EZ4

I would be surprised if Carnival replaced Fantasy with anything other than another Fantasy class. A larger full time ship will undoubtedly be met with fierce resistance. I don't know how much longer and how much more Carnival is willing to put up with.

You can let your Imaginations run wild, but the fact is that Carnival announcements have a long history of being somewhat underwhelming, when they finally get around to making them, after numerous delays and false starts.

Shocker!!

I know you're but stating facts, but it's like you hate those two ships.

Why would I hate those two ships, or any ship for that matter? I just find it odd that those two particular ships seem to get passed over time and again, for any of the upgrades that the rest of that class has already gotten. They're the two newest ships in that class. You'd think that they would get the latest and greatest, but years pass by and they get nothing. That doesn't make you wonder what's up with those two ships?

You're like anti Elation/Paradise.

Everything I stated about those two ships is fact, with a little speculation thrown in about them maybe being some of the first to leave the fleet. If stating facts is being anti anything, then so be it. Show me if I'm wrong. :p

i could make all kinds of derisive comments :rolleyes:

Do you ever make any other kind? :p

Unfortunately Jacksonville gets the Elation next year during "operation swap ships" or so I read. The Elation is lacking and is need of an overhaul. Jacksonville is such a great port.

Paradise and Elation both get passed over for upgrades every time they go into drydock. Being the newest of the class, and the only two with azipods, they might both be some of the first to go, when they start kicking ships to the curb.

I think the Splendor is coming to Port Canaveral and maybe get 2.0 upgrades. Miracle to Tampa. I have no idea about the Victory. Miami doesn't really need another ship down there IMO. Jacksonville?

Jacksonville has bridge issues just like Tampa. Damn those bridges. ;)

I dont understand why some people don't see cruise lines as a business.

 

They want to see the cruise line as their friend, and they feel betrayed and jilted when the cruise line treats them like a paying customer.

A la carte isn't that bad a thing, you get to choose what you want to pay for and what you don't. Unlike a compeitor that charges a fee even for the free stuff;).

Don't laugh too hard. They've already got you in the pot of water. Now they'll just bring it to a slow boil, and you won't even notice when you're fully cooked. ;)

Some people will think you are serious!

LOL. Looks like some people did. :D

LOL. Didn't take long for the villagers mood to turn, and start taking up their torches and pitchforks.

Think celebration cruise line but to Cozumel instead of Freeport.

Celebration Cruise Line has ceased operation after crashing their only ship in Freeport. The principals have started a new cruise line, Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, with the purchase of the Grand Celebration (ex Grand Celebration, ex Celebration).

Leave it in the hallway. People can just maneuver around it as best they can. ;)

Pay-to-go bathrooms will be next. Make sure you keep your card handy.

The fact that the sea state was calm at the time of the accident, will make the speculation machine hit overdrive. It's much easier to explain away a tragedy when adverse conditions can be blamed.

Charleston has a very fragile peace going on right now with the protesters. I doubt that Carnival will risk stirring up the nest of hornets with a change of that magnitude, right now.

This is Carnival we're talking about. April 6th will come and go. Probably by the end of May you'll hear something concrete.

Nothing cooler than driving into the Harbor Tunnel and seeing the Pride sailing by overhead.

Actually I think the only thing that differentiates them from the competition is the amount of ships they built in the timeframe (lifespan of the Fantasy class, coincidentally spilled over into other classes of ships). Royal has roughly the same problem with their older ships, just fewer of them. Same can be said for the older NCL ships. While from your perspective, it was a grave mistake, for theirs it is a large part of what made Carnival the biggest cruise line in the world.

You're right about the class making Carnival what it is today. They've just got to figure out where to go from here, and what to do with all of them. No easy task.

Why would they rid themselves (your term not mine) of the Fantasy class? They own them (actually, until the Dream class they did not have debt on any ship, with the exception of the Triumph - and may still be true, but I just don't know). Debt free, profitable ships, sounds good to me. Might they be port heavy wight the Fantasy class in the Caribbean? Another topic for sure.

 

Whatever their plans for ship retirement, 3 new ship (really 4 counting the Breeze) over 8 years is a sound strategy.

I think the Fantasy class is creating a conundrum for CCL. While they are coming up on retirement age, they don't really have anywhere to place them after they leave CCL's fleet, AND there isn't a real market for selling them.

This may be one reason why they aren't building ships as fast as they used to. When the Fantasy class first came onto the scene, they were the gem of the industry, but their time has past.

This is true, but the other side of the equation is how many ships do they have in total?

True too, but clearly the other lines are on a more aggresive expansion trajectory, than any of the Carnival Corp lines.

What's unknown here is what Carnival Corp has up their sleeve for China. They may just scream out of the gate with a China exclusive line with a whole fleet of new Chinese built ships. They haven't shown their Chinese market plans nearly as much as RCI has.

I still think this order looks a little tentative, and China might be the reason.

Its called "new math". :eek:

Back in the day 2+2=4. Now it's more like "how does 2+2 make you feel?" :D

I double checked my math. It is correct. :)

Looked common coreish with a little voodoo math sprinkled in for good measure, to me. LOL

By your own admission all of Carnival's competitors have as many ships on order as one corporation. I fail to see the negative or cutback here.

You realize that it's just 2 cruise lines that have as many ships ordered as all of Carnival Corp lines combined?

We'll just disagree and leave it at that. ;)