Carnival Corporation Orders Three Additional Ships for Carnival Cruise Line, Introducing a New Class of Ships

[aborgman]

6 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Carnival isn't building any 230 GT ships

 

"With consumer demand for cruise vacations at historic levels, Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest cruise company, today announced an order for three new ships for its namesake Carnival Cruise Line brand for a new class of vessel, at nearly 230,000 gross registered tonnes."

 

 

[dolphinsfan246]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

maybe you should call them and give them your expertise.

I wouldn’t have to call 😉

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

Being privately held with enormous financial resources, MSC is still willing to poach customers and likely lose money to stay in the game.

 

I wonder just how deep they're willing to go - to capture a chunk of market share from the other lines. Other lines can only compete down to a certain threshold in order to stay viable. Perhaps MSC is gunning to spend some others into bankruptcy - one never knows. I recall a restaurant manager on Celebrity telling me he didn't care for MSC, saying, "they're the mafia you know".  lol

 

Tom

[jimbo5544]

21 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

I wonder just how deep they're willing to go - to capture a chunk of market share from the other lines. Other lines can only compete down to a certain threshold in order to stay viable. Perhaps MSC is gunning to spend some others into bankruptcy - one never knows. I recall a restaurant manager on Celebrity telling me he didn't care for MSC, saying, "they're the mafia you know".  lol

 

Tom

hopefully there was not a cannoli in the discussion.

[BlerkOne]

43 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

I wonder just how deep they're willing to go - to capture a chunk of market share from the other lines. Other lines can only compete down to a certain threshold in order to stay viable. Perhaps MSC is gunning to spend some others into bankruptcy - one never knows. I recall a restaurant manager on Celebrity telling me he didn't care for MSC, saying, "they're the mafia you know".  lol

 

Tom

Perhaps Swiss mafia. MSC failed in their first attempt to break into the US market they don't want to fail a second time. The loyalty program matching everything from Motel 6 up showed they are/were willing to lose money to poach cruisers.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, aborgman said:

 

"With consumer demand for cruise vacations at historic levels, Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest cruise company, today announced an order for three new ships for its namesake Carnival Cruise Line brand for a new class of vessel, at nearly 230,000 gross registered tonnes."

 

 

So? Some people split hairs when it is convenient for them and not when it isn't. Close doesn't count in cruise ships.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

17 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Perhaps Swiss mafia. MSC failed in their first attempt to break into the US market they don't want to fail a second time. The loyalty program matching everything from Motel 6 up showed they are/were willing to lose money to poach cruisers.

 

I was surprised by their matching program. Initially I submitted my Carnival Diamond creds, and was awarded a Gold card with them. I was seeing others manage to get their next higher (top) Black/Diamond card, so I dug a little deeper. Even though technically you can't have a do-over in the matching program, I was creative. I ended up using my Celebrity status to gain Azamara status (when they were still connected, even though I never sailed with them), and ended up with MSC Diamond.

 

So - on our very first MSC cruise, we were able to take advantage of a free specialty dinner. And they offer that each cruise. That made me chuckle when I invariably thought back to the ONCE IN A LIFETIME Steakhouse meal after hitting Diamond with Carnival.  🙂

 

Tom

[BlerkOne]

2 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

I was surprised by their matching program. Initially I submitted my Carnival Diamond creds, and was awarded a Gold card with them. I was seeing others manage to get their next higher (top) Black/Diamond card, so I dug a little deeper. Even though technically you can't have a do-over in the matching program, I was creative. I ended up using my Celebrity status to gain Azamara status (when they were still connected, even though I never sailed with them), and ended up with MSC Diamond.

 

So - on our very first MSC cruise, we were able to take advantage of a free specialty dinner. And they offer that each cruise. That made me chuckle when I invariably thought back to the ONCE IN A LIFETIME Steakhouse meal after hitting Diamond with Carnival.  🙂

 

Tom

MSC used to match Diamond to Black, but too much riff raff took advantage and swamped the available perks.

 

MSC still matches Princess Elite to Black and it is easier to reach Elite on Princess than it is to reach Diamond on Carnival. MSC is also smart to require you to complete a cruise within 3 years or be booted from the program and have to start over.

 

AFAIK, with MSC free meals, you don't get to choose from the regular menus.

 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

43 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

MSC used to match Diamond to Black, but too much riff raff took advantage and swamped the available perks.

 

MSC still matches Princess Elite to Black and it is easier to reach Elite on Princess than it is to reach Diamond on Carnival. MSC is also smart to require you to complete a cruise within 3 years or be booted from the program and have to start over.

 

AFAIK, with MSC free meals, you don't get to choose from the regular menus.

 

 

Correct, it's a tasting menu - which we found, on two cruises, to be sufficient. Having said that, I did add/substitute (can't recall) one of the courses for a nominal fee.

 

I agree - it makes sense to require some type of periodic activity on your cruise dance card in order to maintain status (from a corporate perspective).

 

Tom

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

hopefully there was not a cannoli in the discussion.

Cannoli is plural so it would be "a cannolo" or "cannoli"
 

[kwokpot]

52 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Correct, it's a tasting menu - which we found, on two cruises, to be sufficient. Having said that, I did add/substitute (can't recall) one of the courses for a nominal fee.

 

I agree - it makes sense to require some type of periodic activity on your cruise dance card in order to maintain status (from a corporate perspective).

 

Tom

The tasting menu is quite extensive with lots of choices. I find the name a misnomer since to me it implies smaller portions which isn't the case at all. It's all the regular portions. This was what we chose from the tasting menu at Butcher's Cut steakhouse on the Meraviglia earlier this month. The food was excellent!

[jimbo5544]

20 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Cannoli is plural so it would be "a cannolo" or "cannoli"
 

I would like to say I knew that, but......I did not.  Wait till Clemenza finds out.

[Illbcruzn4life]

8 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

MSC is taking aim (a shot) as a value" cruise line, I'm sure all others in that category are taking notice. Our last office cruise was on the Seashore earlier this year. My staff really liked having the beverage package/WiFi as part of the booking, at a very reasonable price. 

 

Tom

We loved her as well. Did a back to back in April. Had a great time. While we only had an inside cabin with no drink package. Couldn't beat the price we paid. Also went on Meraviglia in June for next to nothng.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

We loved her as well. Did a back to back in April. Had a great time. While we only had an inside cabin with no drink package. Couldn't beat the price we paid. Also went on Meraviglia in June for next to nothng.

Cruise lines can't make a profit at next to nothing prices.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

10 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Cruise lines can't make a profit at next to nothing prices.

 

Yet, if their pockets are deep enough, they might end up ahead. I'm not sure what their long game is...

[kdr69]

The stock price is certainly not a reflection of the booming industry and booking status but i got my 100 shares finally just in time for our Princess cruise in April.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

You can see here, on a 5-yr history, how well Royal recovered after the pandemic compared to - still struggling - CCL.

 

 

Tom

[ohioNCLcruiser]

12 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Cruise lines can't make a profit at next to nothing prices.

True but if the privately owned line is fine with covering the losses with the massive and profitable cargo division it might not matter. We will most likely never see inside MSC's financials. 

[Joebucks]

Who in the world cares who is first to do something? I swear, people are obsessed with everything that doesn't matter. All I care is the experience and the value I'm getting. I could care less if you are 1st or 20th to do it.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, ohioNCLcruiser said:

True but if the privately owned line is fine with covering the losses with the massive and profitable cargo division it might not matter. We will most likely never see inside MSC's financials. 

No doubt they are fine with it. But eventually there will be a limit to losses.

[aborgman]

15 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Cruise lines can't make a profit at next to nothing prices.

 

Sure they can if it drives enough onboard spend.

[aborgman]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

No doubt they are fine with it. But eventually there will be a limit to losses.

 

Predatory "loss leader" pricing can work.

 

If done correctly it can both drive competition out of the market, and set up barriers to entry for new competition.

 

See: Amazon and Quidsi/Diapers.com, Walmart, Standard Oil, etc.

[Illbcruzn4life]

17 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Cruise lines can't make a profit at next to nothing prices.

They choose to price low to beat the competitors. They could charge a lot more if they wanted but that's not their business model.

[Illbcruzn4life]

3 hours ago, Joebucks said:

Who in the world cares who is first to do something? I swear, people are obsessed with everything that doesn't matter. All I care is the experience and the value I'm getting. I could care less if you are 1st or 20th to do it.

well if you could care less I think you should.

[Illbcruzn4life]

6 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Yet, if their pockets are deep enough, they might end up ahead. I'm not sure what their long game is...

My guess is since they are the new kid on the block they have low pricing to get people on their ships. Eventually I would guess that the prices will rise and then we will see who REALLY loves their product or if they love their prices.