Carnival hopes Princess documentary will attract new-to-cruise customers

Carnival hopes Princess documentary will attract new-to-cruise customersCarnival bosses hope a new four-part tv show centred around Princess Cruises will highlight the romance and fun of cruising to newcomers in the market.

The cruise line announced on Thursday last week that its ship Royal Princess will be the star of a new ITV series set to broadcast this summer.

Arnold Donald (pictured), chief executive of Carnival Corporation, said he hoped the show would help persuade the new-to-cruise market to consider it as a holiday option.

“Hopefully it will attract new-to-cruise. The show will centre around the experiences of some of our crew members and I’m very proud of the crew – I think people will find it very interesting. I’m hopeful that the grandeur, fun, the romance and adventure that cruising can be will be reflected in the show.”

Carnival UK boss David Dingle said it was a “marvellous coup” for the cruise line.

“I want to congratulate Princess Cruises on pulling off this marvellous coup.

“It’s really exciting news for the cruise industry and it all helps put this wonderful industry of ours firmly back on the map.”

Talks are thought to be underway for a similar show for the US market.

Carnival introduces price guarantee for shore excursions

By Tom Stieghorst

Carnival horseback ridingCarnival Cruise Lines is offering a best-price guarantee on its shore excursions.

Carnival said the guarantee is unprecedented and is available now fleet-wide.

Guests who find the same tour offered by another operator at a lower price than their booked excursion (before or during their cruise) can complete a claim form to receive 110% of the difference in the form of a shipboard credit.

Claims are typically processed within 24 to 48 hours, Carnival said.

Mico Cascais, Carnival’s vice president of tour operations, said the guarantee was developed based on research findings that passengers, particularly first-time cruisers, are concerned about whether they are getting the best deal.

Companies that represent excursion operators independent of the cruise lines say they can offer better prices because they work on lower markups. In many cases, passengers can buy excursions directly from excursion operators.

Carnival said that by booking through the cruise line, passengers get tickets delivered to their staterooms and “an assurance that they will receive a refund or the excursion time will be adjusted as needed based on weather or other issues affecting a ship’s scheduled port of call visit.”

To file a claim, Carnival said passengers should provide the name of the competitor offering the comparable tour, the excursion name, where the tour was advertised, the duration, price and any included items such as lunch, drinks, transportation and admission fees.

Carnival chief: CNN report based on ‘frivolous’ suit

By Tom Stieghorst

In the company’s fourth-quarter conference call for analysts, Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald offered his view of a critical CNN story aired this week.

Donald said the story on the cable channel’s AC360 show was based on documents from a “frivolous” lawsuit Carnival is seeking to dismiss.

“I’m disappointed they got any airtime whatsoever,” Donald said of the report, which concluded that Carnival Cruise Lines officials knew Carnival Triumph had “a propensity for fires.”

The story cited internal Carnival documents produced in trial preparations for Houston attorney Frank Spagnoletti. Segments quoted by CNN suggest that the diesel generator that caught fire was past due for maintenance and out of compliance with international safety rules.

The show also said Carnival’s ticket contract doesn’t warrant that cruises are safe. Donald said that language was picked up in error from a court motion seeking to dismiss the suit and isn’t in the contract.

“We stand behind our product,” he said. “Our ships are safe, our ships are sound, and our ships are seaworthy.”