Okay, who else gave in?

[Luckysll]

I wasn’t really interested in cruising on the new, bigger ships, but John’s videos did what they were supposed to do and made me want to experience it.  Since I already have cruises booked for 2022 and 2023, I was looking at early 2024. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thrilled with Mardi Gras itineraries (just a personal thing), so I booked Celebration for a January b2b.  Sister ship, but I’m looking forward to seeing all it has to offer.  And from the looks of her, I’ll need those two weeks just to find everything, lol.

[groundloop]

Maybe when Carnival stops charging a premium for the newest ships.  Until then I'm more than happy with all of the other options.

[Disneycruisers]

1 hour ago, Luckysll said:

I wasn’t really interested in cruising on the new, bigger ships, but John’s videos did what they were supposed to do and made me want to experience it.  Since I already have cruises booked for 2022 and 2023, I was looking at early 2024. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thrilled with Mardi Gras itineraries (just a personal thing), so I booked Celebration for a January b2b.  Sister ship, but I’m looking forward to seeing all it has to offer.  And from the looks of her, I’ll need those two weeks just to find everything, lol.

John’s videos did what they were supposed to do and made me want to experience it.  What video?  Can you provide a link?  Thank you! 🙂

[Disneycruisers]

I found the links.  Thank you!

 

[groundloop]

10 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

They were having a fire sale for weeks at various times on their newest actual sailing ship (Panorama).  Plenty of people scored <$500 cabins for two.  If that is a premium, I'll gladly pay one every single time. 

 

I got what I feel like is an even better deal on the Magic in September - now I'm on pins and needles hoping that cruising doesn't get shut down again by the recent surge which is especially bad in Florida.  

Edited July 26, 2021 by groundloop

[Moviela]

I find myself in Orlando in Oct. 2022, so I booked a b2b on Mardi Gras. I look forward to it. Should be fun. I will especially enjoy the private elevator from deck 17 to the spa. 

[Saint Greg]

20 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

They were having a fire sale for weeks at various times on their newest actual sailing ship (Panorama).  Plenty of people scored <$500 cabins for two.  If that is a premium, I'll gladly pay one every single time. 

 

You won't see that for Mardi Gras or Horizon. Panorama seems to be among the cheaper 7 day cruises pretty consistently. But it's an hour away from a major airport , you only have 1 itinerary, and it can get pretty chilly on sea days depending on the time of year.

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Saint Greg

[kdr69]

I will have my two weeks on the Inaugural TA of the Celebration cant wait to experience ever bit of her.

[Saint Greg]

4 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

And there really is no reason why the Panorama should be so cheap.  Plenty of other ships do that same itinerary on much older ships for a lot more money.  Not sure what that's all about.  In addition, the Mexican Riviera itinerary is very popular as all of the 3 regular cities (Cabo, Mazatlan, PV) are very popular with tourists.

 

Maybe leaving out of Long Beach instead of LA or San Diego.

[Lee Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Luckysll said:

I wasn’t really interested in cruising on the new, bigger ships, but John’s videos did what they were supposed to do and made me want to experience it.  Since I already have cruises booked for 2022 and 2023, I was looking at early 2024. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thrilled with Mardi Gras itineraries (just a personal thing), so I booked Celebration for a January b2b.  Sister ship, but I’m looking forward to seeing all it has to offer.  And from the looks of her, I’ll need those two weeks just to find everything, lol.

I am with you on the itineraries, although I do have it booked for 2022 and 2023.  Was originally supposed to be on it back in April.

[Elaine5715]

28 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

You won't see that for Mardi Gras or Horizon. Panorama seems to be among the cheaper 7 day cruises pretty consistently. But it's an hour away from a major airport , you only have 1 itinerary, and it can get pretty chilly on sea days depending on the time of year.

 

I got a $200 inside cabin for the Mardi Gras for May 2023 

[Kevin308]

45 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

You won't see that for Mardi Gras or Horizon. Panorama seems to be among the cheaper 7 day cruises pretty consistently. But it's an hour away from a major airport , you only have 1 itinerary, and it can get pretty chilly on sea days depending on the time of year.

 

The hour form an airport isn't a factor.  See Galveston.  But the rest is.  Plus I don't think people from out coast really want to fly out to California for a cruise.

[Saint Greg]

1 minute ago, Kevin308 said:

The hour form an airport isn't a factor.  See Galveston.  But the rest is.  Plus I don't think people from out coast really want to fly out to California for a cruise.

 

There are a lot of people in Texas and Galveston is the only show in town. 

[Saint Greg]

5 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

Long Beach is not a factor.  It's few minutes more vs. LA/San Pedros terminal.  Besides, RCL runs cruises out of Long Beach that aren't anywhere near as cheap on much older ships never offering any decent perks.

 

I don't know what to tell you. I just happened to be looking at 2024 Feb-Mar cruises and Panorama has the cheapest 7-day cruise. Cheaper than Glory, Pride, and Legend. It's 8 day is the same price as Dream.  There has to be a reason and it isn't the ship.

[ScottsSweetie]

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

 

I don't know what to tell you. I just happened to be looking at 2024 Feb-Mar cruises and Panorama has the cheapest 7-day cruise. Cheaper than Glory, Pride, and Legend. It's 8 day is the same price as Dream.  There has to be a reason and it isn't the ship.

So, I just moved last year from Georgia to the desert, so most of my cruising has been from the east coast. We always noticed that the 7 day western was cheaper than anything in the east - when you would think Miami/FL would be cheapest because of volume.

 

I'm guessing it's due to colder water, colder weather, snorkeling not as good (water not as clear). On the plus side, you can't whale watch in the east!

[FLCruZar]

The Mardi Gras looks amazing. This will be the 1st Carnival cruise for me.  Very curious to see what the Havana area actually looks like, before giving up the cabin I have booked. 

[crzndeb]

19 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

Long Beach is not a factor.  It's few minutes more vs. LA/San Pedros terminal.  Besides, RCL runs cruises out of Long Beach that aren't anywhere near as cheap on much older ships never offering any decent perks.

Carnival is out of Long Beach. Royal hasn’t had a ship in California for years, but the Navigator will soon sail out of San Pedro.

[lasekeye]

I agree with you, the Mardi Gras looks amazing, but it’s her itineraries that will keep us away.

We were supposed to be B2B on her original voyage from Copenhagen & were really excited…delays in the build & then Covid ruined all that.  We just aren’t interested in the Caribbean anymore, hopefully one day she or her sister ship will have some destinations that spark our interest.

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 hour ago, Kevin308 said:

The hour form an airport isn't a factor.  See Galveston.  But the rest is.  Plus I don't think people from out coast really want to fly out to California for a cruise.

 

Did that itinerary back in 98'. After 30+ cruises I can say that I have never even considered going back.

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, groundloop said:

Maybe when Carnival stops charging a premium for the newest ships.  Until then I'm more than happy with all of the other options.

That's marketing 101.  Carnival does it and Royal does it to an even higher degree.  There is a market for everything.  You're happy with the 20+ ships in the fleet between 70 K tons and 110 K tons.  I've sailed on those classes once in the past ten years. Currently booked on 1 Vista Class and 4 Excel Class sailings.

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

And there really is no reason why the Panorama should be so cheap.  Plenty of other ships do that same itinerary on much older ships for a lot more money.  Not sure what that's all about.  In addition, the Mexican Riviera itinerary is very popular as all of the 3 regular cities (Cabo, Mazatlan, PV) are very popular with tourists.

 

 

If that area is supposedly so popular, why did Royal ignore it for about 10 years?

[SNJCruisers]

11 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

 

Did that itinerary back in 98'. After 30+ cruises I can say that I have never even considered going back.

How about California Coastal stopping at San Francisco, Monterrey,  San Diego and Ensenada on the brand new Discovery Princess?  

 

[Joe817]

4 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

1.) Is the Royal the only barometer by which we should measure?   2,) And if it isn't so popular, why are they deciding to sail now of all times just after a pandemic and all?

1. Yes, as RCL is Carnival's closest competitor. Followed by NCL. So, there are really few comparisons by which to judge. 

 

2. Because RCL is attempting to enter new markets previously dominated by CCL, and grab some of CCL's market share. Simple to explain. More complex to enact those business plans. 

[mondello]

1 hour ago, FLCruZar said:

The Mardi Gras looks amazing. This will be the 1st Carnival cruise for me.  Very curious to see what the Havana area actually looks like, before giving up the cabin I have booked. 

The Havana area is much nicer on the Vista class ships. The Havana pool on Mardi Gras is a smaller afterthought over on the side. The exclusive new Loft 19 and Excel Suites were more the game changer for Mardi Gras and Celebration.

[Joe817]

22 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

Who cares who the competitors to Carnival are?  We're talking about the popularity of a given itinerary.  And it wouldn't surprise me at all if that itinerary of the 3 cities I mentioned comprised the highest cruising revenue within the US, and probably worldwide each year. 

 

 

" Not sure what that's all about.  In addition, the Mexican Riviera itinerary is very popular as all of the 3 regular cities (Cabo, Mazatlan, PV) are very popular with tourists."

 

"And it wouldn't surprise me at all if that itinerary of the 3 cities I mentioned comprised the highest cruising revenue within the US, and probably worldwide each year. "

 

You can't be serious. I realize that those 3 cities are extremely popular for people cruising out of California, but you are omitting all the other cruisers from the east coast & gulf coast states who make up the vast majority of the cruising population in the U.S. We are going to have to just agree to disagree. No harm, no foul. It's all good.

 

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Joe817