Carnival Cruise Line president says 'there's always opportunity' for company in Philadelphia

[UPNYGuy]

“Carnival Cruise Line President and Philadelphia native Christine Duffy told the Business Journal that with Norwegian Cruise Line bringing ships to Philadelphia in 2026 and the capital investments being made at the port, the Miami-headquartered company sees the chance to add the city to its lineup of destinations.“

Quoted from Business  Journal

 

in my opinion, this is an interesting take, and if Norwegian is successful going out of Philadelphia, Carnival has a responsibility to consider Philadelphia as a spot they can grow out of. I am not too familiar with the size of that port, but I do remember Norwegian had the majesty there for a while, and I believe they are having a dawn class or a jewel class there.

Edited September 6 by UPNYGuy

[dctravel]

Interesting. Philadelphia used to be a stop for some smaller Celebrity ships I believe, but that was years ago. The city is great, but the port has some challenges, including a bridge to go up the Delaware River (The Delaware Memorial Bridge, which the Internet reports being 180 feet above the river, but I could not independently verify that) and its position between Baltimore (already a year round port) and New York/New Jersey. 

 

I was under the impression that NCL chose Philadelphia because Carnival and RCCL are in Baltimore and everyone is in NY/NJ (either year round or seasonal). If there is competition, I wonder if that would work. I guess we shall see!

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, UPNYGuy said:

“Carnival Cruise Line President and Philadelphia native Christine Duffy told the Business Journal that with Norwegian Cruise Line bringing ships to Philadelphia in 2026 and the capital investments being made at the port, the Miami-headquartered company sees the chance to add the city to its lineup of destinations.“

Quoted from Business  Journal

 

in my opinion, this is an interesting take, and if Norwegian is successful going out of Philadelphia, Carnival has a responsibility to consider Philadelphia as a spot they can grow out of. I am not too familiar with the size of that port, but I do remember Norwegian had the majesty there for a while, and I believe they are having a dawn class or a jewel class there.

They have a responsibility to the their stockholders.  I was on the Venezia for a TA event and a TA asked the Carnival Execs there basically what Christine commented on.  Their response was that they always looked at home port options and what their competitors did as well.  They then turned it around and asked the TA (from the PA area) whether they would sell it.  The response as you can guess was to the affirmative.  All that said, there is no real driver for them to go there (that I can see).  The reason that NCL did was that they could not weekend port space in Baltimore, another words, they had to look there.  Baltimore is VERY popular, and NYC is a seasonal port (they have tried 5 times to go year round from there, and it just does not work).  There are no real advantages to where you can sail from there, so to me, unless I am missing something, it is a non starter.  

[UPNYGuy]

My other thought too is that if they go into Philadelphia, it would be them doing it to keep a competitor out. 
 

Basically, they would go in there to make it more difficult for MSC or Margaritaville to expand there.
 

Margaritaville has already made it known that they are looking to expand, and MSC minces no words about it at this point. Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean vastly underestimated MSC. I don’t think they would be willing to let that happen again and let MSC slip in there with the Armonia or the Magnifica, or let Margaritaville snap up another spirit class (hypothetically) and start sailing from Philadelphia. 

[jimbo5544]

5 minutes ago, UPNYGuy said:

My other thought too is that if they go into Philadelphia, it would be them doing it to keep a competitor out. 
 

Basically, they would go in there to make it more difficult for MSC or Margaritaville to expand there.
 

Margaritaville has already made it known that they are looking to expand, and MSC minces no words about it at this point. Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean vastly underestimated MSC. I don’t think they would be willing to let that happen again and let MSC slip in there with the Armonia or the Magnifica, or let Margaritaville snap up another spirit class (hypothetically) and start sailing from Philadelphia. 

Have no idea, but my gut tells me that they will put ships where they drive the most revenue (and fitting into their multi-home schema).  Just not enough distance from NYC and Baltimore to make it work, but who knows....  As far as I know Margaritaville does not have another ship.

Edited September 6 by jimbo5544

[shof515]

This is another height restricted port due to bridges. there is at least 2 bridges the ship will need to sail under to reach Philadelphia

[UPNYGuy]

36 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Have no idea, but my gut tells me that they will put ships where they drive the most revenue (and fitting into their multi-home schema).  Just not enough distance from NYC and Baltimore to make it work, but who knows....  As far as I know Margaritaville does not have another ship.

Correct, they do not. As of right now. I meant I could see them doing that just to squat on that to make sure nobody else can get in there.

 

….provided it MAKES them money instead of loses it 

Edited September 6 by UPNYGuy

[tidecat]

3 hours ago, UPNYGuy said:

Correct, they do not. As of right now. I meant I could see them doing that just to squat on that to make sure nobody else can get in there.

 

….provided it MAKES them money instead of loses it 

Carnival of course sold Costa Atlantica to Margaritaville, but it's a year older than Carnival Spirit.

 

If Carnival really wanted to keep a competitor out of Philadelphia, the easiest option would be to take Pacific Explorer there instead of trying to sell it. No existing cruises would have to be canceled beyond those that were in the original batch of cancellations from the sunset of the P&O Australia brand.

[jerseyjjs]

5 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

They have a responsibility to the their stockholders.  I was on the Venezia for a TA event and a TA asked the Carnival Execs there basically what Christine commented on.  Their response was that they always looked at home port options and what their competitors did as well.  They then turned it around and asked the TA (from the PA area) whether they would sell it.  The response as you can guess was to the affirmative.  All that said, there is no real driver for them to go there (that I can see).  The reason that NCL did was that they could not weekend port space in Baltimore, another words, they had to look there.  Baltimore is VERY popular, and NYC is a seasonal port (they have tried 5 times to go year round from there, and it just does not work).  There are no real advantages to where you can sail from there, so to me, unless I am missing something, it is a non starter.  

 

 

NCL has been sailing year-round out of NYC for years......often times with 2 different ships and doing well.   And RCL sails out of Bayonne year-round also.  Doesn't appear those home ports are seasonal for them.

[UPNYGuy]

6 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Have no idea, but my gut tells me that they will put ships where they drive the most revenue (and fitting into their multi-home schema).  Just not enough distance from NYC and Baltimore to make it work, but who knows....  As far as I know Margaritaville does not have another ship.

Also, don’t forget, there is Jacksonville, Tampa, Port Canaveral, and Miami all having ports in Florida. To a certain degree, all of these ports cannibalize traffic from each other. 
 

But it is better to cannibalize your own pax, rather than let them go to other lines. 

Edited September 6 by UPNYGuy

[jedi bobs]

Honestly, It would have to be eithr the Elation or Paradise going in ther, I don't think spirit could get under the bridge, I could be wrong though. You could do a tryout with the Elation first and see how it does for a season, and move the Spirit over to Jacksonville for a season, and try out a conquest in Mobile, especialy when XL  comes online.

[dolphinsfan246]

51 minutes ago, jedi bobs said:

Honestly, It would have to be eithr the Elation or Paradise going in ther, I don't think spirit could get under the bridge, I could be wrong though. You could do a tryout with the Elation first and see how it does for a season, and move the Spirit over to Jacksonville for a season, and try out a conquest in Mobile, especialy when XL  comes online.

Spirit class can sail from Philadelphia, Carnival Legend did a couple of unique sailing from there during its inaugural season in 2002. That’s the last time I recall a Carnival ship sailing from Philly. But the Spirit class is already stretched thin between Tampa, Baltimore, Alaska, etc.

 

Spirit class doesn’t HAVE to be committed to Alaska, but Carnival seems adamant about keeping a couple there each year.

 

As for MAS, I’ve recently heard it from a good source that Margaritaville will be expanding with a 3rd ship in 2025 with sailings from New Orleans. That 3rd ship is still TBA, I’m guessing it could definitely be Pacific Explorer. They said it would be in between the size of Paradise and Islander. And with the sunset of the P&O Australia brand in early 2025, the transition makes sense. 

[tidecat]

16 minutes ago, dolphinsfan246 said:

As for MAS, I’ve recently heard it from a good source that Margaritaville will be expanding with a 3rd ship in 2025 with sailings from New Orleans. That 3rd ship is still TBA, I’m guessing it could definitely be Pacific Explorer. They said it would be in between the size of Paradise and Islander. And with the sunset of the P&O Australia brand in early 2025, the transition makes sense. 

If Carnival doesn't sell Pacific Explorer to them, Seajets has Queen of the Oceans (formerly Oceana for P&O UK, built in 2000). Aegean Majesty (formerly Veendam for Holland America, built 1996), and Majesty of the Oceans (formerly Majesty of the Seas, built 1992) likely are too old to be of interest.

[BlerkOne]

I think Carnival is putting Philly and PA on notice that for the right concessions, Carnival would consider putting a ship in Philly. I don't think Carnival is chasing anyone or trying to shut any one out.

[jimbo5544]

7 hours ago, UPNYGuy said:

Correct, they do not. As of right now. I meant I could see them doing that just to squat on that to make sure nobody else can get in there.

 

….provided it MAKES them money instead of loses it 

seems like a reasonable idea

[jimbo5544]

23 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I think Carnival is putting Philly and PA on notice that for the right concessions, Carnival would consider putting a ship in Philly. I don't think Carnival is chasing anyone or trying to shut any one out.

For the right deal, right demographics, right return, any homeport might work.

[jimbo5544]

3 hours ago, jerseyjjs said:

 

 

NCL has been sailing year-round out of NYC for years......often times with 2 different ships and doing well.   And RCL sails out of Bayonne year-round also.  Doesn't appear those home ports are seasonal for them.

That and $7.99 will buy you a happy meal at McDonalds.  I was not comparing lines (a whole different thread), just stating the facts. IT does not work for Carnival. If you want to sail from the tundra during the winter,  go cruise on NCL or RCCL, 2 COLD days going down and 2 COLD days coming back.  They can have it. 

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, UPNYGuy said:

Also, don’t forget, there is Jacksonville, Tampa, Port Canaveral, and Miami all having ports in Florida. To a certain degree, all of these ports cannibalize traffic from each other. 
 

But it is better to cannibalize your own pax, rather than let them go to other lines. 

That is CCL's model.  As many home ports (that have viable cruise options) and make financial sense.  Make it a good potential to cruise without having to add air.

[lostsoulcruiser]

NCL is homeporting the Jewel in Philadelphia for the spring/summer 2026 cruise season.  The only announced itinerary is Bermuda (an overnight stay) from April thru August, transitioning to Canada/New England for September and October.

Since 2026 is the US's 250th birthday, this may an opportunity for some short term profit.  Philly will have a lot of stuff going on to celebrate that year.

 

[pe4all]

Would love to see Philly as an option.  Only 90 min. away from where I live.  

[Honolulu Blue]

On 9/7/2024 at 6:28 AM, lostsoulcruiser said:

Since 2026 is the US's 250th birthday, this may an opportunity for some short term profit.  Philly will have a lot of stuff going on to celebrate that year.

Thanks for the reminder about America's semiquincentennial* in just over a year!  As an aside, I haven't heard much about it compared to the bicentennial or our state's sesquicentennial when I was a lot younger.  This made me think about Fearless Leader Christine Duffy's naked attempts to wrap Carnival in the red, white & blue early in the restart as she declared them "America's Cruise Line" just after the pandemic.  

 

Sorry.  There's probably a thread about the latest fight video onboard.  You might want to go there now.

 

* I just looked this word up today.  I'll try to work it in as much as I can; it's a fun word. 🙂

[tidecat]

On 9/7/2024 at 6:28 AM, lostsoulcruiser said:

NCL is homeporting the Jewel in Philadelphia for the spring/summer 2026 cruise season.  The only announced itinerary is Bermuda (an overnight stay) from April thru August, transitioning to Canada/New England for September and October.

Since 2026 is the US's 250th birthday, this may an opportunity for some short term profit.  Philly will have a lot of stuff going on to celebrate that year.

 

Philadelphia is also hosting several matches for the FIFA World Cup in 2026 between June 14 and July 4. If Carnival were to sail from there I'm sure they'd want whatever ship docked in Philly overnight on the 4th.

[Stick93]

It’s funny how NCL and Royal fills ships from NYC all winter and Carnival cannot. In fact year over year the cruises have become more expensive like all cruises and sell well which was evidently not the case on the Venezia. However the clientele overall who cruise Royal/NCL and Carnival are different especially in the summer or at least it just seams like that to me as I have been on all of them quite a bit. Carnival product out of NY is just not that good and the ships are not as nice or entertaining as the mega ships Royal and NCL have. One can argue but the number show who can support the ships here and who cannot. 
 

Philadelphia is close to Baltimore so not sure they would do both but the demographic may be better for their loyal cruisers who are loyal to carnival. 

[2ofusrdy4cruisin]

On 9/6/2024 at 12:47 PM, dctravel said:

Interesting. Philadelphia used to be a stop for some smaller Celebrity ships I believe, but that was years ago. The city is great, but the port has some challenges, including a bridge to go up the Delaware River (The Delaware Memorial Bridge, which the Internet reports being 180 feet above the river, but I could not independently verify that) and its position between Baltimore (already a year round port) and New York/New Jersey. 

 

I was under the impression that NCL chose Philadelphia because Carnival and RCCL are in Baltimore and everyone is in NY/NJ (either year round or seasonal). If there is competition, I wonder if that would work. I guess we shall see!

There are two bridges to go under.  the Delaware Memorial Bridge with a clearance of 188 feet, and the Commodore Barry Bridge with a clearance of 180 feet.    To put that into perspective with cruising out of NY, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge has a clearance of 215 feet.    You can find this information along with water depth charts at https://devgis.charttools.noaa.gov/pod/

 

If you have ever cruised out of NY on any of the NCL Breakaway or Breakaway Plus ships, they come close to the Verrazano, so from Philadelphia, they need to stick with the smaller ships. 

 

[jimbo5544]

On 9/8/2024 at 7:06 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

Thanks for the reminder about America's semiquincentennial* in just over a year!  As an aside, I haven't heard much about it compared to the bicentennial or our state's sesquicentennial when I was a lot younger.  This made me think about Fearless Leader Christine Duffy's naked attempts to wrap Carnival in the red, white & blue early in the restart as she declared them "America's Cruise Line" just after the pandemic.  

 

Sorry.  There's probably a thread about the latest fight video onboard.  You might want to go there now.

 

* I just looked this word up today.  I'll try to work it in as much as I can; it's a fun word. 🙂

What the heck does bashing of the CCL President have to do with cruising put of Philly, talk about off topic.  Mods?