Mardi Gras Further Delay?

[Lee Cruiser]

Could the Mardi Gras be delayed further than previously thought?  Arnold Donald hinted that in an interview with Porthole Magazine.  No real specifics given, but I'm personally guessing it won't be ready this year.

 

"Donald acknowledged that the upcoming release of Mardi Gras from the corporation's Carnival Cruise Line brand would come later than scheduled, but he said that once the ship is delivered, cruisers would love the new and improved version of the Carnival brand's classic ship."

 

https://www.porthole.com/ceo-carnival-corp-talks-future-of-cruising-with-porthole-cruise/

[firefly333]

The article said the shipyard was closed for over a month where it was being built and 2 months later workers coming back slowly.

 

Carnival isnt going to want to pay overtime to get it caught up imo, not until bookings and cash flow are going better.

[BlerkOne]

Mardi Gras is being built by a different company, in a different ship yard, in a different country from Radiance.

 

AFAIK, that shipyard never closed.

[bobandsherry]

The article said the shipyard was closed for over a month where it was being built and 2 months later workers coming back slowly.
 
Carnival isnt going to want to pay overtime to get it caught up imo, not until bookings and cash flow are going better.

The irony of that is they would have to refund $$$ to those who already booked, so not sure how that helps with cash flow. I've got to think they must have already paid for most of the cost already, can't think of a ship builder going to fund the construction on their own dime.

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[BlerkOne]

3 minutes ago, bobandsherry said:

The irony of that is they would have to refund $$$ to those who already booked, so not sure how that helps with cash flow. I've got to think they must have already paid for most of the cost already, can't think of a ship builder going to fund the construction on their own dime.

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I'm sure a bunch of money is withheld until the cruise line actually takes delivery of the ship.

[firefly333]

1 minute ago, bobandsherry said:

The irony of that is they would have to refund $$$ to those who already booked, so not sure how that helps with cash flow. I've got to think they must have already paid for most of the cost already, can't think of a ship builder going to fund the construction on their own dime.

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Well rcl offers 3 options I've seen. One was $250 obc to move to another ship. That's the one I'd take.

 

Of course some will cancel. Rcl also might offer it like a lift and switch, a hear later.

 

RCL delayed building terminal 3 in Galveston which was to be built for allure to come. 1 year delay. Rcl  might send another ship or offer that you can take allure out of another port. Obviously if they delay getting started building a terminal big enough to board allure, some of us are talking. 

 

Just saying there might be alternatives to cancelling offered. Idk what carnival does, only seen what rcl did. Just saying if you are offered obc to take another ship, some might, I would. 

 

I'm kinda on the fence with Oct 2021 radiance, partial panama transit. Everything I read says radiance refit is scrapped... so what can I expect that means.

[bobandsherry]

Mardi Gras is being built by a different company, in a different ship yard, in a different country from Radiance.
 
AFAIK, that shipyard never closed.

That's what I heard too. Being built by Meyer Turku in Finland. The company did layoff about 25% of employees. They also said they would scale back future builds to one every year vs two as originally planned. But nothing specific I've seen on Mardi Gras. However with all sailings being removed until March, one could draw a conclusion. Carnival rep told me it was due to being sold out with all the other rebookings, however I find it hard to believe that every room was sold out for 3 months.

Radiance is being refurbished in Spain.

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[bobandsherry]

 

I'm sure a bunch of money is withheld until the cruise line actually takes delivery of the ship.

How are you sure? So let me say no money is being withheld (honestly I have no idea but neither do you so I might as well say something that I don't know to be true either). Performance bond usually held to ensure ship built and delivered to specs. Obviously neither of us know anything so you are just as right or wrong as me.

 

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[bobandsherry]

Well rcl offers 3 options I've seen. One was $250 obc to move to another ship. That's the one I'd take.
 
Of course some will cancel. Rcl also might offer it like a lift and switch, a hear later.
 
RCL delayed building terminal 3 in Galveston which was to be built for allure to come. 1 year delay. Rcl  might send another ship or offer that you can take allure out of another port. Obviously if they delay getting started building a terminal big enough to board allure, some of us are talking. 
 
Just saying there might be alternatives to cancelling offered. Idk what carnival does, only seen what rcl did. Just saying if you are offered obc to take another ship, some might, I would. 
 
I'm kinda on the fence with Oct 2021 radiance, partial panama transit. Everything I read says radiance refit is scrapped... so what can I expect that means.

Carnival does offer FCC, but there's still group of people who won't rebook and take refund. I'm booked for December and will tell you, based on the amount of the cruise I paid, the FCC not worth it to me and would take the 100% refund.

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[firefly333]

4 minutes ago, bobandsherry said:

Carnival does offer FCC, but there's still group of people who won't rebook and take refund. I'm booked for December and will tell you, based on the amount of the cruise I paid, the FCC not worth it to me and would take the 100% refund.

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I didnt even list that as a option. Obc is onboard credit. FCC is different

 

Rcl is also offering lift and shift to a year later to protect your price, in some case way better.

 

I just read of someone booking a old ship I think empress owners suite for 3k, and moved it to a new expensive ship where the price would have been 12k or something.

 

I booked a balcony on jewel, solo  one set of taxes, $1008, where I'm waiting for a lift and shift to allure which would have been double. I was offered a inside group price on allure for just under $1500, so heck yea I'll take a balcony for 1k including taxes. 

 

That's what I meant by lift and switch ... offer to protect your price PLUS give you obc (which is onboard credit) ... offer to move you to a later date when the ship is finished.

 

But no, I agree, a fcc would not be enough.. I think you got what I said about giving obc, mixed up with fcc. 

[shof515]

I think Carnival will delay the Mardi Gras as long as they can. It might be hard to try to market and promote a new cruise ship right now in this current market. If they delay the launch when the market rebounds, it might be better. By then, the popularly of cruising should be somewhat back to normal

[Lee Cruiser]

We are booked on it April 23.  We booked it right after bookings opened with the $200 onboard credit offer.  Hoping it will be ready before then.  But not sure that will happen or not.

[BlerkOne]

32 minutes ago, bobandsherry said:

How are you sure? So let me say no money is being withheld (honestly I have no idea but neither do you so I might as well say something that I don't know to be true either). Performance bond usually held to ensure ship built and delivered to specs. Obviously neither of us know anything so you are just as right or wrong as me.

 

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Based on what John Heald has posted in the past about when Carnival takes delivery of a ship Mickey Arison has to write a large check, or something to that effect, for what it is worth.

 

 

[BlerkOne]

41 minutes ago, bobandsherry said:

That's what I heard too. Being built by Meyer Turku in Finland. The company did layoff about 25% of employees. They also said they would scale back future builds to one every year vs two as originally planned. But nothing specific I've seen on Mardi Gras. However with all sailings being removed until March, one could draw a conclusion. Carnival rep told me it was due to being sold out with all the other rebookings, however I find it hard to believe that every room was sold out for 3 months.

Radiance is being refurbished in Spain.

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They could be limiting bookings until they know for sure.

 

[Lee Cruiser]

4 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

 

They could be limiting bookings until they know for sure.

 

That is certainly a possibility.  The more bookings they have, the more money they will have to refund / give in onboard credits.  It would make sense to limit those bookings until a definitive date is known.

[TeresaJ]

He alluded to the fact that Mardi Gras will come later than planned due to Covid-19 which means it will probably not begin sailing in November. Again, no official word from Carnival yet, but I imagine we will learn something in the coming months. We are booked on the Mardi Gras in January and we have already made back up plans in case the ship is delayed.

[BlerkOne]

4 minutes ago, TeresaJ said:

He alluded to the fact that Mardi Gras will come later than planned due to Covid-19 which means it will probably not begin sailing in November. Again, no official word from Carnival yet, but I imagine we will learn something in the coming months. We are booked on the Mardi Gras in January and we have already made back up plans in case the ship is delayed.

 

It really doesn't mean anything. We certainly should know more in the next few weeks as we see if there is a second peak, if the CDC or other experts issue recommendations, and, of course, how things are going at the shipyard.

[bobandsherry]

I didnt even list that as a option. Obc is onboard credit. FCC is different
 
Rcl is also offering lift and shift to a year later to protect your price, in some case way better.
 
I just read of someone booking a old ship I think empress owners suite for 3k, and moved it to a new expensive ship where the price would have been 12k or something.
 
I booked a balcony on jewel, solo  one set of taxes, $1008, where I'm waiting for a lift and shift to allure which would have been double. I was offered a inside group price on allure for just under $1500, so heck yea I'll take a balcony for 1k including taxes. 
 
That's what I meant by lift and switch ... offer to protect your price PLUS give you obc (which is onboard credit) ... offer to move you to a later date when the ship is finished.
 
But no, I agree, a fcc would not be enough.. I think you got what I said about giving obc, mixed up with fcc. 

For Carnival you only get OBC offer if you apply your booking as FCC, so goes hand in hand. And then restrictions on use, only apply to a single booking, only $500 of that towards additional OBC. I had nearly $9k wrapped up in cruise, no way I was going to take the $600 OBC offered so they could hold that for who knows how long before I'd be booking a cruise of that expense. The answer is Feb 2022, but that's too long to let Carnival hold that much cash.

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[firefly333]

16 minutes ago, bobandsherry said:

 

 

For Carnival you only get OBC offer if you apply your booking as FCC, so goes hand in hand. And then restrictions on use, only apply to a single booking, only $500 of that towards additional OBC. I had nearly $9k wrapped up in cruise, no way I was going to take the $600 OBC offered so they could hold that for who knows how long before I'd be booking a cruise of that expense. The answer is Feb 2022, but that's too long to let Carnival hold that much cash.

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I'd ask for a refund too if I had that much tied up.

 

I did ask for a refund for my 2nd fcc from rcl. They buried them in rules. I'm just paying as go

[RWolver672]

16 hours ago, Lee Cruiser said:

 

"Donald acknowledged that the upcoming release of Mardi Gras from the corporation's Carnival Cruise Line brand would come later than scheduled, but he said that once the ship is delivered, cruisers would love the new and improved version of the Carnival brand's classic ship."

 

https://www.porthole.com/ceo-carnival-corp-talks-future-of-cruising-with-porthole-cruise/

 

I took that to mean later than what was originally scheduled.  That's why the first eight cruises were cancelled.

 

13 hours ago, bobandsherry said:

 However with all sailings being removed until March, one could draw a conclusion. Carnival rep told me it was due to being sold out with all the other rebookings, however I find it hard to believe that every room was sold out for 3 months.
 

 

Those sailings have not been removed.  We have one booked for February 20th.  You have to remember that with the first eight sailings being cancelled, there were roughly 50,000 customers booking on that ship at a later date.  Being new and completely different than any other Carnival ship, people want to try her.  Many Northerners like to cruise in the winter months so Jan-Mar is prime time for them to book a cruise.

 

[Joebucks]

16 hours ago, firefly333 said:

The article said the shipyard was closed for over a month where it was being built and 2 months later workers coming back slowly.

 

Carnival isnt going to want to pay overtime to get it caught up imo, not until bookings and cash flow are going better.

 

Is Carnival the one choosing to pay overtime, or is the shipyard's responsibility?

 

Either way, I still don't believe the ship is sold out. No matter how exciting a cruise may be, when was the last time a Carnival ship was completely sold out a year in advance, for the entire winter? You can put together whatever scenarios you want, but it's still just not plausible. Sales reps telling you it is sold out is still not hearing it from the source.

 

I could be wrong. If I was Carnival, with all of the uncertainty going on around everything right now, I'd definitely seek to limit risk and losses. I'd rather open bookings later vs having to handle more refunds.

[Lee Cruiser]

1 hour ago, RWolver672 said:

 

I took that to mean later than what was originally scheduled.  That's why the first eight cruises were cancelled.

 

That may be the case. But, since that delay was announced a long time ago and well before Covid 19, I took it to mean a further delay. Hopefully you are right. I would rather it have a good many sailings before my April cruise. 

[rolloman]

I took his comments to be later than originally scheduled as well. As for the bookings currently being sold out for 3 months...yeah...they are...the main reason is the ship as it stands today will not be able to sail at full capacity due to the virus restrictions which will be put in place. So, with that in mind, the ship was inadvertently over sold prior to the virus. Unless there is enough attrition from cancellations, I would not be surprised if Carnival is forced to call currently booked passengers and ask them to choose another sailing. 

Edited May 27, 2020 by rolloman
sp

[FiredogCruiser]

15 hours ago, bobandsherry said:

How are you sure? So let me say no money is being withheld (honestly I have no idea but neither do you so I might as well say something that I don't know to be true either). Performance bond usually held to ensure ship built and delivered to specs. Obviously neither of us know anything so you are just as right or wrong as me.

 

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Performance bond probably has act of God exclusion, which would mean the pandemic renders it void. I do wonder what the initial penalty might have been for the first rescheduling of delivery prior to the pandemic.

[crewsweeper]

If all the panicking worry worts would just look at this thread, you'd see that the Mardi Gras is progressing nicely and any delay would be due to COVID 19 rebound not shipyard delay.