Carnival to roll out revamped kids program

Posted on 22 April, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

By Tom Stieghorst

Carnival Cruise Lines took a step to secure its base of family cruisers, announcing it will launch a new program for young children called Camp Ocean, starting in May on the Carnival Freedom.

Camp Ocean will be more themed than the current Camp Carnival, which it replaces. It will feature 200 marine-related activities for kids, ranging from assembling ocean artifact trays to creating aquariums.

The program was developed with input from a panel comprising experts in child development, toys, play and children’s media, as well as a mom who is a frequent Carnival guest.

“While our current children’s program consistently gets very high marks, we’ve challenged ourselves to exceed expectations with a truly dynamic and diverse program for our youngest guests,” said Mark Tamis, senior vice president of guest operations. He added that Club Ocean will give travel agents “an exceptionally family-friendly feature” to market.

The camp is designed for children ages 2 to 11 and is divided into three age categories, with kids 2 to 5 called Penguins, those in the 6-to-8 range dubbed Stingrays and 9- to 11-year-olds designated as Sharks.

Each group will have its own blue-and-white colored play area with custom-tailored features and activities. Penguins, for example, will be able to play in miniature igloo structures.

There will also be a new “badge challenge” program in which kids get to enjoy adventures and gain a sense of accomplishment. After completing tasks such as trying a new food or making a towel animal, kids can earn a Camp Ocean badge.

Camp Ocean is one of a steady stream of product changes designed in part to redirect the conversation about Carnival after the fire on the Carnival Triumph last year.

In other changes, it has redesigned the main dining room, added a series of live concerts with widely known acts and licensed Dr. Seuss characters specifically targeting families and children.

With its 24 ships, Carnival carries more than 700,000 children annually, a greater number than any other cruise line.

Carnival said that on two ships, the Freedom and the Vista, due in 2016, there will be a common play area for all children ages 2 to 11 called Party Reef, along with Creative Cove, a breakout room for arts and crafts.

Camp Ocean will be expanded to the Carnival Magic, Carnival Breeze and Carnival Triumph later this year, with the balance of the fleet getting the program by 2016.

Oil spill puts cruises on hold

Posted on 25 March, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

By Jerry Limone

An oil spill near the Houston Ship Channel has affected the schedules of cruise ships that sail out of Galveston and Houston, Texas.

On Saturday, a collision between a fuel barge and a cargo ship spilled as much as 170,000 gallons of tar-like oil into waters south of Houston.

The Carnival Magic and Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas pulled into the Port of Galveston about 10 hours late Sunday evening. The ships were ordered to slowly navigate into port so they would not create a large wake that could spread the spill.

The Carnival Triumph returned to port early Monday under the same conditions.

All three ships have not departed for their next cruise from Galveston, plus the Caribbean Princess has been stranded at Houston’s Bayport Cruise Terminal since Saturday, with passengers aboard.

It is not certain when the shipping channel will reopen.

Carnival Corporation’s fourth quarter profits fall by 55%

Posted on 21 December, 2012 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival Corporation’s fourth quarter profits fall by 55%

By Melanie Hall

Carnival Corporation’s profits fell by 23% in 2012, with a 55% drop in the fourth quarter, following its “most challenging” year after the Costa Concordia tragedy in January.

The company revealed its full year and fourth quarter earnings today, which showed that its net profits in the 12 months to November 30 were $1.47 billion, down from $1.9 billion at the same time last year.

Its fourth quarter profits are down from $217 million in 2011 to $98 million in 2012, a drop of 55%, although Carnival Corporation’s chairman and chief executive Micky Arison said that the quarter’s earnings “were better than anticipated”.

Commenting on the full year’s earnings, Arison said: “As a result of the Costa Concordia tragedy in January, the past year has been the most challenging in our company’s history.

“However, through the significant efforts of our brand management teams, we were able to maintain full year 2012 net revenue yields – excluding Costa – in line with the prior year.”

Arison added that unfavourable changes in fuel prices and currency exchange rates reduced earnings by $300 million compared to the prior year.

During the fourth quarter, Carnival reached an agreement on the construction of two new cruise ships – a 2,660-passenger ship for its Holland America Line brand to be delivered in 2015 and a 4,000-passenger vessel for its Carnival Cruise Lines brand to be delivered in 2016. Both are the largest ships ever built for those brands.

Carnival has forecast a decline of 2-3% in its revenue yields in the first quarter of 2013 but has predicted it will improve during the remainder of next year for the North American brands and Costa, although it said its European brands continue to be hit by a “deteriorating economic environment”.

“We remain well positioned for a recovery in 2013 and beyond evidenced by the demonstrated resilience of our global portfolio of cruise brands as consumers continue to capitalize on cruising’s superior value versus land-based vacation alternatives,” said Arison.

“We continue to focus on a measured growth strategy through the introduction of two to three new ships per year and the development of emerging cruise markets in Asia.”