Rare aborgman Posted July 31 #301 Share Posted July 31 6 minutes ago, BlerkOne said: Carnival isn't building any 230 GT ships "With consumer demand for cruise vacations at historic levels, Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest cruise company, today announced an order for three new ships for its namesake Carnival Cruise Line brand for a new class of vessel, at nearly 230,000 gross registered tonnes." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolphinsfan246 Posted July 31 #302 Share Posted July 31 1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said: maybe you should call them and give them your expertise. I wouldn’t have to call 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tom-n-Cheryl Posted July 31 #303 Share Posted July 31 1 hour ago, BlerkOne said: Being privately held with enormous financial resources, MSC is still willing to poach customers and likely lose money to stay in the game. I wonder just how deep they're willing to go - to capture a chunk of market share from the other lines. Other lines can only compete down to a certain threshold in order to stay viable. Perhaps MSC is gunning to spend some others into bankruptcy - one never knows. I recall a restaurant manager on Celebrity telling me he didn't care for MSC, saying, "they're the mafia you know". lol Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 31 #304 Share Posted July 31 21 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said: I wonder just how deep they're willing to go - to capture a chunk of market share from the other lines. Other lines can only compete down to a certain threshold in order to stay viable. Perhaps MSC is gunning to spend some others into bankruptcy - one never knows. I recall a restaurant manager on Celebrity telling me he didn't care for MSC, saying, "they're the mafia you know". lol Tom hopefully there was not a cannoli in the discussion. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BlerkOne Posted July 31 #305 Share Posted July 31 43 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said: I wonder just how deep they're willing to go - to capture a chunk of market share from the other lines. Other lines can only compete down to a certain threshold in order to stay viable. Perhaps MSC is gunning to spend some others into bankruptcy - one never knows. I recall a restaurant manager on Celebrity telling me he didn't care for MSC, saying, "they're the mafia you know". lol Tom Perhaps Swiss mafia. MSC failed in their first attempt to break into the US market they don't want to fail a second time. The loyalty program matching everything from Motel 6 up showed they are/were willing to lose money to poach cruisers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BlerkOne Posted July 31 #306 Share Posted July 31 1 hour ago, aborgman said: "With consumer demand for cruise vacations at historic levels, Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest cruise company, today announced an order for three new ships for its namesake Carnival Cruise Line brand for a new class of vessel, at nearly 230,000 gross registered tonnes." So? Some people split hairs when it is convenient for them and not when it isn't. Close doesn't count in cruise ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tom-n-Cheryl Posted July 31 #307 Share Posted July 31 17 minutes ago, BlerkOne said: Perhaps Swiss mafia. MSC failed in their first attempt to break into the US market they don't want to fail a second time. The loyalty program matching everything from Motel 6 up showed they are/were willing to lose money to poach cruisers. I was surprised by their matching program. Initially I submitted my Carnival Diamond creds, and was awarded a Gold card with them. I was seeing others manage to get their next higher (top) Black/Diamond card, so I dug a little deeper. Even though technically you can't have a do-over in the matching program, I was creative. I ended up using my Celebrity status to gain Azamara status (when they were still connected, even though I never sailed with them), and ended up with MSC Diamond. So - on our very first MSC cruise, we were able to take advantage of a free specialty dinner. And they offer that each cruise. That made me chuckle when I invariably thought back to the ONCE IN A LIFETIME Steakhouse meal after hitting Diamond with Carnival. 🙂 Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BlerkOne Posted July 31 #308 Share Posted July 31 2 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said: I was surprised by their matching program. Initially I submitted my Carnival Diamond creds, and was awarded a Gold card with them. I was seeing others manage to get their next higher (top) Black/Diamond card, so I dug a little deeper. Even though technically you can't have a do-over in the matching program, I was creative. I ended up using my Celebrity status to gain Azamara status (when they were still connected, even though I never sailed with them), and ended up with MSC Diamond. So - on our very first MSC cruise, we were able to take advantage of a free specialty dinner. And they offer that each cruise. That made me chuckle when I invariably thought back to the ONCE IN A LIFETIME Steakhouse meal after hitting Diamond with Carnival. 🙂 Tom MSC used to match Diamond to Black, but too much riff raff took advantage and swamped the available perks. MSC still matches Princess Elite to Black and it is easier to reach Elite on Princess than it is to reach Diamond on Carnival. MSC is also smart to require you to complete a cruise within 3 years or be booted from the program and have to start over. AFAIK, with MSC free meals, you don't get to choose from the regular menus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tom-n-Cheryl Posted July 31 #309 Share Posted July 31 43 minutes ago, BlerkOne said: MSC used to match Diamond to Black, but too much riff raff took advantage and swamped the available perks. MSC still matches Princess Elite to Black and it is easier to reach Elite on Princess than it is to reach Diamond on Carnival. MSC is also smart to require you to complete a cruise within 3 years or be booted from the program and have to start over. AFAIK, with MSC free meals, you don't get to choose from the regular menus. Correct, it's a tasting menu - which we found, on two cruises, to be sufficient. Having said that, I did add/substitute (can't recall) one of the courses for a nominal fee. I agree - it makes sense to require some type of periodic activity on your cruise dance card in order to maintain status (from a corporate perspective). Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BlerkOne Posted July 31 #310 Share Posted July 31 2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said: hopefully there was not a cannoli in the discussion. Cannoli is plural so it would be "a cannolo" or "cannoli" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwokpot Posted July 31 #311 Share Posted July 31 52 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said: Correct, it's a tasting menu - which we found, on two cruises, to be sufficient. Having said that, I did add/substitute (can't recall) one of the courses for a nominal fee. I agree - it makes sense to require some type of periodic activity on your cruise dance card in order to maintain status (from a corporate perspective). Tom The tasting menu is quite extensive with lots of choices. I find the name a misnomer since to me it implies smaller portions which isn't the case at all. It's all the regular portions. This was what we chose from the tasting menu at Butcher's Cut steakhouse on the Meraviglia earlier this month. The food was excellent! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 31 #312 Share Posted July 31 20 minutes ago, BlerkOne said: Cannoli is plural so it would be "a cannolo" or "cannoli" I would like to say I knew that, but......I did not. Wait till Clemenza finds out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Illbcruzn4life Posted July 31 #313 Share Posted July 31 8 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said: MSC is taking aim (a shot) as a value" cruise line, I'm sure all others in that category are taking notice. Our last office cruise was on the Seashore earlier this year. My staff really liked having the beverage package/WiFi as part of the booking, at a very reasonable price. Tom We loved her as well. Did a back to back in April. Had a great time. While we only had an inside cabin with no drink package. Couldn't beat the price we paid. Also went on Meraviglia in June for next to nothng. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BlerkOne Posted August 1 #314 Share Posted August 1 1 hour ago, Illbcruzn4life said: We loved her as well. Did a back to back in April. Had a great time. While we only had an inside cabin with no drink package. Couldn't beat the price we paid. Also went on Meraviglia in June for next to nothng. Cruise lines can't make a profit at next to nothing prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tom-n-Cheryl Posted August 1 #315 Share Posted August 1 10 hours ago, BlerkOne said: Cruise lines can't make a profit at next to nothing prices. Yet, if their pockets are deep enough, they might end up ahead. I'm not sure what their long game is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdr69 Posted August 1 #316 Share Posted August 1 The stock price is certainly not a reflection of the booming industry and booking status but i got my 100 shares finally just in time for our Princess cruise in April. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tom-n-Cheryl Posted August 1 #317 Share Posted August 1 You can see here, on a 5-yr history, how well Royal recovered after the pandemic compared to - still struggling - CCL. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ohioNCLcruiser Posted August 1 #318 Share Posted August 1 12 hours ago, BlerkOne said: Cruise lines can't make a profit at next to nothing prices. True but if the privately owned line is fine with covering the losses with the massive and profitable cargo division it might not matter. We will most likely never see inside MSC's financials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joebucks Posted August 1 #319 Share Posted August 1 Who in the world cares who is first to do something? I swear, people are obsessed with everything that doesn't matter. All I care is the experience and the value I'm getting. I could care less if you are 1st or 20th to do it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BlerkOne Posted August 1 #320 Share Posted August 1 1 hour ago, ohioNCLcruiser said: True but if the privately owned line is fine with covering the losses with the massive and profitable cargo division it might not matter. We will most likely never see inside MSC's financials. No doubt they are fine with it. But eventually there will be a limit to losses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare aborgman Posted August 1 #321 Share Posted August 1 15 hours ago, BlerkOne said: Cruise lines can't make a profit at next to nothing prices. Sure they can if it drives enough onboard spend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare aborgman Posted August 1 #322 Share Posted August 1 1 hour ago, BlerkOne said: No doubt they are fine with it. But eventually there will be a limit to losses. Predatory "loss leader" pricing can work. If done correctly it can both drive competition out of the market, and set up barriers to entry for new competition. See: Amazon and Quidsi/Diapers.com, Walmart, Standard Oil, etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Illbcruzn4life Posted August 1 #323 Share Posted August 1 17 hours ago, BlerkOne said: Cruise lines can't make a profit at next to nothing prices. They choose to price low to beat the competitors. They could charge a lot more if they wanted but that's not their business model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Illbcruzn4life Posted August 1 #324 Share Posted August 1 3 hours ago, Joebucks said: Who in the world cares who is first to do something? I swear, people are obsessed with everything that doesn't matter. All I care is the experience and the value I'm getting. I could care less if you are 1st or 20th to do it. well if you could care less I think you should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Illbcruzn4life Posted August 1 #325 Share Posted August 1 6 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said: Yet, if their pockets are deep enough, they might end up ahead. I'm not sure what their long game is... My guess is since they are the new kid on the block they have low pricing to get people on their ships. Eventually I would guess that the prices will rise and then we will see who REALLY loves their product or if they love their prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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