Carnival announcement expected 13 Nov 2018 (per John Heald)

[ChosenOne]

John Heald just posted   

Carnival Cruise Line today announced that Carnival Spirit will operate its 2020 Alaska and Hawaii programs, replacing Carnival Legend which is being deployed on another itinerary to be announced shortly.

My guess is that  they will announce something with the Legend...a "Sunshining" and or , I HOPE, a new Caribbean itinerary that includes the islands Carnival rarely goes to any more  Martinique, Grenada, Guadaloupe, Tobago, Virgin Gorda, etc

[wytygr8]

They’re partnering with SpaceX to build the Carnival Luna.

[trvlgirlmq]

16 hours ago, ChosenOne said:

John Heald just posted   

Carnival Cruise Line today announced that Carnival Spirit will operate its 2020 Alaska and Hawaii programs, replacing Carnival Legend which is being deployed on another itinerary to be announced shortly.

My guess is that  they will announce something with the Legend...a "Sunshining" and or , I HOPE, a new Caribbean itinerary that includes the islands Carnival rarely goes to any more  Martinique, Grenada, Guadaloupe, Tobago, Virgin Gorda, etc

 

Well, Legend has been spotted on the 2020 schedules for Reykjavik and Gibraltar ;)

[Dgshooter]

On 11/8/2018 at 5:56 AM, beachbum53 said:

Here's what I'm hoping for. The balcony doors will all be equipped with sensors that will record each time someone allows their balcony door to slam shut. The first time it happens, the occupant(s) will receive a letter asking that they kindly not allow this to happen. After the second offense, they will receive a letter stating that if this occurs one more time, the balcony door will be automatically locked, and that they will not have access to their balcony for the duration of the cruise, and that there will be NO compensation (financially or otherwise) for this. In addition, there will be a call button on the balcony to contact Security that someone has been locked out on their balcony. 

 

Great Idea. Or maybe just install sliding doors, like on the MSC Divina.

[jimbo5544]

I am currently on the Breeze Journey cruise where John talked about this in both the Diamond event (415 diamonds on board) and at a general Q&A session.  With out being totally obvious it has to do with new sailing to new places and Europe being the key.  Despite the bashing to the contrary, it will be announced on the 14th.

[jimbo5544]

3 hours ago, trvlgirlmq said:

 

Well, Legend has been spotted on the 2020 schedules for Reykjavik and Gibraltar 😉

I have seen spot reports in other European cities as well, you are right on with this. 

[Thebosn1]

Why eliminate formal nights?

 

[bury me at sea]

9 minutes ago, Thebosn1 said:

Why eliminate formal nights?

 

 

I can't understand this either.  There are other choices for dinner those evenings.

[ProgRockCruiser]

On 11/8/2018 at 10:36 AM, beachbum53 said:

 

I agree, but first Carnival (or someone) would have to dig a large canal from Lake Erie to the Atlantic Ocean. That alone brings up a whole bunch of questions. Who would pay for it? Would it be dug through Canada, the U.S.,  or directly on the border as a joint venture? What happens to Lake Erie and the other connecting Great Lakes? Will they become saltwater lakes instead of freshwater? Lots of environmental issues to deal with. Maybe a simpler approach would be to build a high speed rail system from Cleveland to NYC with a stopping point near the Port of New York. 

In the spirit of maybe you weren't joking, or for others not familiar:

 

There is a canal: the Welland canal, and accompanying lock system.  Links Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, bypassing that big drop known as Niagara Falls, and the locks in the St Lawrence River allow movement onward to the Atlantic as part of the overall St Lawrence Seaway...

 

The St Lawrence Seaway is not quite big enough to accommodate even the smallest Carnival ships, which surprised me, since it is used by rather big (in my eyes) cargo ships for wheat, oil, etc now.  (I'm guessing it is primarily the locks causing the limitation.)  So it would need expanding...

 

(And if expanded, the lakes would remain freshwater - the salt water from the Atlantic doesn't go up hill...)

 

Anyway, the ship, once in Cleveland, wouldn't need to use the canals/locks, it could just sail to/from somewhere in southwestern Ontario, like Pelee Island or Ft Erie.  Three laps around the lake per day at idle speed...

[amyj23]

On 11/8/2018 at 5:56 AM, beachbum53 said:

Here's what I'm hoping for. The balcony doors will all be equipped with sensors that will record each time someone allows their balcony door to slam shut. The first time it happens, the occupant(s) will receive a letter asking that they kindly not allow this to happen. After the second offense, they will receive a letter stating that if this occurs one more time, the balcony door will be automatically locked, and that they will not have access to their balcony for the duration of the cruise, and that there will be NO compensation (financially or otherwise) for this. In addition, there will be a call button on the balcony to contact Security that someone has been locked out on their balcony. 

 

I LOVE THIS!!!!!!! 

[Moviela]

15 hours ago, trvlgirlmq said:

 

Well, Legend has been spotted on the 2020 schedules for Reykjavik and Gibraltar 😉

 

I can't think of two places I'd rather not go on a cruise, freeze in Reykjavik or have nasty sibians stealing your cell phone in Gibraltar. 

[Moviela]

11 hours ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Three laps around the lake per day at idle speed...

 

They could mount road wheels on the ship and tow it on the I80 to Chicago, pick up pax, and take a few spins in Lake Michigan. 

Yeah, that would work. The Three Stooges on the bridge, Laurel and Hardy in the laundry, Abbot & Costello in the galley,  Manny, Moe, & Jack in the engine room, and The Lone Ranger and Tonto handling security. 

[chocolate melting cake]

On 11/8/2018 at 11:52 AM, shof515 said:

 

i would love to sail on the yellow submarine

 

Carnival would NEVER use yellow!

[chocolate melting cake]

On 11/8/2018 at 11:52 AM, shof515 said:

 

i would love to sail on the yellow submarine

 

While in Liverpool we passed by this "boat" for rent.

[jim1reed]

I hope they start adding waterskiing and wake boarding to the sea days

[KmomChicago]

All jokes aside, doing something with the VIFP program seems overdue.  As many people have noted on many threads, you get to the point where a significant portion of guests an any sailing are high level loyalty club members.  They must be well into the tens of thousands of Diamonds out there in Carnival land. 

 

It stands to reason that the point of the loyalty club is to keep your business. However, Carnival would admit that Carnival is the entry level brand in the Corporate portfolio.  If you are Diamond, you have enough $$ and interest to cruise regularly. You are also older now than you were when you started, and many of their other brands are designed with the traveler you are now, as opposed to the traveler you were on your first cruise on the Jubilee back in '93 or whenever.

 

Unfortunately, the success of Carnival's loyalty club is such that you may not be inclined to try any other brand.  Now how is that really good for the parent company?  Maybe you're ready to upgrade and certainly they would love for you to upgrade - that's why they maintain so many completely separate business lines - to cater to different needs and budgets.  It's hard to fill up those Holland America and Princess ships during the off season!  Why stop there?  Maybe you want to see Europe and try Italian-style cruising on Costa? Perhaps you aspire to move up to true luxury with Cunard or even Seabourn?

 

In particular they should allow a transfer of your status to avoid having to cover multiple geographic areas so people can expand their port choices and therefore preserve more loyal business.  Carnival can't really compete effectively with its sister ships in Alaska, where HAL and Princess pioneered and perfected itineraries

 

They have P&O, Aida and Costa in Europe.  Since you're not doing anything to keep me in the extended family, I might look elsewhere like Pullmantur or MSC or something really different like AMA Waterways. 

 

It seems like good business sense and the potential for massive improvement in customer satisfaction to grease these wheels and lure you into a dramatically larger pool of travel ops.  Frankly I can't understand why they didn't do this long ago.

Edited November 10, 2018 by KmomChicago

[PhillyFan33579]

22 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

All jokes aside, doing something with the VIFP program seems overdue.  As many people have noted on many threads, you get to the point where a significant portion of guests an any sailing are high level loyalty club members.  They must be well into the tens of thousands of Diamonds out there in Carnival land. 

 

It stands to reason that the point of the loyalty club is to keep your business. However, Carnival would admit that Carnival is the entry level brand in the Corporate portfolio.  If you are Diamond, you have enough $$ and interest to cruise regularly. You are also older now than you were when you started, and many of their other brands are designed with the traveler you are now, as opposed to the traveler you were on your first cruise on the Jubilee back in '93 or whenever.

 

Unfortunately, the success of Carnival's loyalty club is such that you may not be inclined to try any other brand.  Now how is that really good for the parent company?  Maybe you're ready to upgrade and certainly they would love for you to upgrade - that's why they maintain so many completely separate business lines - to cater to different needs and budgets.  It's hard to fill up those Holland America and Princess ships during the off season!  Why stop there?  Maybe you want to see Europe and try Italian-style cruising on Costa? Perhaps you aspire to move up to true luxury with Cunard or even Seabourn?

 

In particular they should allow a transfer of your status to avoid having to cover multiple geographic areas so people can expand their port choices and therefore preserve more loyal business.  Carnival can't really compete effectively with its sister ships in Alaska, where HAL and Princess pioneered and perfected itineraries

 

They have P&O, Aida and Costa in Europe.  Since you're not doing anything to keep me in the extended family, I might look elsewhere like Pullmantur or MSC or something really different like AMA Waterways. 

 

It seems like good business sense and the potential for massive improvement in customer satisfaction to grease these wheels and lure you into a dramatically larger pool of travel ops.  Frankly I can't understand why they didn't do this long ago.

 

From a business perspective, your post doesn’t make a lot of sense. Carnival is a budget level cruiseline, with significantly lower fares than several other cruiselines under the Carnival umbrella. Granting perks for their higher priced cruiselines based on status earned on Carnival makes no sense from a financial standpoint. Additionally, implementing a status matching program like that would upset cruisers who earned status by being loyal and paying higher fares to other cruiselines under Carnival’s umbrella. Another big reason this would make no sense business wise. 

 

The other important point to consider is most Diamonds and Platinums continue to cruise on Carnival due to the fact they like cruising on Carnival. The reason why my wife and I continue to cruise on Canival so often is we have had a great time on every one of our 22 cruises on Carnival. I hear similar reasons when talking to other cruisers at every D&P party we attend. If you are familiar with other cruiselines, you know the perks associated with Carnival’s VIFP Program pale in comparison.  The limited perks we receive as Platinums has no impact on why we continue to enjoy cruising on Carnival. 

[KmomChicago]

1 minute ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

From a business perspective, your post doesn’t make a lot of sense. Carnival is a budget level cruiseline, with significantly lower fares than several other cruiselines under the Carnival umbrella. Granting perks for their higher priced cruiselines based on status earned on Carnival makes no sense from a financial standpoint. Additionally, implementing a status matching program like that would upset cruisers who earned status by being loyal and paying higher fares to other cruiselines under Carnival’s umbrella. Another big reason this would make no sense business wise. 

 

The other important point to consider is most Diamonds and Platinums continue to cruise on Carnival due to the fact they like cruising on Carnival. The reason why my wife and I continue to cruise on Canival so often is we have had a great time on every one of our 22 cruises on Carnival. I hear similar reasons when talking to other cruisers at every D&P party we attend. If you are familiar with other cruiselines, you know the perks associated with Carnival’s VIFP Program pale in comparison.  The limited perks we receive as Platinums has no impact on why we continue to enjoy cruising on Carnival. 

Thank you for your kind reply to my post.

[NavarreCruiser]

I am with the cruisers who think this announcement will be about new itineraries and a return of a ship or possibly ships to the European market.  John is very excited about the changes and it makes perfect sense that he would be happy with European cruises since he and his family live in London and this would allow him to be on some of those cruises and get home more often.  Even though the changes to the VIFP program have been promised for years I will be surprised if they finally pull the trigger. 

[jimbo5544]

23 minutes ago, NavarreCruiser said:

I am with the cruisers who think this announcement will be about new itineraries and a return of a ship or possibly ships to the European market.  John is very excited about the changes and it makes perfect sense that he would be happy with European cruises since he and his family live in London and this would allow him to be on some of those cruises and get home more often.  Even though the changes to the VIFP program have been promised for years I will be surprised if they finally pull the trigger. 

He openly talked that they are struggling (obviously) in finding what they want/can do with the program (loyalty).  He also stated what his thoughts were and mentioned twice, this was not corporate but just his views and that there was no set timetable.  He was visibly pleased in delivering the message.

[jimbo5544]

42 minutes ago, Retired_to_Cruise said:

Like the "When is your next cruise?" strings on the site, strings like this one have some of the most useless information you can find. I cannot see anything here that adds any kind of value to the cruising experience. Every time I see the titles like this I try to find how I can delete my sign on and get out of Cruise Critic. If anyone knows how to do this, please explain it to me.

Ummm, just go,  

[jimbo5544]

On 11/7/2018 at 1:03 PM, JennyB1977 said:

I am hoping for Ferris Wheels and petting zoos...the "real" Carnival experience 🙂

Thanks for stopping by and adding to the low life section, we do so appreciate it.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

All jokes aside, doing something with the VIFP program seems overdue.  As many people have noted on many threads, you get to the point where a significant portion of guests an any sailing are high level loyalty club members.  They must be well into the tens of thousands of Diamonds out there in Carnival land. 

 

It stands to reason that the point of the loyalty club is to keep your business. However, Carnival would admit that Carnival is the entry level brand in the Corporate portfolio.  If you are Diamond, you have enough $$ and interest to cruise regularly. You are also older now than you were when you started, and many of their other brands are designed with the traveler you are now, as opposed to the traveler you were on your first cruise on the Jubilee back in '93 or whenever.

 

Unfortunately, the success of Carnival's loyalty club is such that you may not be inclined to try any other brand.  Now how is that really good for the parent company?  Maybe you're ready to upgrade and certainly they would love for you to upgrade - that's why they maintain so many completely separate business lines - to cater to different needs and budgets.  It's hard to fill up those Holland America and Princess ships during the off season!  Why stop there?  Maybe you want to see Europe and try Italian-style cruising on Costa? Perhaps you aspire to move up to true luxury with Cunard or even Seabourn?

 

In particular they should allow a transfer of your status to avoid having to cover multiple geographic areas so people can expand their port choices and therefore preserve more loyal business.  Carnival can't really compete effectively with its sister ships in Alaska, where HAL and Princess pioneered and perfected itineraries

 

They have P&O, Aida and Costa in Europe.  Since you're not doing anything to keep me in the extended family, I might look elsewhere like Pullmantur or MSC or something really different like AMA Waterways. 

 

It seems like good business sense and the potential for massive improvement in customer satisfaction to grease these wheels and lure you into a dramatically larger pool of travel ops.  Frankly I can't understand why they didn't do this long ago.

There are just so many different variables to each lines loyalty programs.  Different ways to compute to get to levels, combing the levels into one, and the list goes on.  I beleive the best we can hope for is a added incentive to jump to another Carnival brand not in offering total cross line perks.

[KmomChicago]

17 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

There are just so many different variables to each lines loyalty programs.  Different ways to compute to get to levels, combing the levels into one, and the list goes on.  I beleive the best we can hope for is a added incentive to jump to another Carnival brand not in offering total cross line perks.

 

Hi Jimbo. Yes, I did not mean an exact 1:1 program but rather some sort of hybrid / cross line incentive.  I would not expect 247 days on Carnival to be equivalent to 247 days on Seabourn. However it seems like someone who has taken 60 cruises over 30 years on one line is also not equivalent to a first-timer on a higher tier brand within the same corporation.  Nor do I think every happy Carnival passenger is looking to jump ship, as it were.

 

This would require some thought and planning and some computer programming to manage everyone's accounts to apply the right algorithms for transfer.  It could be time limited to help with seasonal occupancy shortages.  But that's what Marketing departments are for. I don't see how it's more difficult than managing casino accounts to decide who deserves which complimentary offers.

Edited November 10, 2018 by KmomChicago

[jimbo5544]

36 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Hi Jimbo. Yes, I did not mean an exact 1:1 program but rather some sort of hybrid / cross line incentive.  I would not expect 247 days on Carnival to be equivalent to 247 days on Seabourn. However it seems like someone who has taken 60 cruises over 30 years on one line is also not equivalent to a first-timer on a higher tier brand within the same corporation.  Nor do I think every happy Carnival passenger is looking to jump ship, as it were.

 

This would require some thought and planning and some computer programming to manage everyone's accounts to apply the right algorithms for transfer.  It could be time limited to help with seasonal occupancy shortages.  But that's what Marketing departments are for. I don't see how it's more difficult than managing casino accounts to decide who deserves which complimentary offers.

Casino would be different.  I was very excited when they brought Jim Berra on board to revamp the program.  When the Splendor came out, we were on the ship for a 3 day naming ceremony trip to nowhere.  During that time we got to have dinner with some execs and they were very excited on implementing what we are talking about (under his direction).  Over the next 3 years it slowly died on the vine, for the reasons mentioned and others.  I wish it were not so also.....but.