If you were carnival what would you cut?

[silvercrikhix]

Back to the OP’s original question. 

 

Agree with stopping all the paper flyers for this, that & the other.

That amount of paper wasted is unreal!! 

Put everything in the daily Funtimes & on the TV. 

Thank goodness they quit printing all those pictures. {at least on the new ships} 

 

Despite the cutbacks, the fares have increased greatly. 

Priced a cruise yesterday that would be a repeat. Identical ship & itinerary.

7 years ago it was $3,200. It was more then double the fare. We didn’t book it. 

We have one more Carnival cruise booked and that may be it with them. 

 

It is obvious that Carnival is aiming for first time cruisers & the younger crowds & families. 

People that won’t miss all the things cut because they never knew they existed. 

They know experienced cruisers will move on, and they hope to their Corps other lines. 

 

PS. We prefer canned soda much more then fountain syrupy flattish pop. Fresh and fizzy is the best. 

[VentureMan_2000]

35 minutes ago, silvercrikhix said:

 

Despite the cutbacks, the fares have increased greatly. 

Priced a cruise yesterday that would be a repeat. Identical ship & itinerary.

7 years ago it was $3,200. It was more then double the fare. We didn’t book it. 

 

Wow... was this some sort of super suite cabin... or super long Journeys cruise ?  Are you including airfare, gratuities, trip insurance, and Cheers as $6400 is a lot.

My cruise in 1987 was an interior cabin and cost $,1512 for a 7 day cruise.  The same cruise today is $1,270.  

My cruise in 2004 was a balcony cabin and cost $,1812 for a 7 day cruise.  The same cruise today is $1,732.

My cruise in 2006 was a balcony cabin and cost $,1750 for a 7 day cruise.  

My cruise in 2007 was a balcony cabin and cost $,1733 for a 7 day cruise.  

 

These average $250 or less per cabin.

 

My current booked cruises are $223 and $295 per day for balcony cabins. 

Seems to me that prices have actually gone down when you consider inflation. 

[PhillyFan33579]

If the OP literally meant what I would cut, I would cut a large section off above the atrium on Vista class ships and add glass elevators. 

[jimbo5544]

5 hours ago, silvercrikhix said:

 

It is obvious that Carnival is aiming for first time cruisers & the younger crowds & families. 

People that won’t miss all the things cut because they never knew they existed. 

They know experienced cruisers will move on, and they hope to their Corps other lines. 

 

Carnival’s focus has always been 1st time cruisers and also as many homeports as possible to offer their clients the ability to cruise within a 5 hour drive, on this we can agree.  I have never bought into the theory about changes and so called cutbacks because the cruisers will not know any better.  I would love to hear rationale on your thoughts regarding that.  I totally disagree with your idea of experienced cruiser moving on, whether it be to another Carnival brand or not.  I Have sailed on 36 Carnival cruises and 45+ in total and still feel the same way about the Carnival product.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

Carnival’s focus has always been 1st time cruisers and also as many homeports as possible to offer their clients the ability to cruise within a 5 hour drive, on this we can agree.  I have never bought into the theory about changes and so called cutbacks because the cruisers will not know any better.  I would love to hear rationale on your thoughts regarding that.  I totally disagree with your idea of experienced cruiser moving on, whether it be to another Carnival brand or not.  I Have sailed on 36 Carnival cruises and 45+ in total and still feel the same way about the Carnival product.

 

I agree with your comment. If experienced cruisers were moving on, Carnival wouldn’t have the frequent issue of cruises having too many Diamonds and Platinums, which has been discussed frequently on this site. 

[ray98]

I would eliminate the singing and dancing wait staff.  Dinner is already long enough....let them focus on their job.

[Retired_to_Cruise]

On 9/5/2019 at 12:52 PM, Saturngrl said:

I would hire a Lean Six Sigma Specialist (like  me) for Carnival team members and loyal passengers to identify sources of waste to eliminate.   That would help balance work loads, improve value and continuously improve operations. 

How do you know that this is not already being done. Are you just making the assumption that efforts to "balance work loads, improve value, and continuously improve operations" are not being done effectively? Where do you think the changes being made all the time are coming from?

[xDisconnections]

Apparently Carnival is aware of this discussion so it will be interesting to see if any of these suggestions are used operationally.

[xDisconnections]

1 hour ago, ray98 said:

I would eliminate the singing and dancing wait staff.  Dinner is already long enough....let them focus on their job.

Yes, the disturbance needs to go.

[jimbo5544]

1 minute ago, xDisconnections said:

Yes, the disturbance needs to go.

It must be hard to hear from a Princess dining room.

[xDisconnections]

3 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

It must be hard to hear from a Princess dining room.

Haha there’s one headwaiter on Princess that I keep getting who loves to sing in another language and does so for the entire dining room. I forgot how much I disliked the dining room disturbances but I’m sure I’ll be reminded in Dec.

[hotsauce126]

On the ships that still have them, the physical photos. What a collosal waste of time and money. They could charge 1/4 of what they do and still make a killing if they only printed them on demand on every ship

[sc4125]

In reference to all the cuts (particularly staffing), I'm not sure most people realize just how much it costs the cruise line for each staff member.  Granted the salaries (at least for the low level positions) are minimal; however, unlike most land based companies, cruise lines are responsible for way more than salaries:

 

Medical Costs

Food & Board 

Uniforms (issue & cleaning)

 

As the costs - particularly medical costs - increase something has to give.  Unlike most companies, crewmembers do not contribute to medical insurance, nor do they make co-pays, or pay the 20% over what the insurance covers.

 

I was a Purser onboard another cruise line & not only acted as the Paymaster (when all crew members were paid in cash), but also dealt with medical issues related to the crew.  When there was something more than the onboard doctor could deal with, which was probably 50% of the issues, we had to schedule, transport and pay for medical care in every port.  I can't tell you how much money (and time) that cost.  In the 3 years I held this position, there had to have been at least 20 times that a crewmember had to be airlifted off the ship for medical care.  I wasn't involved in the medical insurance claims, but I can tell you the largest expense in reference to crew was medical.

 

Just something to think about when considering the cut in staff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Saturngrl]

1 hour ago, Retired_to_Cruise said:

How do you know that this is not already being done. Are you just making the assumption that efforts to "balance work loads, improve value, and continuously improve operations" are not being done effectively? Where do you think the changes being made all the time are coming from?

This was merely a suggestion in case Carnival hasn't used this option,.  I'm sure the cruiseline takes customer feedback seriously and Hohn Heald does a fantastic job in his role.

[ParrotRob]

1 hour ago, Retired_to_Cruise said:

How do you know that this is not already being done. Are you just making the assumption that efforts to "balance work loads, improve value, and continuously improve operations" are not being done effectively? Where do you think the changes being made all the time are coming from?

 

My thoughts exactly.  I can't imagine that a corporation the size of Carnival isn't constantly doing this.  I'm sure they have all sorts of process improvement events, kaizens, and all sorts of similar things.

 

I also can't imagine that ALL of the suggestions on this thread haven't been thought of or considered any number of times.  I find it very amusing that there are so many experts who think they know the business better than a corporation that's been doing it for 45 years.

We should go after UPS next and teach them a thing or two about logistics.  Then Amazon, maybe there is something they haven't thought about in online retailing.  🙄

 

[Chervil]

14 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

If the OP literally meant what I would cut, I would cut a large section off above the atrium on Vista class ships and add glass elevators. 

Now THIS is a cut I could support 110%.

 

[soonernstlouis]

17 hours ago, pc_load_letter said:

Has Carnival ever made a public announcement about staffing cuts or is this all conjecture? Apologies, it was another thread that discussed staffing cuts and increasing room occupancy.

I would think staff cuts are very hard to detect & not made public since some cruises are seasonal and staff often relocates to different ships over time.  Very much different than a manufacturing plant in a small town when losing a few hundred jobs is certain to make headlines.  

[Host Carolyn]

Please keep on topic.....see original poster question. This isn't an accounting class, a seminar in shipping costs etc. Thanks!

[geckoaz]

Thanks for the ideas. My favorite is cutting back on all the paper in our rooms. I always feel bad dumping it all. However i think the hub, tv and maybe some electronic message boards can replace it. Overall i think i learned that everyone likes the cruise experience and would cut very little out.

[melsmom303]

i would cut the hairy chest competition 🤮

[silvercrikhix]

On 9/6/2019 at 4:43 PM, VentureMan_2000 said:

Wow... was this some sort of super suite cabin... or super long Journeys cruise ?  Are you including airfare, gratuities, trip insurance, and Cheers as $6400 is a lot.

My cruise in 1987 was an interior cabin and cost $,1512 for a 7 day cruise.  The same cruise today is $1,270.  

My cruise in 2004 was a balcony cabin and cost $,1812 for a 7 day cruise.  The same cruise today is $1,732.

My cruise in 2006 was a balcony cabin and cost $,1750 for a 7 day cruise.  

My cruise in 2007 was a balcony cabin and cost $,1733 for a 7 day cruise.  

 

These average $250 or less per cabin.

 

My current booked cruises are $223 and $295 per day for balcony cabins. 

Seems to me that prices have actually gone down when you consider inflation. 

 

This fare difference was for a Spirit Class, 7 day, Alaska, RT Seattle for the same week in the same cabin. 

4th deck Aft Wrap Vista Suite. Exact same  

Of course I didn’t include all the extra $$ stuff. Cabin fare only. 

Others I’ve compared equal in all ways have been more despite Casino or other discount rates. 

Although, it May be time to start adding the total expense all together. (Cruise line portions only)

Which is going to be way more for sure. For less....

[Marauder40]

The biggest way to save money would be to not dump grey water, sewage, trash where they aren’t allowed to.  Would save lawyer fees, fines, and bad publicity.

[1city@atime]

29 minutes ago, melsmom303 said:

i would cut the hairy chest competition 🤮

 

Well, I think the hairy chest contest is better than the lipsync battle Carnival did on our five day to the Mexican riviera.

[silvercrikhix]

20 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Carnival’s focus has always been 1st time cruisers and also as many homeports as possible to offer their clients the ability to cruise within a 5 hour drive, on this we can agree.  I have never bought into the theory about changes and so called cutbacks because the cruisers will not know any better.  I would love to hear rationale on your thoughts regarding that.  I totally disagree with your idea of experienced cruiser moving on, whether it be to another Carnival brand or not.  I Have sailed on 36 Carnival cruises and 45+ in total and still feel the same way about the Carnival product.

 

I wouldn’t pretend to know what Carnivals focus has always been. My guess...to make as much money as possible. 

I’d bet my house, that in discussing cutbacks, Carnival has very wisely breached the subject of cutbacks vs new cruisers. 

Plenty of people moving on....doesn’t mean everyone.  Glad you are still enjoying your Carnival cruises 100%. 

Personally, we are under the opinion that the product has all but tanked FOR US.  

We are all entitled to our opinion, whether or not anyone else agrees.

We’re bringing newbies next trip, a little quiz might be in order. Research...lol. 

 

OP:  Cut the paper & photos. The crew is no longer as friendly as they once were. They’re sweaty & busy like bees. 

Yeah, cut that chunk out and put the atrium back to wow, please. Carnival is losing its wow...maybe that’s  it. 

 

Edited September 7, 2019 by silvercrikhix

[silvercrikhix]

11 minutes ago, Marauder40 said:

The biggest way to save money would be to not dump grey water, sewage, trash where they aren’t allowed to.  Would save lawyer fees, fines, and bad publicity.

 

Thumbs way up!