woodscruise Posted January 11, 2011 #1 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Carnival Australia's ceo Ann Sherry has just announced in Sydney that Carnival will base its 2,667-passenger Carnvial Spirit in Australian waters full-time from Oct 2012. It will be the first time Carnival has permanently based a ship outside of the United States. Itineraries and a homeport for the 88,500-tonne ship are yet to be revealed, however Sherry indicated cruises will be eight to 12 days in length, and sail around the Pacific Islands. "Carnival Spirit shows fantastic confidence that the Australian market will continue to grow," Sherry said. "Spirit will bring more choice to the Australian consumer," she added. Souce Cruise weekly Breaking News 1029/12Jan2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hisarah15 Posted January 11, 2011 #2 Share Posted January 11, 2011 i've been on that she it's a good ship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Kruzer Posted January 11, 2011 #3 Share Posted January 11, 2011 WOW... Some good news to start the New Year off with.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cazz0069 Posted January 12, 2011 #4 Share Posted January 12, 2011 WOW... Some good news to start the New Year off with.... Wow Thats awesome news. Looks like a nice ship too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rugbypopsie Posted January 12, 2011 #5 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Now if we just had more cruise terminals we would be on our way...."build them and they will come". Since Carnival, HAL, Princess and P & O are all part of Carnival why cant we get loyalty credits no matter which of their ships we sail on? Airlines can do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessica3152 Posted January 12, 2011 #6 Share Posted January 12, 2011 My guess is that Spirit will replace Pacific Sun. I also have a feeling that Carnival will probably rebrand the remaining P&O ships as Carnival ships. This probably explains why they have such a "nothing" livery currently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSWP Posted January 12, 2011 #7 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I was on Carnival Spirit for 3 weeks in 2005, Honolulu/Vancouver/Alaskan Inside Passage. 'Fire and Ice cruise.' Lovely ship, great facilities, she will be a very popular ship to cruise on here. They don't call them (Carnival) the 'Fun Ships' for nothing, the waiters love to sing. It will be interesting to see what Carnival do with auto tips on 'Spirit.' I know in 2005, All Australians ONLY had to prepay the auto tips as an add on to cruise fare and they were non negotiable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Kruzer Posted January 12, 2011 #8 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Now if we just had more cruise terminals we would be on our way...."build them and they will come". Will Carnival Spirit fit under Sydney Harbour Bridge? If not, Whites Bay will be obsolete, before its built:eek: Since Carnival, HAL, Princess and P & O are all part of Carnival why cant we get loyalty credits no matter which of their ships we sail on?Airlines can do it. Does Carnival have a Rewards programme? The HAL and P&O rewards are not much. Princess seem to be the only one with a decent programme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandielle Posted January 12, 2011 #9 Share Posted January 12, 2011 It's all very nice, but I just wonder how they are going to fill all of these ships. :confused: There are so many bargains available now because they can't sell all the cabin space. Some NEW and DIFFERENT itineraries are desperately needed, I feel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Coast Cruisers Posted January 12, 2011 #10 Share Posted January 12, 2011 It's all very nice, but I just wonder how they are going to fill all of these ships. :confused: There are so many bargains available now because they can't sell all the cabin space. Some NEW and DIFFERENT itineraries are desperately needed, I feel. I hope this will mean that they will drop the prices a bit. When we were on our last cruise the folk on board from the USA were astounded at the price they had to pay for their cruise down here. They reckon on a per person per day basis it is way too expensive. My biggest gripe is that P & O keep advertising all their cruises showing not a bad price, then in the VERY small print it's for a QUAD share per person......that does annoy me !!! I would say that the majority of their ships cabins are made up of twin share, not quad share sales. Jillybean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisin D Posted January 12, 2011 #11 Share Posted January 12, 2011 It's all very nice, but I just wonder how they are going to fill all of these ships. :confused: There are so many bargains available now because they can't sell all the cabin space. Some NEW and DIFFERENT itineraries are desperately needed, I feel. I feel the same as you Sandielle, the Australian cruising customer needs to see some new & fresh itineraries. While sailing to the South Pacific and NZ are great and very beautiful, there are only so many times you can visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiprobbo Posted January 12, 2011 #12 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Folks, Quite a bit of speculation here, will it replace Pacific Sun? Will it berth at White Bay? and so on. A bit of reaserch gives a few answers. The Sydney Ports website has been showing Carnival bookings for a vessel 'TBA' commencing on 25/10/2012, that is a Thursday with the vessel to depart on Saturday 2012. The vessel will be at OPT Circular Quay on this and subsequent visits. While the vessel is referred to at 'TBA' we now all know what it is - this information is not really new it has been there for a while. As for replacing Pacific Sun, well both 'TBA' and Pacific Sun appear in the schedule going forward - the last booking for Pacific Sun is 14/03/2020, though at this stage 'TBA' does not appear past 2014. While the bookings for the various vessels could be interchangable, it does seem that Carnival Spirit will need to use SCPT and thus could not pick up the Pacific Sun's bookings for berths west of the bridge. Rebranding. I guess the easy answer is 'why'? P&O is a strong brand in Australia, having sailed here for over 150 years and cruised since the 1930's. It is still more locally recognisable that Carnival in Australia so what would be the benefit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiselover53 Posted January 12, 2011 #13 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Will Carnival Spirit fit under Sydney Harbour Bridge?If not, Whites Bay will be obsolete, before its built:eek: "Carrying 2,667 passengers, Carnival Spirit will be the first ship to be based in Sydney year round that is too tall to sail under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Rising nearly 53 metres above the waterline, Carnival Spirit is more than three metres taller than the specified clearance height for ships passing under the Bridge. Because of its height, Carnival Spirit will be based at the only cruise facility east of the Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay’s Overseas Passenger Terminal." Quote : Cruise Industry News. As I have said earlier,In 10 years or less White Bay will be useless as the only ships that will fit under the bridge will be the ferries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkmw Posted January 12, 2011 #14 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Will Carnival Spirit fit under Sydney Harbour Bridge?If not, Whites Bay will be obsolete, before its built:eek: Does Carnival have a Rewards programme? The HAL and P&O rewards are not much. Princess seem to be the only one with a decent programme. David, here's an article about the Carnival Spirit Carrying 2,667 passengers, Carnival Spirit will be the first ship to be based in Sydney year round that is too tall to sail under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Rising nearly 53 metres above the waterline, Carnival Spirit is more than three metres taller than the specified clearance height for ships passing under the Bridge. Because of its height, Carnival Spirit will be based at the only cruise facility east of the Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay’s Overseas Passenger Terminal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Kruzer Posted January 12, 2011 #15 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Rebranding. I guess the easy answer is 'why'? P&O is a strong brand in Australia, having sailed here for over 150 years and cruised since the 1930's. It is still more locally recognisable that Carnival in Australia so what would be the benefit? I wonder if this is the start of a new "push" from the cruise line to establish Carnival in the marketplace. Pacific Sun was Carnival Jubilee and was rebranded for the local market, but I get the feeling that Spirit will be looking to attract an International client base , as well as the local market, so therefore no need to rebrand an all ready strong name. Because of its height, Carnival Spirit will be based at the only cruise facility east of the Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay’s Overseas Passenger Terminal When Pacific Dawn and Jewel are replaced, it will also be by ships as big as, if not bigger than Spirit, and they will all have to based East of the Bridge. Perhaps that is when we will see a new large Cruise terminal at Botany Bay... (at least it would handy to the airport:D) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windsor26 Posted January 12, 2011 #16 Share Posted January 12, 2011 When this ship is permanently based in Australia will it be part of this forum or still part of Carnival :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandielle Posted January 12, 2011 #17 Share Posted January 12, 2011 When this ship is permanently based in Australia will it be part of this forum or still part of Carnival :) I would say it could be part of both - the same as the Princess, HAL and RCCL ships which come here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MMDown Under Posted January 12, 2011 #18 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I also have a feeling that Carnival will probably rebrand the remaining P&O ships as Carnival ships. This probably explains why they have such a "nothing" livery currently. That would explain why recent full page advertisements for cruises don't have the name of the ship! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MMDown Under Posted January 12, 2011 #19 Share Posted January 12, 2011 It's all very nice, but I just wonder how they are going to fill all of these ships. :confused: There are so many bargains available now because they can't sell all the cabin space. Some NEW and DIFFERENT itineraries are desperately needed, I feel. I suspect they hope to fill the ships with people from North America. South Pacific islands would appeal to that market, especially during their winter, as well as shorter cruises. I agree to attract repeat Australian cruisers, they desperately need new unique itineraries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessica3152 Posted January 12, 2011 #20 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Like most, I believe some new itineraries are required and I guess Carnival (and RCCL) agree. The problem is that most people only want to cruise for 7-12 days and that limits where cruises can go to from Australia. There are not a lot of places in the South Pacific within a reasonable distance to achieve the 8-12 day deadline as well as having the necessary infrastructure to receive 2000 tourists at once. For example a cruise to Fiji is typically a 14 day affair unless you are prepared to bypass Vanuatu or New Caledonia but even then a 12 day cruise would have 8 sea days which is probably too much particularly as the Coral Sea can be a lot rougher than the other cruise hotspots like the Caribbean or Mediterranean. About 20 years ago P&O did run coastal cruises that went up to PNG but it is now too politically unstable and unsafe to receive a cruise ship. P&O have tried basing cruises in Perth and sailing up to Bali etc but once again these have quite a large number of sea days though maybe they can be operated as a one way cruise to Singapore and v.v. which would mean port calls could be added to a 9-10 day timeframe. Summer cruising to Tasmania etc is popular though I think these itineraries are expensive if an overseas port is not added as all onboard services attract GST on coastal cruises. I'm sure if anyone has a great idea for a competitive itinerary, Carnival would love to hear from you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseAdict218 Posted January 12, 2011 #21 Share Posted January 12, 2011 WOW... Some good news to start the New Year off with.... I totally agree :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseAdict218 Posted January 12, 2011 #22 Share Posted January 12, 2011 My guess is that Spirit will replace Pacific Sun. I also have a feeling that Carnival will probably rebrand the remaining P&O ships as Carnival ships. This probably explains why they have such a "nothing" livery currently. If they did that and sent them here to the States, I would love that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fox Posted January 12, 2011 #23 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Folks, Quite a bit of speculation here, will it replace Pacific Sun? Will it berth at White Bay? and so on. A bit of reaserch gives a few answers. The Sydney Ports website has been showing Carnival bookings for a vessel 'TBA' commencing on 25/10/2012, that is a Thursday with the vessel to depart on Saturday 2012. The vessel will be at OPT Circular Quay on this and subsequent visits. While the vessel is referred to at 'TBA' we now all know what it is - this information is not really new it has been there for a while. As for replacing Pacific Sun, well both 'TBA' and Pacific Sun appear in the schedule going forward - the last booking for Pacific Sun is 14/03/2020, though at this stage 'TBA' does not appear past 2014. While the bookings for the various vessels could be interchangable, it does seem that Carnival Spirit will need to use SCPT and thus could not pick up the Pacific Sun's bookings for berths west of the bridge. Rebranding. I guess the easy answer is 'why'? P&O is a strong brand in Australia, having sailed here for over 150 years and cruised since the 1930's. It is still more locally recognisable that Carnival in Australia so what would be the benefit? Hi David, Let me throw this into the mix...Royal caribbean who own Celebrity cruises is sending Celebrity century to Australia along with Rhapsody & Radiance.At 70,000 tonnes it may well fit under the bridge......could be the vessel to TBA....all good. Col Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiprobbo Posted January 12, 2011 #24 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Hi David, Let me throw this into the mix...Royal caribbean who own Celebrity cruises is sending Celebrity century to Australia along with Rhapsody & Radiance.At 70,000 tonnes it may well fit under the bridge......could be the vessel to TBA....all good. Col Hi Col, Sorry, I should have been clearer....'TBA' has the notation 'Carnival' as cruise line. Radiance of the Seas and Celebrity Century are already on there. For anyone who is interested, go to the Sydney Ports Web site and a copy of the cruise schedule is available. As I noted originally there are dates out to 2020, however of course after about 2013 they get fewer as confirmed visitors reduce. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sludger Posted January 12, 2011 #25 Share Posted January 12, 2011 It's great news, now lets see if they do the old trick and add more beds in the cabins and pack it with more people. Writing from my cabin on the lovely Rhapsody of the Seas travelling along the coast to Sydney. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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