Carnival Stock

[tmilly]

Hi all,

I am new to cruising so don't understand the lingo.  What do you mean "Big Box Store" in relation to cruising?  I think I should have bought some Carnival stock before my cruise this Saturday.  

[I like vacation]

2 minutes ago, tmilly said:

Hi all,

I am new to cruising so don't understand the lingo.  What do you mean "Big Box Store" in relation to cruising?  I think I should have bought some Carnival stock before my cruise this Saturday.  

You aren't allowed to mention specific travel agents/agencies on Cruise Critic.  Big Box Store refers to a warehouse type retail establishment that also has a TA.

[twodjs]

So I understand - if you are ONLY cruising on ships under the Carnival umbrella, and if you are committing to take at least 14 more cruises (250 credit per cruise) you'd get back your investment + some dividends. I prefer not to limit my options. We are taking 5 cruises in 2020 and only one would qualify. Sorry, the value the line offers for the money spent is not there for us.

[tmilly]

3 minutes ago, I like vacation said:

You aren't allowed to mention specific travel agents/agencies on Cruise Critic.  Big Box Store refers to a warehouse type retail establishment that also has a TA.

Got it.  Thanks!  So some people are using Big Box and stock benefits for OBC.  Good information!!

[twodjs]

I need to correct my math - you'd have to take at least 17 cruises, not 14 at the current stock value.

[wyobean]

22 minutes ago, twodjs said:

So I understand - if you are ONLY cruising on ships under the Carnival umbrella, and if you are committing to take at least 14 more cruises (250 credit per cruise) you'd get back your investment + some dividends. I prefer not to limit my options. We are taking 5 cruises in 2020 and only one would qualify. Sorry, the value the line offers for the money spent is not there for us.

We have found that sticking with the same cruise line and working your way up that Bennie food chain is the way to go, our choice is Holland. Do we cruise other lines? Yes, if they have an itinerary we want and the price is right. We found that we really like what Holland has to offer, but we certainly don’t feel locked into them. We usually only Cruise once a year, but have already realized over $1,000 in stock OBC. I will be the first to agree that it isn’t for everyone. We feel it is a nice addition to our portfolio and will eventually pay for itself. Hard to say that about very many stick purchases. 

Also, the stock benefit is based on the number of days on the cruise, not always $250. 

Edited August 7, 2019 by wyobean

[Underwatr]

31 minutes ago, twodjs said:

I need to correct my math - you'd have to take at least 17 cruises, not 14 at the current stock value.

Only if the stock value goes to zero after you buy. Otherwise you still own 100 shares of CCL. Mine has gone up about 50% since I bought (no guarantees there) plus some cash dividends every year.

 

I do tend to cruise with Cunard + HAL (twice) + Princess (once) + Carnival (once) but not (just) for the onboard credit.

[panoramaofthepast]

Our financial adviser was skeptical at first also. However, he has come around to seeing the benefits for us and now is very supportive. Like others here, he has strict instructions not to mess with the Carnival stock!

[TomBeckCruise]

1 hour ago, twodjs said:

I need to correct my math - you'd have to take at least 17 cruises, not 14 at the current stock value.

Using your example you would have an average annual return on investment of roughly 22-24%. Not too shabby.

I doubt there are many people who cruise on a CCL product that often, but if so it's a great investment. 

 

We have sailed on HAL once and Princess once in the last ten years. No other cruises on a CCl line, and around twenty cruises on other lines. Our cruise on the Zuiderdam to Iceland, Greenland and Norway last year was a very interesting and enjoyable cruise, and because we missed three ports we received a sizable credit for a future cruise. We now hope to soon take our second HAL cruise in about one year.

 

More realistic for most people would be one CCL cruise per year. If the cruise is 14 days or more the OBC would be $250 and the dividends would be $200.  If the cost of the cruise is $8000 the OBC amounts to an additional discount of 3%.  That significantly increases the typical travel agent discount of 8-10%.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 7, 2019 by TomBeckCruise