cruzfitter

What are you talking about here? Carnival has never done Broadway shows on any of our cruises. They do a poor job of presenting a little Broadway type music, and only a few songs in an entire week cruise. Never a full show. To get that you have to cruise Royal Caribbean.

I will pass. If I want to see a broadway show, btw a good one not hairspray, I will go to broadway not the imitation b level junk rccl does.

 

 

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Let me see if I've got this right. If it is offered on a RCL cruise it is a bad thing?

Paying to see Manilow isn't something Id be bragging about but each to there own,.:pJK

 

I paid $10 to see REO open for Styx about 12 years ago

Was it on a cruise?

Let me see if I've got this right. If it is offered on a CCL cruise it is good thing?

I agree RCCL is clearly a cut above Carnival, but once again...it is an OPTION...nobody is forcing you to go to the concert. Is it nickle and diming it when you buy other excursions? Of course not. But I do agree that RCCL has better entertainment than Carnival.

It may only be an option when it comes to going to these concerts. But if the artist is big enough of a draw, it may raise the price of the cruise. So in fact the cruiser who doesn't care for the artist may end up paying more for nothing.

You may think that this is unlikely, but there are already cruises with musical act on board that aren't complete charters. These cruises can cost more than double what a normal cruise would cost. And that is without access to the events of the musical acts aboard.

I've looked into these cruises after the end date for the booked acts to fill the ship. And believe me the price doesn't revert to standard cruise rates based on the week before and the week after said cruise.

I don't see any acts listed on CCL site that I think would cause this to happen, but what if RCL bought in better entertainers? I would hate to pay more just because say Kenny Chesney performing 1 night.

 

Specifically, I was comparing Carnival Breeze to Freedom of the Seas ... the price difference is almost $1000. So any insight whether we should give Carnival a try next time is most appreciated :)

Yes, but you're comparing a 6 day Breeze with a 7 day Freedom OTS. It would be better if you compared $/ day. Breeze is still less expensive but if you book with the right online TA you can get per-paid gratuities on RCCL, which will bring the prices even closer. You should have fun either way.

If my family of four has an outside excursion booked, will I receive 110% of the difference in price for one person! or is it for all 4 of us?

Zero! You have to be booked with Carnival to get anything back. And then it is in OBC so you will be giving it back to Carnival anyway.

I have joined the roll call for the Splendor and signed up for the meet & greet as well as a cabin crawl poker thing :confused: we have a couple of ship sponsored excursions and some booze from the shops being sent to our room. I just hope we don't end up wishing we had selected a different line once our cruise starts... I will certainly post a review when I return.

Thanks

You should have a great time on your cruise. The danger comes after, when you write that review. If you post a negative comment the haters will find you.

Not all reviews are bad. Many are quite favorable. I would take all with a grain of salt and enjoy your cruise. I've never had a bad one.

Good answer. Let the OP read everyone's opinion and decide for themselves.

Exactly...just another opinion from someone who has never stepped foot on the Sunshine.

BTW Mizzou, congrats on getting to the sec championship game. Hopefully we'll get a shot at y'all next year. GO TIGERS!!! (LSU that is) :D

I've never been on Destiny or Sunshine but I know that you comparing a cruise in Nov. (one of the least crowded months) to a cruise in June ( one of the most crowded months) is no better than someone comparing Destiny to Sunshine, even if they have never been on Sunshine. You have never been on Sunshine in June so you have no idea how crowded it will be. And nobody else has been on Sunshine in June in the Caribbean so there are no facts to prove that it won't be crowded. But based on history, cruise ships in general are more crowded in June than in Nov.

I also know that you can't add more passengers and take away common area and have more space available. This isn't opinion but physics.

Maybe the $300 mil they are spending on fire safety and system redundancy upgrades

 

But someone new, posting how Carnival is so much better, I question:confused:

 

 

Merry Xmas to you and Patti

They may have spent $300 million on fire safety but for the most part it isn't installed yet. So there's no reason to feel safer yet.

Merry Christmas to you and Lisa, too.

I am new here, but I have done lots of research on carnival before cruising my first with them. I was hesitant about carnivals safety record, but not anymore with the changes. I almost thought about canceling my breeze cruise before the changes were announced

What changes are you referring to?

Correct, I meant CCL and RCI.

 

Since the figures on the link you provided are net revenues then these numbers are not the best to use. A better figure would be the gross revenue which tells a different picture.

I don't have that info. If you can find it I would love to see that picture too.

For the last FY Royal took in 7.7 billion while Carnival took in 15.4.

 

I don't know what numbers you are looking at.

Now you're mixing Carnival Corp. and Carnival cruise line again.

According to the website I posted earlier:

RCL $4,940,000,000

CCL $2,919,000,000

This is the breakdown by individual cruise lines.

http://Http://www.cruisemarketwatch.com/market-share/

Tap on the circles in the grid for each lines info.

To clear things up, Royal Caribbean can at any point in time technically hold more passengers than Carnival, but that's if every single ship sailed over 100 % capacity; annually however Carnival carries more passengers of the two. I believe Royal carries 2.8 million while Carnival carried 3.7 million.

Actually, to clear things up, Royal Caribbean can at any one time carry more passengers based on double occupancy, not over capacity.

The more I read this type of tread, the more I think that Carnival Corp is not in any financial trouble, like so many are speculating. It seems like they know exactly what they are doing, differentiating their brands, widening the gap between them (budget, mainstream, premium, luxury, and ultra luxury), and creating bridges (the short cruises) for people to sample the next brand up.

 

If you ask me, it seems like many have missed the big picture, focusing on the demise of tablecloths, live bands, past guest perks, etc, while all along these changes seem to be well thought out, and an important part of Carnival Corp's strategy to make all their brands different and successful in their own, individual way.

Double bingo. But some will never admit that Carnival Corp. could possibly think this way.

Well, does that factor in length of sailings? I mean Cunard, HAL, etc usually have longer sailings overall and Carnival does a lot of short stuff. But those higher end niche lines cater to a completely different market. I know I will probably never be able to afford Seabourne or Cunard nor would I probably ever be interested in the type of cruises they offer. 99 percent of people probably feel the same way. However, $657 still is a lot when many of the fares are not even half of that for many sailings. That is still a lot of extra revenue they are getting from each pax on average. Besides, how many children travel Cunard? Carnival? Do children spend any money?

I threw in Cunard and Seabourne just because they were Carnival Corp. lines. But for perspective, here are some competing lines:

NCL $1445

RCL $1433

DCL $1665

I think these lines are similar enough to compare when figuring length of cruise or # of children.

I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with Carnival's numbers. I'm just showing that these numbers imply that Carnival is the entry level cruise line for Carnival Corp. and that they would prefer that people would move up the ladder where the real profits are made.

Average net revenue per passenger :

Carnival $657

Costa $1513

Princess $2374

Holland America $2614

Cunard $5606

Seaborne $7486

Who do you think Carnival Corp. wants you to sail with?

http://Http://www.cruisemarketwatch.com/market-share/

One of the blatantly anti-Carnival polls some also like to quote.

 

http://www.jdpower.com/content/press-release/BNsKy1W/2013-cruise-line-satisfaction-report.htm

 

"Price (53%) and past experience with brand (39%) are the two primary reasons for selecting a cruise line."

Price may be the #1 reason for selecting a cruise but the JD Power survey deals with satisfaction with a cruise AFTER it's over. Not the same thing.

Perhaps they should change the name of this board to "Carnival Cheerleaders". In that way you will only read things that agree with your very narrow perspective. Think how good that will feel. The rest of us will post our comments on the Carnival Board and thus be able to offer "opinions" based on our experiences without being called names such as snobs, complainers or trashers. I for one think after 26 Carnival cruises that Carnival does somethings well but also after 8 or 9 years I see the "value quotient" diminishing. Like others I should be able to post my opinions (both good and critical) about Carnival without ridicule and name calling. This is what public discourse is all about.

Perhaps they should change the name to Cruiser Critic. Then your insults might be more appropriate.

I must have missed something. Maybe you could point out insult in the post that you quoted.

Not fond of the whole table sharing thing at all. I prefer to order what I want and not pass it around the table.

I'm a fan of being seated with other but ths will make me request a table for only my party.

I believe that family style is an option. Sort of like at Maggiano's Italian restaurants. You can chose which way you are served.

What I would call downtown, by St. Marks Square

I was in Venice 1 1/2 weeks ago and no cruise ship docked anywhere near St. Mark's.

You'll have to enlighten me. Which factor did they leave out?

"The primary reason for choosing a particular cruise line is price (53%)."

 

When it comes to price, Carnival is clearly the leader. Other cruise lines simply cannot compete day in and day out on price and stay is business.

What you say here is true. But, the JD Powers survey was about customers' satisfaction after their cruise. And they did include price/cost in the survey, but considered it lightly, as they should. By the time you arrive at your ship you've already made the decision about what you're willing to pay. After the cruise is over, the individual then can decide if they satisfied that they got an equal, better, or worse value for their cruise. A person can pay $500 for a 7 day cruise and not feel they got their moneys worth. Yet another person can pay $1500 for 7day cruise to the same ports and feel like they robbed the cruise line.

I have sailed CCL, RCL, and NCL and have never felt like I paid more than the cruise was worth. But that doesn't mean other people feel the same way

BTW, where did you get the 53% figure. Most statistics (92%) are made up on the spot ( including this one ).

The one where they ignored the most important factor for choosing a cruise line. :p

You'll have to enlighten me. Which factor did they leave out?

Carnivals fleet averages just below 36. The new Sunshine comes in at 33.

 

In comparison here are what the other lines average.

 

Disney 49

 

Royal Caribbean 40 with Majesty of the Seas coming in at 30.

 

Princess 40

 

NCL 37

 

Bill

I think I see a theme here. Isn't this close to the order of the JD Powers cruiser satisfaction survey.

The $45 package is not worth it for us without liquor. The $55 package is definitely worth it for me alone but not worth it (or even close) if we both have to do it. I didn't notice on the link that chil-laxin posted anything about both people in the cabin having to do this or even whether gratuity was included or extra. It would be great if you could do this just for one person in the cabin, but that doesn't seem to be the case based on prior posts.

I agree. My DW doesn't drink enough to make it pay if we both have to buy a package.

What did you drink before sweet tea vodka came on the market? It's only been around for a few years.

Wrong post