Tag Archives: carnival

Cruise CEOs say ship renovations key to maximizing revenue

Posted on by
Reply

Cruise CEOs say ship renovations key to maximizing revenue

Enchantment of the Seas

FORT LAUDERDALE — The cruise industry will increasingly emphasize growth in revenue yields rather than the number of cabins and ships it is adding, according to the CEOs of its top companies.

Four chief executives spoke together on a panel at the annual Seatrade Cruise Global convention, held for the first time this year at the Broward County Convention Center.

“You’re going to see a more balanced approach to building new ships,” said Frank Del Rio, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. More dollars will flow toward maintaining the existing fleet at the highest level so that higher prices can be supported fleetwide, he said.

“We have no choice,” chimed in Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corp. “The fastest we can grow is at about 6% a year, even with the largest ships. And there’s only so many shipyards.”

Donald said investors in any of the companies represented on the panel would not be satisfied with a 6% return on investment. So attention is turning to investing more in existing ships to bring up yields and to introduce innovations that customers will pay extra for.

In sheer numbers, Carnival’s fleet has already plateaued. Since mid-2011, Carnival Corp. has added only one net ship to its 101-ship fleet, according to a presentation by Giora Israel, Carnival’s senior vice president of global port and destination development. But in that timeframe, it has added 32,000 berths because bigger new ships are taking the place of smaller old ones.

Arnold pointed out that new ships on order are increasingly split between China and other markets, which means growth from North America could only be 2-3% a year if it had to depend solely on new capacity.

On another topic, the CEO panel agreed that cruises to Cuba, while of high interest, await approvals from the Cuban government.  And they said the infrastructure to support cruise tourism is lacking for anything larger than mid-sized ships.

MSC Cruises, which is privately owned and headquartered in Geneva, is currently the only major cruise company sailing in Cuba. Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises, said that when its 2,150-passenger MSC Opera ship docks in Havana, the 275-meter ship (about 902 feet) overhangs the end of the pier by about 80 meters (about 262 feet).

Carnival Fantasy to sail Mexico cruises from Alabama

Posted on by
Reply

Carnival Fantasy to sail Mexico cruises from Alabama

Carnival Cruise Line will move the Carnival Fantasy to Mobile, Ala., for a year-long series of four- and five-night cruises to Mexico, starting November 2016.

The move cements Carnival’s return to Mobile, a drive-market port that it pioneered and then abandoned in 2011.

The Fantasy will depart Thursdays for Cozumel on four-night itineraries, and depart Mondays or Saturdays on five-night itineraries that will visit either Progreso or Costa Maya.

“Carnival Fantasy’s four- and five-day cruises from Mobile provide consumers with an affordable way to visit stunning Mexican ports from a convenient homeport while offering our valued travel agent partners an exciting new short vacation option to market to their clients,” said Christine Duffy, Carnival’s president.

If current itineraries hold, Carnival will have ships based in Galveston, New Orleans, Mobile and Tampa for the 2016-17 winter season.

Before it starts service from Mobile, the Fantasy will be renovated, getting new venues such as Guy’s Burger Joint, Blue Iguana Cantina, Red Frog Rum Bar and Blue Iguana Tequila Bar.

Carnival makes higher commission levels easier to reach

Posted on by
Reply

Carnival Cruise Line said it will lower the number of cruises agents have to sell to reach a higher tier in its commission structure.

The move will make it easier for agents to earn more selling Carnival and reverses a move the line made three years ago in the opposite direction.

Adolfo Perez, vice president of trade sales and marketing, said the move was his top priority since being promoted to his new job in June.

“Essentially what we’re doing is reducing each of the thresholds for each of the commission levels, so anywhere from the 11% to the 15% commission level we’ve reduced the number of sailed cabins required to hit that tier,” Perez said.

For example, agents who previously had to sell 400 cabins to earn the 15% level will now have to sell 250. To earn 14%, the threshold goes from 300 to 175.

The 13% level is now reached at 125 cabins, down from 200, while the 12% level is reached at 50 cabins, down from 100.

Small or beginning agents will need to sell 40 cabins, down from 50, to boost their commission rate to 11% from the starting rate of 10%.

Agencies already earning the top rate of 16% are unaffected. Perez said he feels the structure for those commission levels is already adequate.

In a statement, Vicky Garcia, chief operating officer of Cruise Planners of Coral Springs, Fla., said Carnival’s moves to recognize the value agents bring to the bottom line is a step in the right direction for the competitive landscape.

“It is obvious the company has reprioritized travel agent relationships and this trend should continue to keep the brand top of mind for travel agents,” she said.