Carnival set to ‘raise the bar’ with tech announcement

Posted on 21 November, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival’s Vista Class ship.

by Phil Davies

A new connected experience that uses the ‘internet of things’ is to be deployed by Carnival Corporation to “raise the vacation bar”.

A new passenger experience level based on personalisation and simplicity at scale is being promised through the use of first-of-its kind technology, according to the cruise giant.

More is due to be unveiled by chief executive Arnold Donald at an event in Las Vegas on January 5, including an in-depth look into the new technology, according to the company.

Details remain sketchy ahead of the formal unveiling at the 2017 US Consumer Electronics Show, where Donald will give the keynote speech.

Gary Shapiro, president and chief executive of show organiser the Consumer Technology Association, said: “Carnival Corp’s visibility at CES reflects our focus on ground breaking innovation and underscores that technology no longer has strict, defined boundaries.

“It disrupts traditional business sectors and empowers consumers in ways never before imagined. A recent CTA study found that consumers overwhelmingly use technology to enhance their travel experiences.

“[Arnold] Donald’s address will demonstrate how Carnival Corp and its cruise line brands, in turn, is using innovative tech to provide a more personalised and enhanced experience for its consumers.”

Cruise companies reducing Mediterranean presence

Posted on 25 July, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Ongoing instability in the Mediterranean region is prompting cruise companies to trim capacity there, with the latest example coming from Celebrity Cruises, for summer 2017.

Celebrity said it will keep the 2,850-passenger Celebrity Equinox in Miami next spring after it completes its winter cruise schedule, instead of returning to the Mediterranean, where this summer it will operate cruises out of Athens and Barcelona.

The move will draw down Celebrity’s Europe deployment next summer from five ships to four and give it a year-round ship in the Caribbean for the first time since 2010.

Other companies also plan to move capacity out of the Mediterranean and into the Caribbean.

Carnival Corp. in a June 28 conference call said it expected a 10% capacity reduction in the Mediterranean region next year, and a 5% increase in Caribbean capacity.

“We are rebalancing our portfolio to optimize the current demand environment,” Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald said.

The moves come as the Mediterranean was again rocked, this time by a failed coup attempt in Turkey and the truck massacre in Nice, the third major terrorist attack in France in the past nine months.

Cruise lines had already largely stopped calling in Istanbul after a series of terrorist attacks there this year. After the coup, many cruise lines also suspended calls elsewhere in Turkey, such as Kusadasi.

Most are in a wait-and-see mode, such as Carnival Cruise Line, which replaced the Carnival Vista’s calls in Kusadasi on July 17 and 20 with sea days and said it will evaluate future calls there “in the coming days.”

Some travel agents said client demand for Europe remains healthy.

“For us, our European business is still very strong,” said Jeffrey Bateman, vice president of operations at Crown Cruise Vacations in Princeton, N.J.

Bateman said most of his clients on Equinox cruises that had been scheduled for Europe next summer had rebooked other Celebrity European cruises.

Prices have been softening for Europe, according to a survey by SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Patrick Scholes, who said advertised prices for cruises in southern Europe in June fell 1.3% year over year, compared to a 7.4% increase in May.

Frank Del Rio, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, said cruise lines remain reluctant to drop Europe in the summer.

“Analysts ask me, why don’t you put the ship in the Caribbean in the summer instead?” he said. “Well, because even a bad year in Europe is better than a good year in the Caribbean, especially in the summer.”

In 2014, a mass migration of ships from Europe to the Caribbean led to a pricing bloodbath. Donald said that’s unlikely in 2017, when Carnival’s expected Caribbean capacity growth will be 5%. In 2014, it was 20%.

The Equinox will add to the overall capacity in the Caribbean, but several travel agents liked having more itinerary options for Celebrity in the summer.

“I view the year-round vessels in the Caribbean as a plus,” said Valerie Harris, a CruiseOne franchisee in Atlanta. “They lend a hand with creating and maintaining a cruise line’s presence in the region, which in turn may establish brand loyalty.”

Princess’ Sun Princess could be sailing into the sunset

Posted on 9 April, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Sun Princess

The news that Princess Cruises has ordered two new ships for delivery in 2019 and 2020 will likely mean the departure from the fleet of several older ships.

In announcing the orders at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard in Italy, Carnival CEO Arnold Donald made reference to the line’s measured growth strategy, which includes “replacing less efficient ships with newer, larger and more efficient vessels over a very specific period of time.”

The oldest and presumably least efficient ship in the Princess stable is the 1995-built Sun Princess, now sailing in Australia. It doesn’t seem that long ago when the Sun Princess was the biggest, freshest ship in the Princess fleet.

In 1995 Princess was still predominantly a West Coast cruise line, but it was trying to raise its profile in the Caribbean. Its Sun class ships were part of that strategy.

Of course, that was before Carnival Corp. acquired Princess. The godmother of the Sun Princess, Lady Dorothy Sterling, was the wife of Lord Jeffrey Sterling, chairman of the line’s then-owner, the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

In fact, Princess was a competitor for several of Carnival’s brands until Carnival acquired the company in 2003.

The Sun Princess came along when cruise lines were first realizing the appeal and revenue power of balcony cabins. The ship’s 372 balcony cabins gave it a big advantage in the Caribbean when it first launched.

Today, at slightly less than 2,000 passengers, the Sun Princess carries 45% fewer passengers than the ships Carnival has ordered for the future.

The other ship that was christened at Port Everglades in the fall of 1995, Celebrity Cruises’ Century, has already left the fleet and is sailing for Celebrity’s joint venture with Ctrip in China.

By 2020, the Sun Princess will be 25 years old. I would look for a similar exit for it sometime in the next few years.