Sparky74

19 minutes ago, arxcards said:

On today's price, you are looking at around $AU2500 to get the minimum number of 100 CCL shares. Dividends and growth aside, that is 50 short cruises to recoup the value in OBC. That is also money spent, not saved, although it does reduce your onboard spend if you were always going to spend that much regardless.

 

I have recovered a lot of my $1400 spent, but technically they haven't made me a cent. It will be nice to see some small dividends returning in the next year or so.

True but you still own the shares. If they cost you $1,400 and could now sell them for $2,500, then you’ve made a "profit" (capital gain) of $1,100. Of course you can only realise this if you sell your shares. 

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

As an investment the CCL shares may not be great for everyone, they are not paying dividends atm, and the stock perk can be withdrawn at anytime, and interest rates are at over 5%

However, they are fairly low and if you cruise a few times a year, they may well be a nice investment.

I wonder how it would affect the share price if they dropped the free OBC for shareholders. 🤔

Maybe a bunch of "mum & dad" investors would sell, their shares thus sending the price down. On the other hand if they moved the goalposts and required you to have say 200 shares to get the perk, maybe that would send the price up. 🤷‍♂️

9 hours ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

All this talk about stock OBC perks has given me FOMO 🤣

 

I always think about buying shares but that's where it stays. Usually I end up just spending on another  cruise 

 

8 hours ago, JJK2008 said:

…The OBC is a great perk and since we cruise often it is well worth it for us. Wish we had done this sooner.  

I'm new to the world of investing but came into a small inheritance that needed to be put somewhere to help fund our retirement. A relative urged me to buy shares so that’s what I ended up doing with some of it. The Carnival Corporation shares were the first ones I bought and yes, it was daunting. A little more complex as they are international shares. As with many things the thought of doing it was worse than actually doing it. Sometimes you’ve just gotta rip off the bandaid!.

I'm no day-trader and have no plans to sell my measly 100 shares while we’re able to keep cruising (hopefully another 30 years or so) and while they keep paying onboard credit. Hopefully by the time we sell they will have appreciated in value considerably. Unlike Royal Caribbean shares, the Carnival Corporation share price has not yet recovered from the hit it took during the industry lockdown. 
 

For us (YMMV) I think it’s worth owning the shares. We tend to take a couple of cruises a year so are getting a decent return and are confident that the shares will appreciate in time. JMHO

There's some discussion on share prices on the Cruise Ship Profits thread:

Just goes to show how volatile the industry is and how quickly the situation can change. 

19 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Welcome to cruise critic.

 

I haven’t been on Carnival but have on P&O . Friends tell me Carnival Australia is the pits and P&O are better ,At least they have a cap on Kids .

And yet others will tell you the opposite. 🤷‍♂️
It’s all very subjective. 
After our initial P&O cruise on the Pacific Eden in 2019 I wasn’t keen on returning to them and even joked that P&O stood for Poor & 'Orrible. 
We were underwhelmed with our cruise on the Carnival Splendor in 2022 but delighted with the Pacific Encounter when we boarded the day after debarking the Carnival Splendor. We’ve returned to P&O several twice since then with another two cruises with them in the next couple of months. We’ve not been back to Carnival but we will try again sometime.

Suffice it to say that two people can be on the same cruise and have completely different experiences. 

All reviews should come with the caveat, JMHO YMMV.

One more story. On one of our RCI cruises, DW's parents were also sailing with us. They were doing B2B having been on the previous cruise. They were astonished at the difference between the two cruises and said that the service and the food had been far superior on the first cruise. Go figure. 🤷‍♂️
 

As Adrian @The Cruise and Travel Guy said, we'll have to wait and see how this develops over the next 9-12 months. 
 

😎

3 hours ago, Dididi said:

…Sparky, yes, I read that you and your wife are on the same PNG cruise as us, and that this is definitely not the first time you tried to do this itinerary.  Same for us. I enjoyed reading your "Are We Mad?" thread and wish you had finished the saga.  If you see a jet lagged 60-year old desperately waiting for the buffet to open at 6am so she can dash to the coffee machine, that will be me. The photo is from our Star Princess (now Pacific Encounter) December 2019 cruise to Hawaii.  Back then we were in a Lido inside cabin; this time we got fancy and chose a balcony down the hall.

 

Rather than derail this thread(!) I’ve started a Roll Call for the PNG cruise. 
 

I wonder how long it will be before they transfer the P&O ships to the Carnival website. Surely maintaining two seperate websites isn’t going to be cost effective. 
Perhaps once the the Carnival Encounter and the Carnival Adventure are on the Carnival website the "guest experience" and charges will be alined with theatre of the Carnival Splendor and the Carnival Luminosa. 
This is pure speculation on my part. 🤷‍♂️

I sent a copy of statement to my TA and she arranges it. 🤷‍♂️

37 minutes ago, Jim_P said:

I read somewhere that by 2026 Australian cruising capacity will have reduced by 30%. Worse still is that that particular report didn't even include the loss of Cunard and Virgin, so it's even more than that.  

 

Given the popularity of cruising in Australia which has only been growing, much higher prices and less deals are inevitable. 

I wonder if the higher prices will then drive down demand. 🤔

33 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Carnival needs money to build new fuel efficient ships . 

I wonder why there appears to be much stronger investor confidence in RCCL than the other two. 
 

Recently we’ve been enjoying shareholder OBC on our P&O cruises. I figure it’s a pretty good return on our investment in 100 shares even though they’re not paying an actual dividend. The share price doesn’t particularly bother me inasmuch as we probably won’t sell the shares while we're able to keep cruising, hopefully for another 30 years!

I wish I’d bought some RCCL shares when they were low although we’re not cruising so much with them these days as DW prefers mid-sized ships. But I guess all investors look at prices and wish they’d bought various shares when they were low. 🤣

It’s also interesting to compare the share price of the big three: Carnival Corp, RCCL, and NCL. 

They all too a massive hit in 2020. While Royal Caribbean shares have recovered, the other two are yet to do so. 

With recent changes to the numbers of ships sailing from Australia ports as well as the impending rebranding of the P&O ships, not to mention the deletion of the Pacific Explorer, one can’t help but wonder how this will affect local cruise prices. Will reduced supply drive up the prices or will increased prices drive down demand? Time will tell. 
Someone pointed me in the direction of this article. 
https://sherwood.news/business/the-economics-of-a-carnival-corp-cruise/

We know that the cruise lines haemorrhaged money and took on massive debt during the lockdown but I didn’t realise how slim the margins are on a cruise ship. No wonder they continue to dial back services and increase prices while positioning ships in areas of the world which will give a slightly better return.  

3 hours ago, windsor26 said:

When we were on the Splendor there were loads of Americans on board and after speaking to a fair few we know why  They had a free cruise and just had to pay their air fares 

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

Yes, I met a few like that, who were using up their cruise credits from the pandemic shutdowns. I imagine most of those are now used up, so more passengers are actually paying the going rate to cruise.

51 minutes ago, windsor26 said:

The ones we spoke with were all Casino free offers   and they did say they mostly were not HIGH rollers  and the free cruise also gave them casino drinks and obc for the casino

When we did the transPacific on Splendor there were LOTS of Americans on the Roll Call who were sailing on a casino offer. 
That was until they worked out how much it was for an airfare home, and a passport, and… Many of them decided they couldn’t afford the "free" cruise but there was still plenty on board.
I don’t even buy raffle tickets but I'm an early riser, even on holidays. The casino was open 24 hours a day and no matter what time I walked through there was always dozens playing the pokies. Even at 4am! And I don’t think that they were earlier risers; they were still there from the previous night! 😱

9 hours ago, Dididi said:

…We're flying to Brisbane to join the Pacific Encounter's August PNG cruise…

DW & I will also be on that cruise! 😁

1 minute ago, CDaze71 said:

Those bloody Yanks can stop rubbing their hands together and get their dirty mitts off our ships. They have enough choice over there, sooooo many ships. 

I love telling Americans that all Australians get 4 weeks paid vacation each year. After seeing their jaws drop I add, "And you thought the USA was the greatest country in the world!" 🤣

But I’m now reflecting on how many ships they might need over there if they DID get proper holidays like we do here. 😱

When DW read the P&O email she queried if "unimpacted" is a word. I suggested that it’s a dental diagnosis. 😬

5 minutes ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

The Carnival Media release says

 

"P&O Cruises Australia guests will also be invited to participate in Carnival’s loyalty program and promotional offerings specific to Carnival ships sailing in the region.” 

 

I am going to guess (hope) that it means past P&O cruises will  count towards VIFP once P&O ceases in 2025 rather than just being invited  to start again!

Yes, when I read that I wondered if Cruislings would have their points transferred across to VIFP or if they’d be invited to start from scratch. 🤔

And what if those of us who have earned points in both systems. I wonder if we can add our Cruisling points to our VIFP points. 🤔
 

Of course, the problem with any loyalty program is that there are eventually too many people in the upper tiers and they have to either water down the benefits or move the goalposts. Either way there are winners and losers and people get upset. 🤷‍♂️

But as Gilbert and Sullivan said, “If everybody’s somebody, nobody’s anybody!"

14 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

This is the key to it - "However, given the strategic reality of the South Pacific's small population and significantly higher operating and regulatory costs, we're adjusting our approach," he said.

 

That's coded for - Down under is a small market and not as profitable. Add to that, NZ is becoming problematic for them and other regulatory issues.. and Aus is the backwater where they want to squeeze a better return out of with less ships. Expect fewer options and increased fares I would think. 

This is my biggest fear. 

37 minutes ago, windsor26 said:

Not just the daily tips I was referring to but the addition to drinks and of course using US$ kills the budget for us   IF  RC  changes to use the3 same criteria as the Carnival australia format then I would be happy to cruise with them

I’d be happy to go back to RCI but DW felt that Quantum OTS was too big.

We get the benefits of Diamond C&A status on RCI but we get shareholder OBC across the Carnival group. 
RCI cheesed me off last cruise as they’d switched to servicing  rooms once a day which wasn’t the standard when we booked and paid for the cruise. A little thing, sure, but the attitude of the staff and the way they dealt with my feedback was abysmal. Food, particularly in the buffet, wasn’t great. 
 

Lately we’ve found good value cruising with P&O but no longer have loyalty to any particular cruise-line. They all have their pros and cons. I’d love to try Cunard but it would be too formal for DW. For the time being we'll keep chasing bargains (our budget is limited) and keep cruising while it continues to offer good value for money. I just hope they don’t strip back supply and thus raise the prices. Time will tell.🤷‍♂️ 😀

9 hours ago, dizzy1948 said:

Mmm............................can't see nothing for us poor West Australians 

My booking of home port cruises (Fremantle) is like knitting - Knit one - purl one or.....miss one take one. This has been our cruising experience over the past few years. 😒 Ah well - 

DW & I move every couple of years. We get transferred and have to go wherever we’re sent. 🤷‍♂️
It’s been great living within 3 hours drive of Brisbane. We’ve been here 4 years now so I’m starting to get nervous.
If we end up in WA then I guess it will mean flying to a cruise port. 

12 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

Hmmm, two Carnival ships each in Brisbane and Sydney?

I’ll believe it when I see it.

2 minutes ago, arxcards said:

In the early era post-covid, they were very sensitive about paper menus, as were P&O. I had the Hub app, and previewed some menus on it, but we had printed menus handed to us by default on Splendor in December.

Well that’s good to know. When the waiter came to rake our order on the first night we said that we hadn’t seen a menu yet. In condescending tones he told us that we should have looked at it on the app. (One of the many things I enjoy about cruising is that I disconnect from the Interweb and my devices. It’s getting harder though. 🤷‍♂️) We had further issues with him and in the end, reluctantly, asked to speak to the head waiter. Things improved after that although I never did get a tablecloth on the table, but that’s another story. 😬

I've probably got a big black mark on my Carnival file now. 🤣

 

Anyway, we'll have to wait and see what Carnival offer going forward. 

34 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Carnival also caters for luddites

On our Carnival Splendor transPacific cruise in 2022 the staff were continually telling me to use the app. When I explained that I’d left my phone in Australia they would grudgingly find a workaround. From knowing what was happening around the ship to looking at a menu, everything seemed to require the app as default. Even each morning when I went to the dining room for breakfast they wanted me to book in with the app. Eventually the maître de cottoned on and would see me coming and book me in but it took several mornings to train them. 
 

I must admit a certain amount of smug satisfaction when the system fell over and whole ship reverted to paper. I think the system may have crashed when we crossed the international date line.
 

Anyway, the general attitude of the staff seemed to be that I was an inconvenience. There were lots of other minor annoyances on the ship. It was the first Carnival ship to return to Australia post pandemic and I think at least part of the problem was that it was run as a US cruise rather than an Australian cruise. But the Aussies onboard were far from impressed with the cruise. We ran into a couple of "old hands", previous Carnival staff, who had been brought on to help train the staff for the Australian market. One of them was almost in tears at the attitude of the crew. We've not sailed with Carnival since but hopefully they’ve lifted their game. 
 

After we disembarked the Splendor in Sydney we had one night at home before boarding the Pacific Encounter in Brisbane. The contrast was astonishing. Better food, better service… We sailed P&O several times last year, have two booked for this year, and will possibly do a third in November. They’ve become our "go to" and the fact that they sail out of Brisbane year round has been a bonus. But I guess all good things must come to an end. 
 

Anyway, thanks for reading the ramblings of a grumpy old man. 😁

Q. How many cruisers does it take to change a lightbulb?

A. Change?! Who said anything about change?!

Blesséd are we who can laughter at ourselves as we shall never cease to be amused. 

My initial reaction is to clutch my pearls, metaphorically speaking. 
 

DW and I have grown to appreciate the "cheap and cheerful" P&O cruises. We’ve actually been quite impressed with them lately even though my first cruise with them almost turned me off them permanently. We’ve not been back on a Carnival ship since our 2022 transPacific cruise as part of our infamous "Are We Mad?" trip. Along with many of the Australians onboard we were less than impressed with that cruise. 
 

I have lots of questions:

1. Will Carnival commit to multiple ships sailing in Australia year round? We currently live within driving distance of Brisbane so a ship based in Brisbane is important to us. 
 

2. Currently P&O cruises count towards us edging towards Elite Status on Princess but Carnival cruises don’t. Are they going to change this policy?
 

3. Recently Carnival fares seem to have risen significantly while P&O fares have remained reasonable. What pricing structure are they going to implement going forward. 
 

4. We enjoy sailing on slightly smaller ships even if they are a bit older. Will they be replaced with Mega ships?

5. Is there any chance they will tone down the garish decor for Australian tastes? I’m really not a fan of pink donuts on the walls and fried eggs on the ceiling. 
 

6. Carnival wants me to carry my mobile phone with me around the ship. P&O is happy to accommodate a Luddite like me. What are the chances?

7. P&O still cleans staterooms in the morning AND offers a tuner down service. Is Carnival going to reinstate this?

I fear I already know the answer to most of these questions. 🤷‍♂️
But at least I’ve had an opportunity to vent. I guess I'll get over it.