Carnival Corporation Cruise Brands Ramp Up Ad Spending

Carnival Corporation is ramping up advertising spending across its portfolio of brands, according to President and CEO Josh Weinstein, speaking on the company’s year-end and fourth-quarter earnings call.

He said it was a move to support future demand.

“I’ve actively been working with each brand on their strategies and road maps,” Weinstein said. “As a result, I’ve authorized our brands to take a significant step up in advertising activities, including a nearly 20 per cent increase in our investment this past quarter over 2019, to elevate awareness and consideration and to drive demand for both the near and the longer term. This should be particularly impactful with those new-to-cruise, where we draw about one-third of our guests, as we position to take share from land-based alternatives.”

For example, Weinstein said that Princess Cruises would source more heavily in North America than in prior years due to source market disruptions elsewhere.

And the results have been good, Weinstein noted, with record Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales results at a number of brands.

“We think that advertising has a good amount to do with that, to really reach first-timers, generate awareness, generate consideration, and do so in a meaningful way. We’ve got great brands, and we’ve got tremendous brands, but we need to do a better job getting the voice out. And this is a good way to do it. And it helps not just us, it helps our trade partners, it helps the bookings across the board.”

Carnival Cruise Line is set to embark on its “largest-ever” period of growth in its 50-year history.

Following the launch of Carnival Luminosa earlier this year, the brand will add five more ships to its fleet over the next two years, the next being the delivery of two Excel-class vessels, Carnival Celebration to Miami and Carnival Jubilee to Texas.


As part of the expansion plan, Carnival will also introduce a new concept – “Carnival Fun Italian Style” – with two additional ships from sister brand Costa Cruises, starting with Carnival Venezia next spring, sailing year-round from New York, and Carnival Firenze in 2024 out of from Long Beach.

“Carnival Luminosa is a testament to our ongoing commitment to Australia, and the start of a period of growth unlike any other in Carnival’s 50-year history,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

“Having a Brisbane-based ship has been a goal of ours for quite some time, so we are so happy that they are the first market globally to experience the big, bright, fun that this ship has to offer and so excited to give our guests more Carnival ships and itinerary options to sail over the next two years.”

Luminosa – which arrived at its homeport of Brisbane on Monday (31 October) – will sail on its first cruise on 6 November and operate 28 sailings through 13 April 2023, visiting 60 ports across Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific.

The sailings will support Carnival Australia’s anticipated $165 million contribution to the Queensland economy this year.

Carnival Adjusts Itineraries of Multiple Mardi Gras Departures

Carnival Cruise Line is adjusting itineraries of multiple Eastern Caribbean sailings onboard the Mardi Gras.

Affecting a total of 21 cruises with departure dates between December 2022 and April 2024, the change will see a call to San Juan, Puerto Rico, being replaced with a visit to Nassau, The Bahamas. 

According to a statement sent to booked guests, the itinerary alteration is part of a “operations plan refining.”

Any pre-purchased Carnival shore excursions for San Juan will be automatically refunded to their original form of payment, the company said.

New shore tours for the visit to Nassau will be available online shortly, Carnival added.  

After debuting in July 2021, the Mardi Gras continues to offer year-round departures from Port Canaveral.

Sailing from its Central Florida homeport every Saturday, the 5,200-guest vessel offers week-long departures to both the Western and Eastern Caribbean.

Visited destinations include Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatán and more.

In 2023, the LNG-powered ship is also set to offer a one-time cruise to the Southern Caribbean. Sailing in August, the eight-night voyage features visits to Aruba and Bonaire, as well as to Grand Turk.

Along with the Mardi Gras, two additional Carnival ships sail from Port Canaveral on a year-round – the Carnival Freedom and the Carnival Liberty.

Offering three- to five-night cruises to the Bahamas and the Caribbean, the vessels will soon be joined by the Carnival Magic for the upcoming winter season.

Before repositioning to Norfolk in May, the Dream-Class cruise ship offers six- and eight-night cruises to the Eastern and Southern Caribbean.

Itineraries include visits to popular ports such as St. Maarten, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, La Romana, Aruba, Bonaire, Princess Cays, Half Moon Cay and others.

Similar itineraries will be offered by the larger Carnival Vista during the 2023-2024 winter cruise season.