Next Carnival ship to be called Horizon

Carnival Vista entering Valletta Harbor, Malta.

Carnival Cruise Line said the second ship in its Vista class will bear the name Carnival Horizon.

The 133,500-gross-ton ship is scheduled to enter service in March 2018.

Carnival said that in addition to all of the features on Carnival Vista, such as the pedal-powered SkyRide and an IMAX theater, the Carnival Horizon will have a number of innovations unique to the ship.

Carnival Horizon, which will have a double-occupancy capacity of 3,934, would be the 26th ship in Carnival’s fleet and follows the most recent new vessels Carnival Vista, Carnival Breeze, Carnival Magic and Carnival Dream.

Homeport, itineraries and ship features will be revealed at a later date, Carnival said.

Carnival Corp.’s profit skyrockets in ‘remarkable’ Q2

T0404KONINGSDAM_HR.jpg

The launch of Holland America’s Koningsdam was one of Carnival Corp.’s second-quarter highlights.

Driven by higher ticket prices and fuller ships, Carnival Corp. had net income of $605 million in the second quarter, up from $222 million a year earlier.

Net revenue yields rose 3.6%, significantly higher than the range of 1.5% to 2.5% in the company’s earlier forecast.

The results came despite a currency-exchange drag and fuel price increase equal to $127 million.

“This was among the most remarkable quarters in the history of the company,” said CEO Arnold Donald, citing not only the earnings but the introduction of three new flagships (Carnival Vista, Holland America Line’s Koningsdam and the AidaPrima) and the historic launch of Cuba cruises by the new Fathom brand.

Carnival’s revenue advanced slightly to $3.7 billion from $3.6 billion.

The increase in yield was a combination of a 3.5% increase in ticket prices and a 4% rise in onboard spending, CFO David Bernstein said.

Prices for Europe cruises on Carnival’s North America brands are lower although occupancies are up, Bernstein said.

Donald positioned the decision by Britain to leave the European Union as a boost for Cunard Line and P&O Cruises because their fares in the weakened pound sterling are now more competitive with land vacations abroad for British travelers.

Bernstein said every change of 10% or more in the pound’s value has an effect of about 8 cents a share, or about $60 million, on Carnival’s full-year results.

Donald said Carnival has looked at its U.K and European forecasts in light of the Brexit vote. “At this point, we have no reason to adjust anything,” he said.

Cruise stocks, including Carnival’s, were hit harder than the market in general after the British vote. After the earnings release, Carnival shares were up more than 4% but were up less than 0.25% by 11:30 am Eastern.

Asked about the future development of Fathom, Donald said that its cruises to the Dominican Republic are geared toward a “travel segment rather than cruise,” and that Carnival’s ability to access that segment is “challenging.” He said Cuba sailings on Fathom have been successful and are very strongly booked for fall, but that there are still unsold cabins on summer departures.

Cruise chief targets ‘pirate’ shore excursion operators

Photo courtesy of Dave Jones

by Hollie-Rae Merrick

Cruise lines need to educate agents about the value of selling shore excursions to stop “pirate third-party operators stealing guests”, the boss of the world’s largest cruise company has claimed.

Carnival Corporation chief executive Arnold Donald told the Clia conference in Southampton that there was scope to improve the promotion and sales of both onboard and destination-based experiences.

“There has only been one year since 2006 that onboard revenues didn’t go up,” he said. “Despite any changes in the industry, onboard revenues have continued to grow.

“Those changes include shore excursions where you have a lot of, what we call pirates, but they call themselves independent operators, stealing our guests on shore excursions that they ought to be booking with us.

“It’s a missed opportunity for us.”

Donald said that working with agents would help customers differentiate between shore tours provided through cruise lines and others.

“Some of those tours aren’t the same,” he added. “They may go to the same places but they aren’t the same.

“They may not have the same insurance, they may not have the same quality guides and consumers buying online doesn’t know all that. We have to do a better job at that.

“There are so many opportunities on this.”

Donald went on to praise the performance of the UK market which he described as “robust” and performing well.

He claimed the UK was on a “positive trajectory from a Carnival standpoint”, but admitted that the industry needed to “manage smarter and not panic on price”.

He said it was important to “hang in there a little bit longer on price” to help drive up the average cruise fare.