What is the Best Itinerary on Carnival?

[jimbo5544]

17 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I think it goes along what I was saying about carnival catering to the beginner cruiser. I don’t think they want regular cruises out of a place that isn’t drivable. 

That would be tough for most of us to SJ..😆 and you are 100% correct in their marketing plan.  That said, it has always been head scratching material why they dumped the cruises out of there.  I am sure that it is financial, but it is not like they are short on ships.  The itinerary was strong.  Never really understood the driver of multi port embarkation either.  I have more than once, when given the opportunity, voiced my opinion to bring it back, even seasonably.   Think of the opportunities for Journey cruises from there…..

[jimbo5544]

2 minutes ago, grimpil said:

Doing this one next Apr... first cruise with our Granddaughters!!! My favourite itin so far was B2B in Europe (eastern and western med on the Pride) then journeys out of Manhattan on the Venezia. Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, Antigua and St Maarten. We have Hawaii coming up this fall so that may change?

Nice mix, love the itinerary on the Venezia Journey!

[jimbo5544]

7 minutes ago, grimpil said:

Doing this one next Apr... first cruise with our Granddaughters!!! My favourite itin so far was B2B in Europe (eastern and western med on the Pride) then journeys out of Manhattan on the Venezia. Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, Antigua and St Maarten. We have Hawaii coming up this fall so that may change?

We did all if these on our Breeze journey 2019 cruise.  Simply the best itinerary in the Caribbean I have ever done.  14 days from PC 11 islands….would do it again in a HEARTBEAT.  Grenade was very interesting, Dominca a little less so.  ST Lucia…the gem of the Caribbean.  ENJOY!!

[Saint Greg]

6 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

That would be tough for most of us to SJ..😆 and you are 100% correct in their marketing plan.  That said, it has always been head scratching material why they dumped the cruises out of there.  I am sure that it is financial, but it is not like they are short on ships.  The itinerary was strong.  Never really understood the driver of multi port embarkation either.  I have more than once, when given the opportunity, voiced my opinion to bring it back, even seasonably.   Think of the opportunities for Journey cruises from there…..

I never did it because I was waiting for them to put something bigger than fantasy class there. But I am doing it in 2026 on  Norwegian Epic. 
 

It’s really odd. They have more ships than anyone else so they could easily afford to do these other routes but they don’t. It seems like the strategy is to get more ships in more ports than anyone else and all go the same places.

[mz-s]

5 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I never did it because I was waiting for them to put something bigger than fantasy class there. But I am doing it in 2026 on  Norwegian Epic. 
 

It’s really odd. They have more ships than anyone else so they could easily afford to do these other routes but they don’t. It seems like the strategy is to get more ships in more ports than anyone else and all go the same places.

 

Carnival's best chance to compete is to not compete at all. Nobody else sails out of Mobile AL or Norfolk VA or at least until Norwegian comes in, Jacksonville FL.

 

When Carnival has to compete with other lines at a port like Canaveral or Long Beach they can only compete on price.

[Saint Greg]

7 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Carnival's best chance to compete is to not compete at all. Nobody else sails out of Mobile AL or Norfolk VA or at least until Norwegian comes in, Jacksonville FL.

 

When Carnival has to compete with other lines at a port like Canaveral or Long Beach they can only compete on price.

They can compete. They choose not to. They could send a ship up to Alaska that competes with the Jewel. They could send a better ship to Seattle to compete with Bliss. They could send a ship to San Juan to compete with Viva next year and Bliss in 2026. They choose not to. They do fewer seasonal deployments and focus on the Caribbean year round. That also leads to less variety because they rarely move their ships around where other lines are moving them every year.

 

Edited March 29 by Saint Greg

[mz-s]

13 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

They can compete. They choose not to. They could send a ship up to Alaska that competes with the Jewel. They could send a better ship to Seattle to compete with Bliss. They could send a ship to San Juan to compete with Viva next year and Bliss in 2026. They choose not to. They do fewer seasonal deployments and focus on the Caribbean year round. That also leads to less variety because they rarely move their ships around where other lines are moving them every year.

 

 

The Bahamas and Caribbean has always been Carnival Cruse Line's core competency so that's nothing new. Carnival Corp has other brands that do Alaska very well for example.

 

Even where Carnival has their newest and best product on display - like Long Beach or Miami, their cruises sell for less than the competition because again - they can only compete on price when they have to compete with other lines.

 

Carnival's differentiator is they put ships everywhere they can to capture as many cruisers as possible. Lots of people want to cruise but have no interest in flying, even if it means a 10-hour car ride.

[Honolulu Blue]

53 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

That would be tough for most of us to SJ..😆 and you are 100% correct in their marketing plan.  That said, it has always been head scratching material why they dumped the cruises out of there.  I am sure that it is financial, but it is not like they are short on ships.  The itinerary was strong.  Never really understood the driver of multi port embarkation either.  I have more than once, when given the opportunity, voiced my opinion to bring it back, even seasonably.   Think of the opportunities for Journey cruises from there…..

My opinion is that they are short on ships - both the new ones and ships in general. I think we all understand why all those Fantasy class ships were sold a few years ago, but everyone underestimated how rapidly and strongly the cruise industry came back from its shutdown. I think if they had some if those ships back, Carnival would put them to good, profitable use.

 

Journeys cruises to and from San Juan... I did one from SJ some years ago that did a one way trip to Galveston, stopping at several ports along the way. I actually did the.trip the opposite way the previous year, but that one didn't count as a Journeys cruise because the concept had not been invented yet.

Edited March 29 by Honolulu Blue

[Saint Greg]

26 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

 Carnival Corp has other brands that do Alaska very well for example.

 

Sure. But let’s not act like we’re one big cross-over family. If I’m on a Carnival cruise and say I want to go to Alaska they aren’t going to sell me Majestic Princess. They aren’t going give me the option. They’re going to sell me Spirit or Luminosa.

 

Edited March 29 by Saint Greg

[mz-s]

4 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Sure. But let’s not act like we’re one big cross-over family. If I’m on a Carnival cruise and say I want to go to Alaska they aren’t going to sell me Majestic Princess. They aren’t going give me the option. They’re going to sell me Spirit or Luminosa.

 

 

Of course, when you have a hammer everything is a nail. That's why it's up to the consumer to do research and pick the best product for them in each circumstance. For many, Carnival may be the best Alaska cruise choice.

[StephPS79]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

Carnival Corp has other brands that do Alaska very well for example.

 

My brother is a die-hard RCI fan, but when looking at Alaska, went with Princess.  RCI doesn't do Alaska very well.  Price, ship, and itinerary wise, I don't think RCI does Alaska very well.

 

[Robo1098]

18 hours ago, mz-s said:

Most of Carnival Cruise Line's profitability is in onboard spend. So the most profitable itinerary for CCL would be a cruise with lots of proprietary ports so they capture most of the spend.

 

 

Royal has Quantum class ships in Alaska.

I think a lot of what ships go to Alaska have to do with design. Those Quantum class ships are made mor for cold wheather. 

[Robo1098]

"Welcome to the first -- I think your first call or the first call since you've been covering us. So the new ships get a premium. There is no doubt that the new ships get a premium. The way we manage brand by brand, how much of that premium to get. It also depends on where we're putting that ship because we're not going to necessarily want to put the best ship on the best itinerary because that's not the good thing for the overall brand."

 

I think what he is stating is very obvious. If he didn't come to this conclusion I would question his position in the corporation. It stands to reason that it you put an old ship with a boring itinerary nobody would go. A newer ship can carry a bad itinerary as more people are going for the ship itself.

[mz-s]

7 minutes ago, Robo1098 said:

I think a lot of what ships go to Alaska have to do with design. Those Quantum class ships are made mor for cold wheather. 

 

Sure, but the person I was replying to seemed to suggest that Carnival does a Spirit class ship because of size considerations. 

 

Quantum class is similar in size to Carnival's Excel class, much larger than Spirit class. That was my point.

[Robo1098]

1 minute ago, mz-s said:

 

Sure, but the person I was replying to seemed to suggest that Carnival does a Spirit class ship because of size considerations. 

 

Quantum class is similar in size to Carnival's Excel class, much larger than Spirit class. That was my point.

Correct. I don't dissagree with you. I will say that I have seen many complaints from cruisers on Quantum class ships that they do not go to many of the areas that other ships go due to their size. 

[Saint Greg]

49 minutes ago, Robo1098 said:

I think a lot of what ships go to Alaska have to do with design. Those Quantum class ships are made mor for cold wheather. 

 

But Carnival could easily slide Firenze up to Seattle from Long Beach which also has the roof. Maybe they will in the future but it doesn't seem to be in their plans right now.

[sgttami]

3 hours ago, StephPS79 said:

 

My brother is a die-hard RCI fan, but when looking at Alaska, went with Princess.  RCI doesn't do Alaska very well.  Price, ship, and itinerary wise, I don't think RCI does Alaska very well.

 

I used to be a die hard RCI fan and did Alaska on Serenade of the Seas out of Vancouver.  It still remains my favorite cruise and ship.

 

It was a long time ago (2005) so maybe things have changed. 

 

2007 was my last RCI cruise.  Since I discovered Carnival I haven't been back to Royal. I would go back, just haven't!

 

[Honolulu Blue]

23 minutes ago, sgttami said:

I used to be a die hard RCI fan and did Alaska on Serenade of the Seas out of Vancouver.  It still remains my favorite cruise and ship.

 

It was a long time ago (2005) so maybe things have changed. 

 

2007 was my last RCI cruise.  Since I discovered Carnival I haven't been back to Royal. I would go back, just haven't!

I find it interesting that Serenade is your favorite ship, because that is the next Royal ship I will be on early next year. It's a charter that's not going to Alaska. Perhaps I'll find some of the things that.impressed.you?

[UGACamper]

To answer OP's question - ABC is by leaps and bounds the best regular Caribbean itinerary. For me personally, a Vista Class ship (Havana) or Excel with A, B, and Grand Turk would be the best of the best.  YMMV.

[tha sista]

Are there no more St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Grenada, Antigua itineraries?  Or were those only out of SJ.  I can't remember.  I would love to hit some of those islands again.

[Jamman54]

3 minutes ago, tha sista said:

Are there no more St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Grenada, Antigua itineraries?  Or were those only out of SJ.  I can't remember.  I would love to hit some of those islands again.

You'll need to research Journeys cruises to hit those ports. 😎

[tha sista]

1 minute ago, Jamman54 said:

You'll need to research Journeys cruises to hit those ports. 😎

I've got a Panama Canal transit coming up and about 7 others booked, but I do like the longer sailings so will give that a look.  Thanks!👍

[bar1068]

Just kind of an OBTW...I did not see it mentioned, Celebration does an 8 day ABC cruise out of Miami...we did our 5th Southern Carib/ABC on Celebration last May, and was probably the best for us ABC cruise we've done. Or best cruise was the 16 day transatlantic on the Sunshine some years ago. Alaska would be up there, but on our Alaskan cruise last year the weather had other ideas. Nice cruise, but definitely was "subdued" by the weather. 

Edited March 29 by bar1068
words misspelled

[jimbo5544]

6 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

They can compete. They choose not to. They could send a ship up to Alaska that competes with the Jewel. They could send a better ship to Seattle to compete with Bliss. They could send a ship to San Juan to compete with Viva next year and Bliss in 2026. They choose not to. They do fewer seasonal deployments and focus on the Caribbean year round. That also leads to less variety because they rarely move their ships around where other lines are moving them every year.

 

Not sure how anyone can say they can not compete…. (I know you did not).  The only possible variable that I can think of is profitability

[jimbo5544]

6 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

My opinion is that they are short on ships - both the new ones and ships in general. I think we all understand why all those Fantasy class ships were sold a few years ago, but everyone underestimated how rapidly and strongly the cruise industry came back from its shutdown. I think if they had some if those ships back, Carnival would put them to good, profitable use.

 

Journeys cruises to and from San Juan... I did one from SJ some years ago that did a one way trip to Galveston, stopping at several ports along the way. I actually did the.trip the opposite way the previous year, but that one didn't count as a Journeys cruise because the concept had not been invented yet.

Not sure I see the math.  There is a blip in new ones compared to the latest monstrosities of the eases, but we all know the reason for that.  They are 2 short against the lead of RCCL (28), CCL has (26) and NCL (19).  I do agree on the sent to salvage ships, but that again was a covid financial blip.