Carnival Corporation Orders 5th Excel-Class Ship

[Port of New Orleans]

12 hours ago, Riles34 said:

I don't think they will fit under the bridge to get to NYC

The Mardi Gras was originally slated to sail out of New York before the COVID pandemic

[jimbo5544]

7 hours ago, Port of New Orleans said:

The Mardi Gras was originally slated to sail out of New York before the COVID pandemic

I am not aware of any ship that cannot clear VNB, even QM II can fit.  Venezia fits as well.  I am not sure New York (year round anyway) can draw enough to make the beards do this.  Seasonal, is another issue.  Iteneraries are the drawbacks from my view....

[TeresaJ]

This is exciting news! I loved the Mardi Gras and we want to sail again on an Excel class ship however the meh itineraries keep holding us back from booking. I hope they put together some better itineraries for these ships. I'm so sick of Amber Cove and Nassau on practically every itinerary.  😫

[mz-s]

27 minutes ago, TeresaJ said:

This is exciting news! I loved the Mardi Gras and we want to sail again on an Excel class ship however the meh itineraries keep holding us back from booking. I hope they put together some better itineraries for these ships. I'm so sick of Amber Cove and Nassau on practically every itinerary.  😫

 

Expect more of it - proprietary ports, and ports with a lot of popular excursions that guests book are how Carnival is paying down its debt.

 

At Amber Cove Carnival captures nearly all of the spend. At Half Moon Cay they capture all of it. At Nassau they get kickbacks from destinations like Blue Lagoon.

[sparks1093]

59 minutes ago, TeresaJ said:

This is exciting news! I loved the Mardi Gras and we want to sail again on an Excel class ship however the meh itineraries keep holding us back from booking. I hope they put together some better itineraries for these ships. I'm so sick of Amber Cove and Nassau on practically every itinerary.  😫

We're on Mardi Gras for the first time in 24 days (woo-hoo!) and from what I'm reading should we tire of the itineraries we can always stay onboard and explore the ship more.

[jsglow]

I agree with @mz-s. Cruising as an industry is changing with big ships going to a few tightly controlled ports becoming the norm for the 3-4 big mass market lines. I think the belief is that such a strategy vastly increases the potential customer base.

 

Other lines will continue to serve the traveler market. 

[KmomChicago]

52 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

We're on Mardi Gras for the first time in 24 days (woo-hoo!) and from what I'm reading should we tire of the itineraries we can always stay onboard and explore the ship more.

100% accurate. Oasis of the Seas and Mardi Gras are the only 2 ships I have tried that I couldn’t “wear out” in a good week aboard. 
 

I have not been reading reviews lately but I assume you’re well clued in to Summer Landing / deck 8 aft which tends to be undiscovered and underused the first couple of days, but gradually picks up through the week. 

[sparks1093]

29 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

100% accurate. Oasis of the Seas and Mardi Gras are the only 2 ships I have tried that I couldn’t “wear out” in a good week aboard. 
 

I have not been reading reviews lately but I assume you’re well clued in to Summer Landing / deck 8 aft which tends to be undiscovered and underused the first couple of days, but gradually picks up through the week. 

I had read about it but the reminder is still welcome, thanks! 🙂 

[elcuchio24]

10 hours ago, Port of New Orleans said:

The Mardi Gras was originally slated to sail out of New York before the COVID pandemic

 

We've been on some of the larger NCL ships out of Pier 88, similar size. Its a big bridge, shouldnt be an issue. 

[elcuchio24]

2 hours ago, jsglow said:

I agree with @mz-s. Cruising as an industry is changing with big ships going to a few tightly controlled ports becoming the norm for the 3-4 big mass market lines. I think the belief is that such a strategy vastly increases the potential customer base.

 

Other lines will continue to serve the traveler market. 

 

Agree 100%. The big lines aren't going to order any smaller ships anytime soon. For CCL, we probably won't book anything other than Excel class going forward. I like them. Not as much as some of the larger RCL ships, but still pleased to sail on them. 

[slavigne5577]

We are trying NCL next year from NOLA because we are sick of Glory and Valor. Liberty is coming but its basically the same as Glory and Valor. I would be happy with even a Dream class ship from NOLA. We live an hour from NOLA so its too easy to drive. 

[ineedadisplayname1Vbbjhju]

This is amazing news , I can't afford icon of seas because I get the casino offers for carnival. so I hope these ships are big like Icon. I go on Celebration in December and can't wait. 

[787cruiser]

Im not sure why NOLA keeps getting brought up. There's no way they are going to jump to an Excel ship without trying a Dream or Vista class there first. It makes no sense!

 

I think it's fairly obvious where the 2 new excel are going. PC and Miami and don't be surprised if they take another play from the RC playbook and one of these ships is built specifically for short cruises to Celebration key. But the main point is, they'll be going to those ports so 1 excel at each port is on short cruise rotations.

 

Unless Carnival transfers Venezia and Firenze back to Costa come 27/28 I also can't seen an Excel going to NYC. Those 2 ships won't really work anywhere else than where they currently are, well perhaps Virginia?

 

Here's my prediction, im not using ship names because I think we'll see a bunch of rotations before or about the time Excel#4 joins the fleet.

 

2027

Miami 

2x Excel Class

1x Vista Class

1x Conquest Class

 

Dream class moves to Virginia OR NOLA and Conquest class moves up to Virginia.

Sunshine is Retired.

 

2028

PC

2x Excel Class

1x Dream or Vista Class

1x Conquest Class

 

1 Conquest class from PC replaces the spirit class vessel in Galveston. The Spirit class vessel will go to either Tampa or JAX to replace a retiring Fantasy vessel.

 

Galveston 2028

1x Excel

1x Dream

1x Vista or Dream

1x Conquest

 

Edited March 27 by 787cruiser

[CruiseAdict218]

30 minutes ago, 787cruiser said:

Unless Carnival transfers Venezia and Firenze back to Costa come 27/28 I also can't seen an Excel going to NYC. Those 2 ships won't really work anywhere else than where they currently are, well perhaps Virginia?

 

They can easily do a 7/8 day run to the Bahamas and even Canada. Mardi Grad was supposed to do a one off Canada cruise before going to Florida. 

[Saint Greg]

13 hours ago, tidecat said:

The main issue is that Mardi Gras to New Orleans would be an 80% increase in capacity for either 4-5 day or 7 day cruises. If the New Orleans market was that underserved, Carnival would have already done something about it.

 

LNG supply also be an issue, especially with the optics of having LNG in a densely populated area.

 

It is underserved. That's why the cheapest 7-day out of New Orleans on an old ship like Liberty is still more expensive than the cheapest on Luminosa, Firenze, Panorama, Magic, and Venezia. That's why NCL canceled a bunch of European cruises and a transatlantic to bring Getaway to New Orleans two months earlier this year. I'm not arguing for an Excel Class ship in New Orleans. But Dream or Vista class for sure. Especially when Long Beach has the two lowest priced Vista class ships. And one of them is "new" and hasn't even sailed yet. It's clear Long Beach is overserved. I could make a case for Excel New Orleans if they ever drop Mobile which takes a lot of passengers within two hours of New Orleans.

 

https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Norwegian-Getaway-Epic-move-to-Caribbean-in-fall

 

Edited March 27 by Saint Greg

[787cruiser]

41 minutes ago, CruiseAdict218 said:

They can easily do a 7/8 day run to the Bahamas and even Canada. Mardi Grad was supposed to do a one off Canada cruise before going to Florida. 

Im not saying an Excel wouldn't work in NYC. Im saying it won't replace a Venice class ship there. As long as the Venice class is in the Carnival fleet they will stay in NYC and on the west coast.

[CruiseAdict218]

43 minutes ago, 787cruiser said:

Im not saying an Excel wouldn't work in NYC. Im saying it won't replace a Venice class ship there. As long as the Venice class is in the Carnival fleet they will stay in NYC and on the west coast.

Yeah I see what you’re saying, I would just hope to have it for at least a one off summer season or if one of the new ones wants to debut here then head to Florida. 

[elcuchio24]

2 hours ago, ineedadisplayname1Vbbjhju said:

This is amazing news , I can't afford icon of seas because I get the casino offers for carnival. so I hope these ships are big like Icon. I go on Celebration in December and can't wait. 

 

It won't be big as icon, more likely same size as Celebration/MartiGras

[mz-s]

There is a big gaping hole in Carnival's homeport strategy that Norfolk didn't quite fill. I hope they've got plans for something along that huge stretch of the Atlantic between Norfolk VA and Jacksonville FL. Surely there is a port city somewhere along the stretch that would enjoy 3,000 tourists a week year-round?

Edited March 27 by mz-s

[KmomChicago]

6 minutes ago, mz-s said:

There is a big gaping hole in Carnival's homeport strategy that Norfolk didn't quite fill. I hope they've got plans for something along that huge stretch of the Atlantic between Norfolk VA and Jacksonville FL. Surely there is a port city somewhere along the stretch that would enjoy 3,000 tourists a week year-round?

It was called Charleston and it opted out.

[mz-s]

17 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

It was called Charleston and it opted out.

 

Oh I know, I sailed from Charleston over a dozen times over the years. I mean with Charleston gone - Norfolk doesn't quite fill that void. The new builds allows Carnival to put Conquest or Dream class ships in other home ports around the country. Surely they can find a home port between Norfolk and Jacksonville that would welcome the tourism.

[starstruck05]

2 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

It is underserved. That's why the cheapest 7-day out of New Orleans on an old ship like Liberty is still more expensive than the cheapest on Luminosa, Firenze, Panorama, Magic, and Venezia. That's why NCL canceled a bunch of European cruises and a transatlantic to bring Getaway to New Orleans two months earlier this year. I'm not arguing for an Excel Class ship in New Orleans. But Dream or Vista class for sure. Especially when Long Beach has the two lowest priced Vista class ships. And one of them is "new" and hasn't even sailed yet. It's clear Long Beach is overserved. I could make a case for Excel New Orleans if they ever drop Mobile which takes a lot of passengers within two hours of New Orleans.

 

https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Norwegian-Getaway-Epic-move-to-Caribbean-in-fall

 

I couldn't agree more. My only argument was that we can support that class of ship. Not ever saying it will ever happen. I personally would like a Vista class ship here over anything else.

[mikayla73]

2 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

It is underserved. That's why the cheapest 7-day out of New Orleans on an old ship like Liberty is still more expensive than the cheapest on Luminosa, Firenze, Panorama, Magic, and Venezia. That's why NCL canceled a bunch of European cruises and a transatlantic to bring Getaway to New Orleans two months earlier this year. I'm not arguing for an Excel Class ship in New Orleans. But Dream or Vista class for sure. Especially when Long Beach has the two lowest priced Vista class ships. And one of them is "new" and hasn't even sailed yet. It's clear Long Beach is overserved. I could make a case for Excel New Orleans if they ever drop Mobile which takes a lot of passengers within two hours of New Orleans.

 

https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Norwegian-Getaway-Epic-move-to-Caribbean-in-fall

 

I would love a Dream/Vista class in New Orleans. Conquest class is OK, but if I'm going to a limited # of ports in the mostly Western Caribbean, I'd prefer Dream/Vista to do that on from New Orleans.

[Saint Greg]

26 minutes ago, starstruck05 said:

I couldn't agree more. My only argument was that we can support that class of ship. Not ever saying it will ever happen. I personally would like a Vista class ship here over anything else.

 

There's definitely money being left on the table. Especially during summer months when Carnival is the only game in town. Hopefully as other lines continue to build new ships, they'll fill that void if Carnival doesn't. 

 

21 minutes ago, mikayla73 said:

I would love a Dream/Vista class in New Orleans. Conquest class is OK, but if I'm going to a limited # of ports in the mostly Western Caribbean, I'd prefer Dream/Vista to do that on from New Orleans.

 

I definitely won't book another cruise out of New Orleans on conquest or lower. It would have to be a special cruise like I did with Glory and the Sailabration in 2022. Or it would have to be really cheap which is highly doubtful.

 

 

 

Edited March 27 by Saint Greg

[dolphinsfan246]

33 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Oh I know, I sailed from Charleston over a dozen times over the years. I mean with Charleston gone - Norfolk doesn't quite fill that void. The new builds allows Carnival to put Conquest or Dream class ships in other home ports around the country. Surely they can find a home port between Norfolk and Jacksonville that would welcome the tourism.

Savannah, Georgia was exploring the cruise industry years ago before Covid but ultimately decided against it. Personally I would love to see a ship put in Wilmington, North Carolina, but I have no idea about the logistics of that being possible.