Carnival Cruise Line announced that it has opened reservations for the inaugural season of the Carnival Firenze, which will offer year-round sailings from Long Beach, California from May 2024 through April 2025.
“Carnival Firenze is named after the spectacular city of Florence, Italy. She was designed to evoke the same charm and beauty found in Florence and she’ll also pack in plenty of Carnival fun, which will be brought to life by the friendly and dedicated team members that make cruises across our fleet memorable,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.
“This truly stunning ship will serve as a great new cruise vacation option from Long Beach, joining Carnival Panorama and Radiance, and offering a range of sailing lengths to Baja Mexico and the Mexican Riviera.”
The new sailings feature 15 different itineraries of three to seven-day cruises. Sailings from Long Beach, California include:
A five-day Mexican Riviera Inaugural Cruise, departing on May 2, 2024, with calls in Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada, Mexico;
A six-day Mexican Riviera Cruise, with multiple departure options and calls in Ensenada and two days in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico;
A seven-day Mexican Riviera Cruise, with multiple departure options and calls in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
The Carnival Firenze will be the second ship to feature the all-new Carnival Fun Italian Style, after Carnival Venezia, which will make its debut in May 2023.
Originally built for Costa Cruises, the vessel is set to offer a unique product, combining Carnival’s experience with special touches from the European country.
Following the Venezia, which will sail year-round from New York, the Carnival Firenze is also set to join the concept in 2024 and launch service from California.
Two Newbuilds Two new builds are entering service for core Carnival Corporation brands in 2023.
Originally ordered for AIDA Cruises, the new Carnival Jubilee is currently being built in Germany by the Meyer Werft shipyard. Joining the Mardi Gras and the Carnival Celebration, the XL-Class ship will debut during the fourth quarter, offering Western Caribbean cruises out of Galveston.
A sister to the Seabourn Venture, the Seabourn Pursuit is set to become Carnival Corp’s second expedition ship. Under construction in Italy, the vessel is scheduled to enter service in October, ahead of a winter season in Antarctica.
In addition is a yet-to-be-named new build for Adora Cruises, Carnival’s joint venture in China.
More Efficient Fleet While new ships enter service, Carnival continues to withdraw smaller and less efficient ships from its fleet.
The number is up from 54 per cent occupancy in the first quarter of 2022 when cruise operations were still being restarted across the globe.
Return to Asia and World Cruises Following a three-year gap, several Carnival brands are returning to Asia in early 2023.
While Seabourn is set to offer a series of Southeast Asia itineraries during the entire winter season, Princess and Holland America are returning to Japan in the spring.
Several brands – including P&O, Cunard, Costa, Princess and Holland America – also resumed their world cruise itineraries in January, offering long global voyages that visit several international destinations and countries.
Named Adora Cruises, the new brand will serve the local market, offering itineraries from several Chinese homeports.
In addition to two ships acquired from Costa, the joint venture is set to operate a pair of new builds, which are currently being constructed at a shipyard in Shanghai and are scheduled for 2023 and 2025 deliveries.
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.”
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