Corporation has lots of different cruise brands with their own separate identities. 

To be honest from what I've read of Carnival Cruise Lines I'm surprised they had libraries to start with.

They had wonderful libraries to start with,  it they decreased in size with each class of ship.  The Holiday class had a lovely library, though I don’t remember a lot of books.  fantasy class had a slightly smaller library…still does.  More games than books, I think, two large tables and several nights a cruise it is the venue for the Chef’s Table.  Spirit class had a nice library but I think they have all been repurposed.  
   HAL started repurposing their libraries more than 10 years ago.  
   Oceania has a lovely library on their R class ships.

   Crystal also had a nice library on Serenity

   Celebrity had a lovely duplex library on M class, but those are gone.

But none of the could compare with the libraries on the Queens.  

[MrsPeel55]

@shippmates thank you.  We are looking into booking at least one other sailing  before the one that is booked for Christmas 24... fell in love with Queen Vic tore and the whole Conrad experience!

 

@SilverHengroen thanks.... I only started looking into other companies after talking to some non Cunard friends and after I joined Cruise Critic, so differences between lines offerings and passengers types, etc  is something I'm not well informed. 

So sad that QA's has given so little importance to the library....

 

@Host Hattie thanks, you got a very loud laugh from my daughter here! - a positive thing, I should add 🙂

 

[Victoria2]

2 hours ago, SilverHengroen said:

Obviously very different target markets between Carnival cruise line and Cunard, even if they are owned by the same company overall. I would guess that, no, they won't remove the library or anything, but it is notable that on Queen Anne, it already looks much diminished from the big forward-facing room on QM2, and the double deck extravagance of QE & QV. It's tucked away up behind the commodore club, single level and quite small, probably a good view, but they haven't even released a render of it yet, so clearly not a focus of the ship. 

Not bothered about views, as long as it has books, and it doesn't look too small an area, I will be a happy bunny and with it being a new ship, I'm even hoping for new publications. Possibly. 🙂

[foodsvcmgr]

I believe this applies to Carnival Cruise Line only, not all of Carnival Corporation as a whole.

As mentioned, Holland America reduced or eliminated libraries a few years back, but their newest ship Rotterdam (from which QA is derived) has reinstated a reasonably sized and purposed library.

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 9/23/2023 at 1:05 PM, foodsvcmgr said:

I believe this applies to Carnival Cruise Line only, not all of Carnival Corporation as a whole.

As mentioned, Holland America reduced or eliminated libraries a few years back, but their newest ship Rotterdam (from which QA is derived) has reinstated a reasonably sized and purposed library.

 

HAL did not remove libraries from their remaining small ships. I haven't been on Rotterdam, but the library on Koningsdam was a joke. Lots of shelves, so few books. They are reinstating libraries on some ships, but they're more like bookstores with multiple copies of new bestsellers. Perhaps they'll improve with time--a library needs to develop its collection over time to have any kind of depth. 

 

Don't give up hope on QA's library--it looks like it has more space than the "library" on a HAL Pinnacle ship.

[IB2]

On 9/23/2023 at 3:30 PM, Host Hattie said:

Carnival Corporation has lots of different cruise brands with their own separate identities. 

To be honest from what I've read of Carnival Cruise Lines I'm surprised they had libraries to start with.

of travel books and airport-novels with larger sized font? 😉

Edited October 15, 2023 by IB2

[exlondoner]

14 minutes ago, IB2 said:

of travel books and airport-novels with larger sized font? 😉

I should think Carnival with its youngish demographic would be unlikely to have many passengers needing a larger font.

[david63]

I think the point is that all cruise lines are looking to make a profit and will introduce new revenue streams wherever they can and a library in itself is not a revenue stream therefore it either has to prove its value or it goes.

[3rdGenCunarder]

7 hours ago, david63 said:

I think the point is that all cruise lines are looking to make a profit and will introduce new revenue streams wherever they can and a library in itself is not a revenue stream therefore it either has to prove its value or it goes.

 

At some point, isn't ambiance worth anything? 

[3rdGenCunarder]

7 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I should think Carnival with its youngish demographic would be unlikely to have many passengers needing a larger font.

 

Or needing books in general, as they're more likely to be reading on a kindle. 

 

I prefer a real book. I bought a tablet years ago, but I never found it comfortable to hold for reading. However, if I needed large type, the option to change font size would be useful enough to make me tryi it again.

[exlondoner]

24 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Or needing books in general, as they're more likely to be reading on a kindle. 

 

I prefer a real book. I bought a tablet years ago, but I never found it comfortable to hold for reading. However, if I needed large type, the option to change font size would be useful enough to make me tryi it again.

I find on most voyages the number of kindles increases towards the end, as people finish the print books they have brought or don’t want to risk having to return something half read to the library.

[Victoria2]

I have no worries about Cunard libraries.

 

They are part of Cunard's culture and although jackets and ties might wax and wane of an evening, the libraries will stay.

[david63]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

At some point, isn't ambiance worth anything? 

Not to the Carnival bean counters

[exlondoner]

8 minutes ago, david63 said:

Not to the Carnival bean counters

What makes you think that? I should have thought ambience was of vital importance, as it is the way they can distinguish their brands.

Edited October 15, 2023 by exlondoner

[david63]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

What makes you think that? I should have thought ambience was of vital importance, as it is the way they can distinguish their brands.

Now you are confusing marketing/branding with finance - and we all know who will win that one.

 

The bean counters could not care less about ambience all they can see is an area of the ship that is not producing any income/not enough income. The fact that it may alienate some of their customers is irrelevant as the other Carnival brands are being made less attractive to the "old" cruiserswho are therefore looking at somewhere else to go and not knowing any different will go to Cunard and accept it as the norm.

 

The days of "loyal" customers may not be gone but is certainly on its way out.

[exlondoner]

9 minutes ago, david63 said:

Now you are confusing marketing/branding with finance - and we all know who will win that one.

 

The bean counters could not care less about ambience all they can see is an area of the ship that is not producing any income/not enough income. The fact that it may alienate some of their customers is irrelevant as the other Carnival brands are being made less attractive to the "old" cruiserswho are therefore looking at somewhere else to go and not knowing any different will go to Cunard and accept it as the norm.

 

The days of "loyal" customers may not be gone but is certainly on its way out.

Clearly I am deeply stupid, and thank you for pointing it out. But surely marketing and finance must be connected: without the former there might be no income at all. What about taking the pools out? They must cost money to maintain, and you aren’t even allowed to drink in them. I think they should definitely go.

[Victoria2]

23 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Clearly I am deeply stupid, and thank you for pointing it out. But surely marketing and finance must be connected: without the former there might be no income at all. What about taking the pools out? They must cost money to maintain, and you aren’t even allowed to drink in them. I think they should definitely go.

No, not stupid, just one, like me who sees the library as integral to the Cunard brand.

 

36 minutes ago, david63 said:

Now you are confusing marketing/branding with finance - and we all know who will win that one.

 

The bean counters could not care less about ambience all they can see is an area of the ship that is not producing any income/not enough income. The fact that it may alienate some of their customers is irrelevant as the other Carnival brands are being made less attractive to the "old" cruiserswho are therefore looking at somewhere else to go and not knowing any different will go to Cunard and accept it as the norm.

 

The days of "loyal" customers may not be gone but is certainly on its way out.

How often do you use the library on Cunard?

 

I'm there, more often than not, every day and as vibrant as a library can be, it's busy. Just as I presume you have not the slightest idea if Cunard will replace the libraries with something income generating, neither do I, so you imply a Cunard library has its days limited,  I say the libraries will stay on Cunard for the foreseeable future.

Edited October 15, 2023 by Victoria2

[molecrochip]

CCL runs many short voyages and has a demographic which are fond of e-readers, or not reading. Therefore it makes sense to remove the libraries.

 

This is not a Corporation wide change.

 

Cunard, has a very different demographic, and voyages that are, on average, significantly longer. I understand that there is no plan to remove their libraries. In fact, Queen Anne will have a decent sized library on deck 12.

[Underwatr]

After a few Cunard cruises we cruised on Caribbean Princess. The library had maybe 100 books and was in an alcove off the lobby atrium. A few years later we cruised on Carnival Pride and saw maybe 35 books in her library.

Carnival could make those libraries go away and I don't think anyone would notice. On the other hand the libraries on the Cunard ships are included in the marketing materials hyping how Cunard is different ("the largest library at sea!").

Cunard libraries are safe although there's no guarantee that they'll be prioritized for funding to maintain or add to the collections (Queen Anne being an exception for initial stocking).

[NE John]

I don’t think libraries are going anywhere, but…I wonder how well-utilized the sports/games deck is on the QE/QV on top decks? The outdoor oversized chess set can be repurposed too.  i.e. more Sun decks, al fresco dining, and terraces. 

[Victoria2]

51 minutes ago, Underwatr said:

After a few Cunard cruises we cruised on Caribbean Princess. The library had maybe 100 books and was in an alcove off the lobby atrium. A few years later we cruised on Carnival Pride and saw maybe 35 books in her library.

Carnival could make those libraries go away and I don't think anyone would notice. On the other hand the libraries on the Cunard ships are included in the marketing materials hyping how Cunard is different ("the largest library at sea!").

Cunard libraries are safe although there's no guarantee that they'll be prioritized for funding to maintain or add to the collections (Queen Anne being an exception for initial stocking).

It will be interesting to see how Cunard stocks QA's library. Transfer of some books from her sisters and all ships getting a fresh injection or completely new. If the latter, that's a hell of an undertaking. The closet librarian in me would LOVE to be part of that.  🙂

I'll put that down as something to report on next year.