Fourth Excel Ship Ordered for a 2027 Delivery

[bmc alabama]

3 hours ago, jsglow said:

Spot on. I love sailing from both Long Beach and New Orleans but both ports have real limitations and are way more regional than national. Very few fly from the 'great white north' to either. Galveston has a huge advantage in that millions upon millions of people live within driving distance. Long Beach is mostly patronized by Californians and the desert SW.  And as for New Orleans, there's a reason that only one company has decided to base ships there 12 months a year despite hyped up announcements about expanded seasonal service by others.  I'll take that as a good sign of strength and progress though.

 

Look, I'd personally love it if Carnival replaced the old Liberty/Glory models with Breeze or Magic. I'd jump on that in a heartbeat. But folks are kidding themselves if they think an Excel is going to be sailing from there anytime soon. Regional ports simply do not get signature boats. Ask tertiary ports like Mobile or Norfolk.

I love New Orleans, I really do, but dare I say that if Mobile can get the parking sorted out, it's actually a lot easier to go out of there.  It's also a shorter drive from Atlanta, Nashville, and Birmingham...

[jsglow]

4 minutes ago, bmc alabama said:

I love New Orleans, I really do, but dare I say that if Mobile can get the parking sorted out, it's actually a lot easier to go out of there.  It's also a shorter drive from Atlanta, Nashville, and Birmingham...

Perhaps. Never sailed from there. You may be correct from a driving perspective.

 

The thing that is so special about New Orleans for us is the ability to enjoy town for a day or two, walk to the port in the morning, and then sail. Perfect for a 5 nighter.

[bmc alabama]

1 minute ago, jsglow said:

Perhaps. Never sailed from there. You may be correct from a driving perspective.

 

The thing that is so special about New Orleans for us is the ability to enjoy town for a day or two, walk to the port in the morning, and then sail. Perfect for a 5 nighter.

Oh, no doubt!  New Orleans is great just to visit on its own.  And the food is amazing.

 

That said, Mobile is growing on me. The Battleship park is fantastic.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, bmc alabama said:

I love New Orleans, I really do, but dare I say that if Mobile can get the parking sorted out, it's actually a lot easier to go out of there.  It's also a shorter drive from Atlanta, Nashville, and Birmingham...

I've enjoyed my cruises out of Mobile, but I think it is mainly a drive to port. Last time I did the Park and Cruise package at Battle House Renaissance. Not the cheapest, and I think the rates have gone up, but it was great. And getting dropped off and picked up in a limo is a bonus.

[mz-s]

10 hours ago, TreyB said:

Let’s get one of those Excel class ships out to Long Beach. California has been good to Carnival. They sent us a Vista class with Panorama so I fully expect them to give us a mega ship. 

 

It depends on how badly Carnival wants to compete over there. Right now they are basically giving away those cruises to fill the ships since RCCL decided to re-enter that market.

[mz-s]

31 minutes ago, TreyB said:

Lol give me an example of “giving away”.  That statement simply isn’t accurate or based on any reality. The market price for a Carnival cruise out of California has been remarkably consistent over the past decade when compared to fares on RCCL. One should actually have cruised out of the market before making statements regarding said market. 🤣

 

A 5 day on the Carnival Firenze next January selling for starting at $264 per person.

 

4 days on Radiance starting at $214 

 

The only place you can get a cheaper cruise is Miami.

 

You were saying?

[sturderick]

On 2/13/2024 at 1:46 PM, mz-s said:

Name speculation?

 

Has enough time passed to name her Carnival Fantasy? I would love if it could be.

My honeymoon was on the Fantasy!

[mz-s]

31 minutes ago, sturderick said:

My honeymoon was on the Fantasy!

 

As was mine!❤️ Heartbroken that she was not given a proper send-off. 

[BlerkOne]

8 minutes ago, TreyB said:

4 night RCCL on Navigator for the same time period starts at $359. 
 

You just proved my point. Carnival’s pricing has always been and will always be lower than RCCL. They aren’t giving anything away. It’s business as usual. 
 

You really need to get out more. 

And January is low season. RCCL fixed costs are higher than Carnival's. Royal can't compete on price. 

 

[jsglow]

10 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

A 5 day on the Carnival Firenze next January selling for starting at $264 per person.

 

4 days on Radiance starting at $214 

 

The only place you can get a cheaper cruise is Miami.

 

You were saying?

The 4 day Catalina run is almost always the lowest per person, per day rate in the fleet and there is rarely a 7 day more cost competitive than Panorama.  On a nice ship to boot.

[jimbo5544]

8 hours ago, jsglow said:

The 4 day Catalina run is almost always the lowest per person, per day rate in the fleet and there is rarely a 7 day more cost competitive than Panorama.  On a nice ship to boot.

Agree ship wise, no comparison

[jsglow]

13 hours ago, TreyB said:

4 night RCCL on Navigator for the same time period starts at $359. 
 

You just proved my point. Carnival’s pricing has always been and will always be lower than RCCL. They aren’t giving anything away. It’s business as usual. 
 

You really need to get out more. 

I'm not really sure why you're giving @mz-s grief.  I don't think he's trying to compare Carnival pricing v. RCCL. I think what he's saying is that Carnival cruises from Long Beach have always been 'popularly priced' relative to the rest of their own offerings nationwide.  For grins I just did a comparison for January '25. As I expected, the per night, per person rate for Firenze and Panorama  are the lowest across the entire fleet. You can literally take Panorama for a lower price than Liberty on each standard 7 nighter next January.  

 

Bottom line: The Mexican Riviera is a relatively tough sell.  That's always been true, both for Carnival and the other cruise lines, many of which pull out seasonally.  What I will say is that overall demand improvement has allowed them to significantly add to their available berths as Carnival now operates 3 total ships, 2 of which will be Vista Class going forward. That's a helluva upgrade from the days of Inspiration and Imagination and whatever was doing the 7 day just a few short years ago. So the market is healthy. It's just inherently limited. And cruise lines know that. 

[Roscoe13]

23 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

A 5 day on the Carnival Firenze next January selling for starting at $264 per person.

 

4 days on Radiance starting at $214 

 

The only place you can get a cheaper cruise is Miami.

 

You were saying?

$2271.30

That's what it cost me to book a 7 night Panorama cruise out of Long Beach deck 9 forward balcony for Nov. 2024.

$2351

That's what it cost me to book a 7 night Jubilee cruise out of Galveston deck 16 forward balcony for Feb 2025.

 

You were saying?

[1BDNANA]

Maybe they should think about sone moving sidewalks on these massive ships.🤪🏃‍♂️👩‍🦯

[ChrisCJR]

If this were a cruise ship casino, I would place my bet on Port Canaveral.

 

Look at the cruise prices and that shows you where the money is. Miami and Port Canaveral make bank, and then make even more due to the private islands and ports. Coupled with the need to capitalize on Celebration Key, it makes sense, if not getting a deal out of Fort Lauderdale, which would be a huge unexpected announcement, although I think it'd be more likely that a ship would move there than it receive a new build. 

 

Galveston is just getting started with Jubilee, I don't see another coming in 2027, not above the older Mardi Gras and Celebration.

 

Normally, I'd guess California. California is certainly a big market for Carnival, but I don't see it this time. Others have already made a few points that I agree with, on top of that though, it's selling less heavily than the Florida ports and there's less incentive for them to care about the ports of call, where with Celebration Key, they make more direct money from (as well as the other Caribbean ports and islands that they own or lease, like HMC and Grand Turk).

 

That's not to say something new won't come to SoCal, it's due, but with Mardi Gras turning seven at that point and will be an older ship compared to what the other lines offer at that same port, I don't see them rushing on a new ship to California. It would certainly make California stand out, but at the expense of the more profitable Port Canaveral and Miami.

 

Assuming nothing changes in 2027 at Port Canaveral, Mardi Gras is a nice ship, but paired with (unless they move them) Vista, Glory, Freedom, and Venezia, it will not look very competitive against the offerings of the other cruise lines.

 

No way does Carnival want its newest ship sailing from a major port (Canaveral) to be the oldest of all the other lines sailing out of it (Royal: Star, Utopia, probably another, Disney: Treasure and possibly another, plus Wish is still new, Norwegian: Aqua, MSC: Likely a World Class ship). 

 

IF somehow they pass on PC for this, I'll say that one of the 2028 ships is a guarantee to be homeported in PC. It'll be needed in 2027/2028.

[cmichael1221]

Based on this announcement today - all but certain it's going somewhere in Florida and puts more weight behind the theory of the older Mardi Gras moving to shorter sailings to bring more people to Celebration Key...

=======

MIAMI, Feb. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest cruise company, today announced plans for a $100 million pier extension that will double the arrival capacity of Celebration Key™, Carnival Cruise Line's new exclusive destination scheduled to open on Grand Bahama island in the summer of 2025. In addition to the two berths slated to be complete by 2025, the expansion will add two more berths, with all four capable of handling up to Carnival's largest Excel class ships when complete in 2026. 

[jsglow]

Interesting. It certainly seems that Carnival is certainly going down the RCCL business model path. Put pax on big, new ships and capture 100% of their vacation budget via close in ports they control.

 

It'll be interesting to me if there's much of the old model left in 10 years. I remember 2 cruises in particular from the mid-2000s. One on a relatively new Miracle: 8 nights; St. Maarten, St. Lucia and St. Kitts. The other on Freedom: 8 nights; Cozumel, Costa Rica, and Colon, Panama. Those days are quickly coming to an end.

Edited February 22 by jsglow

[mz-s]

7 minutes ago, jsglow said:

Interesting. It certainly seems that Carnival is certainly going down the RCCL business model path. Put pax on big, new ships and capture 100% of their vacation budget via close in ports they control.

 

It'll be interesting to me if there's much of the old model left in 10 years. I remember 2 cruises in particular from the mid-2000s. One on a relatively new Miracle: 8 nights; St. Maarten, St. Lucia and St. Kitts. The other on Freedom: 8 nights; Cozumel, Costa Rica, and Colon, Panama. Those days are quickly coming to an end.

 

The business model of modest ships sailing to far off ports is on life support for RCCL and will be dead for Carnival as soon as they can catch up. It will live on for years with other lines though.

[jsglow]

Just now, mz-s said:

 

The business model of modest ships sailing to far off ports is on life support for RCCL and will be dead for Carnival as soon as they can catch up. It will live on for years with other lines though.

Agreed. As I've long said, RCCL and Carnival are vacation companies, not so much travel companies. I suppose the good news for us is that 'old school' cruising is going to take awhile to go away. Pride over in Europe twice was a wonderful experience. And in future years, HAL will fill that role is my guess.

[mz-s]

1 minute ago, jsglow said:

Agreed. As I've long said, RCCL and Carnival are vacation companies, not so much travel companies. I suppose the good news for us is that 'old school' cruising is going to take awhile to go away. Pride over in Europe twice was a wonderful experience. And in future years, HAL will fill that role is my guess.

 

They really are the Walmart of the Seas. Not being derogatory when I say that. They are the mass market. They appeal to the maximum number of people. Most folks looking at cruising today want a mega ship with all the trimmings sailing to prepackaged ports of call. They just want to have a good vacation, and who can blame them.

 

Those of us who prefer something a little more downtown, like you said we can choose Spirit class (at least for the foreseeable future...), HAL, etc.

[jsglow]

30 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Those of us who prefer something a little more downtown, like you said we can choose Spirit class (at least for the foreseeable future...), HAL, etc.

I don't know if you've ever done Windstar but they provide a fantastic experience. We did one of their motor yachts a few years ago. Loved it.

[BlerkOne]

34 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

They really are the Walmart of the Seas. Not being derogatory when I say that. They are the mass market. They appeal to the maximum number of people. Most folks looking at cruising today want a mega ship with all the trimmings sailing to prepackaged ports of call. They just want to have a good vacation, and who can blame them.

 

Those of us who prefer something a little more downtown, like you said we can choose Spirit class (at least for the foreseeable future...), HAL, etc.

Anytime anyone pretends to speak for most, they have already lost.

[mz-s]

27 minutes ago, jsglow said:

I don't know if you've ever done Windstar but they provide a fantastic experience. We did one of their motor yachts a few years ago. Loved it.

 

Maybe in another few decades for me. I'm about to graduate from CCL to Virgin I think, but I'm still a little young for Windstar or HAL.

[mz-s]

24 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Anytime anyone pretends to speak for most, they have already lost.

 

The proof is in the pudding. If most cruisers wanted small intimate ships, lines like RCCL and CCL would still be building them. The lines that cater to the mass market offer what the mass market wants, or they go out of business.

[BlerkOne]

4 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

The proof is in the pudding. If most cruisers wanted small intimate ships, lines like RCCL and CCL would still be building them. The lines that cater to the mass market offer what the mass market wants, or they go out of business.

which has nothing to do with why ships are getting bigger, which is economies of scale.