WhaleTailFlCruiser

8 minutes ago, AllgoodOnTheRoad said:

Love that they are back to ordering more ships, but it is time to start raising the quality of goods and services onboard again. It was understandable after Covid, but now we should see some of that come back again. 

Not likely, They are still recovering all of that money from the shutdown. 

14 minutes ago, tidecat said:

I'm not sure Carnival can drop Mobile. Spirit needs somewhere to work during the winter, and the only way New Orleans could accommodate a third ship is to stagger it a week from the existing 4 & 5 day cruises, or have it do 7-day cruises during the winter, which would likely push the 4 & 5 day cruises to Monday/Friday/Wednesday cycle, at least for the winter. The lack of a 3-day itinerary option in New Orleans (and for that matter, Mobile and Galveston) really ties Carnival's hands here.

 

I guess the relevant question is if the price difference between New Orleans sailings and other comparable sailings high enough to justify at least a 23% increase in capacity (i.e., Conquest class to Dream class)?

Spirit can go to Tampa. 

11 minutes ago, 787cruiser said:

Yeah it aint happening! 

Venezia is only there seasonally.

There's more chance of an Excel going out to the west coast and Panorama going to NOLA.

You do understand that right now I can sail solo on Venezia for around $800? On a 10-11 day cruise.

 While solo I would be paying 1200-1800 out of Nola. 
 

prices seem to indicate which is underserved. 

4 hours ago, 787cruiser said:

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

 

Except Venezia is going to be in PC already so yes there is a chance Nola gets an Excel. 

14 minutes ago, Lee Cruiser said:

Would love to see Mardi Gras in N.O., but can N.O. handle a ship that big?  I thought I read somewhere that they couldn't bring a ship that large there.

Doesn't NCL take the Breakaway class up there seasonally? If that large a ship can fit I would assume an Excel class can. 

The backup has already started of cargo ships. Marine traffic showing most at the Norfolk anchorage. 

4 minutes ago, Sea&SkiCruiser said:

Just heard on our Washington, DC evening news that Carnival is moving its operations to Norfolk.  We're on the Pride April 21st sailing.  Norfolk is okay for us.

4 minutes ago, trrn2016 said:

Channel 4 out of Washington,DC just said Carnival was moving their operations to Norfolk, Virginia. That is all they said.

That doesn’t make sense since That terminal is under construction until next year. 

4 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

I thought they do have a spirit class full time in Tampa now. Is it just seasonal?

Seasonal, As it usually goes to Europe for the summer season which doesn’t make since you would take out a ship during the busiest time. 

Guess if Baltimore is out for awhile then Pride could stay in Tampa? 

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

Personally I think we’re not close to anything like that. I think they will Sunshine the spirit class ships first. Carnival’s ability to serve so many ports is a brand differentiator and bigger ships will take that away.

With two more Excell class coming they’re really isn’t a reason carnival can’t stick a spirit class full time here in Tampa. 

4 hours ago, Riles34 said:

Now the question is where will the next two home port? I can't imagine they would go to SOCAL with all the parking issues they currently have. Another in Miami and another in PC? I don't think they will fit under the bridge to get to NYC, but that would be awesome!

My guess is Mardi Gras gets moved to New Orleans and one of the newer ships takes over in PC. Then they put the second one in Miami possibly doing the 6-8 day cruises Horizon is on and then move horizon to pc and put vista in nyc full time. 

12 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

The Skyway Bridge has pier protection because of the collapse of the original bridge.

 

...but this cargo ship is 10,000+ tons bigger than the pier protection of the Skyway Bridge can withstand.

I'm not sure there is any pier protection system that will stand up to boats once you start crossing the 100,000 ton mark.

it’s kinda moot since I don’t believe this ship could fit underneath the skyway.

This reminds me of when the cargo ship hit the old skyway bridge here in Tampa. I wasn’t alive for it but the article ext on it were quite horrific. 
 

Hopefully search and rescue saved everyone. I can imagine the fear of being on that bridge and having it fall out from under you. 

7 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

@WhaleTailFlCruiser

 

Thank you. That could be an issue.

 

Hard to raise a bridge that is permanently built with no moving parts.

 

🤣

It's one of the reasons why for Carnival only the Spirit and Fantasy Class sail from here and for Royal the Vision class I think it is called? And Radiance class. I know Celebrity just started sailing seasonally from here as well. Before the Pandemic MSC was going to have a ship here year round as well. 

13 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

I agree that five years is an eternity in the cruise business right now. Almost all of Royal's ships only require 34 feet of draft which Tampa can handle. Even Oasis Class and Icon Class are designed for existing port depths. They make the ships longer and wider but the drafts stay the same.

 

Are there any smaller bridge requirement out of Tampa?

 

Parking, dock lineage, and boarding capacity will more of an issue.

 

My question is, could Tampa possibly handle an Oasis class?

 

I have never cruised out of Tampa. If the port can handle a larger ship, rest assured, they will still be cruising from Tampa for decades.

Tampa has a Bridge height requirement due to the Sunshine Skyway. She can only handle 180-foot tall ships from the waterline. 

Also even if Mega ships could fit under the Skyway there isn't enough room in the channel to fit two ships of that size side by side and so it would have to be dredged. 

I live locally, But they have been debating raising the Skyway and or just building a new one to as fit bigger ships. Because the cruise industry brings around 700 million into the port which accounts for I believe about 25% of the port revenue. 

On 1/23/2024 at 10:14 PM, wreckem2013 said:

It’s pretty clear that Vision and Radiance class ships are going to be retired in the next 5 years or so. I don’t think the Voyager class ships will be far behind. 

I don’t even sail Royal often but that makes no sense. There is no way Royal abandons the Tampa cruise market. 

57 minutes ago, notscb said:

I'm wondering how they were able to keep going in a situation like this- @chengkp75 if you wouldn't mind imparting some wisdom here. Do they divert all of the exhaust/emissions to the other side or would the fire not have affected the piping in the area of the fire?

Pretty sure it was reported that the captain turned the ship into more rain to help put it out faster.

Not as bad as last time but she is definitely going to get the stump treatment. 

If you can’t afford the gratuities don’t cruise. Those go to more than just your dinning room team. Go to your room steward and those folks that work the buffet ext. 

44 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

The thing about Conquest was she was not yet back in service so was immediately available.  EM

No, she was in service her next cruise was cancelled. 
 

https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Carnival-Conquest-to-transport-Freedom-passengers-to-Florida

18 minutes ago, dolphinsfan246 said:

John Healds post says the funnel is stabilized enough to return to Port Canaveral to debark guests then it’s back to Freeport for the “repair”.

I didn’t see that, Well that’s good they didn’t have to yoink Conquest again. 

She is about to be a stump again….. I wonder how they plan on getting people onboard right now home? 

This has been talked about and rehashed every few months. All it is, is rumors. 

Coke products aren’t available on Carnival period. Been like that for four years, Pandemic notwithstanding. 

Isn't it technically just a cancelation? There for if the Fees for canceling the day of more or less are going to be more then the Port fees and taxes means you really aren't going to get anything back and shouldn't expect to either.