Carnival Will Secede Title of Largest Ship

[Wolfie48]

Pretty interesting the route the company is taking.

http://cruiseind.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/carnival-will-secede-title-of-largest-ship/

 

 

In 2006 RCCL took over as the largest cruise ship. Carnival has never expressed the desire to take that away. They have followed their business plan, and are stronger for it.

[DocF]

I agree totally with Carnival Corp's plan to stick with ships of the 90,000 to 130,000 ton range for new construction on their lines. They know their market and do a great job of nailing the needs and desires of their customers.

 

One reason, I believe, is that Carnival is run by people who love cruise ships, cruise ship passengers, and the whole concept of being part of a cruise line.

 

Royal Caribbean is run by MBAs. The typical MBA knows only one thing. Plug numbers into a formula and read the result. They do not know if the data they are using is valid, they do not know if the result makes sense, they do not even know if the formula is the correct one to use. (There are exceptions, but they are few and far between.) That is why these competitors have such different ways of doing business.

 

Doc

[GlendaleCruiser]

I think it's the right direction, no doubt. I'm sure the Oasis of the Seas will be a magnificent vessel but it's severely limited. Consider that a new port had to be constructed to allow it to call in Jamaica and that port won't be available until December of next year rather than May, as originally expected.

 

You can forget many of the more exotic calls as the draft and sheer size of the vessel prohibits it from visiting those ports.

 

The Dream class is big enough for me, for that matter, the Conquest class is big enough for me!!

 

:)

 

 

I'm with you, Mach. While I loved my inaugural cruise on the Dream and she is a wonderful ship, I am a little more fond of the Conquest size, I think, or even a little smaller.

[GlendaleCruiser]

I cannot fathom, just how long will the line be to reboard the Oasis? Sometimes gigantic is not real great? I want to stick to less than 2500 pax. for more pleasure.

 

 

There were 3500 passengers on the Dream and we had two lines to onboard / offboard. No waiting at all really.

[Wolfie48]

I'm with you, Mach. While I loved my inaugural cruise on the Dream and she is a wonderful ship, I am a little more fond of the Conquest size, I think, or even a little smaller.

 

The Spirit class is my favorite, while my DW prefers the Fantasy class. But we are looking forward to our Splendor cruise in 9 days. I think it will be a bit too big for my taste, but I'll get over it with enough DOD's :D

[MrPete]

Everyone knows when RCL made this decision the economy seemed fine, now it isnt. Sure their timing was terrible, but sometimes you have to make the best of things.

 

As far as Carnival NEVER building biggers ships .... never is a long time. I know how small the ship was for Carnival I was on in the 1980s... like I said NEVER is a long time.

 

I remember pulling up next to the Jubilee on my first cruise, thinking, "OMG, this thing is HUGE!"

[Aoumd]

I'm not surprised by Arison's statement, although I thought things might get a BIT bigger before he would make it.

 

Over the years, in the 80s and 90s, when most cruising was done from only a few homeports (Florida, California, some summers in NY) and cruise ships were not so big that they were running into size issues in ports as often, I think that RCCL and Carnival competed with similar enough products to go after the same market. Now that ship sizes are so large that the logistics of ports are even more of an issue, I think RCCL and Carnival had to make decisions, and they went separate ways. RCCL is choosing to make their ships such destinations that more people will fly from all ends of the earth, and pay a premium, to sail on a ship with an ice rink, zip line, AquaTheater, carousel, FlowRider, etc., etc. Carnival, on the other hand, has decided to put a somewhat more basic cruise product they offer in the reach of more people, by keeping prices lower and being more aggressive with homeports to "bring the cruise to the customer." This means ships that are designed for such a strategy, and this means ships that aren't too big for the cruise terminals at Charleston, Norfolk, etc. (not to mention Calica, Progresso, etc.). That is not to say Carnival won't innovate and offer more fun things on their ships in the future, they're just taking a different approach, away from the "gee whiz you can put that on a ship?!" wow factor.

 

The reason I say I'm surprised this is happening now, at the Dream's size, is because a new considerable constraint for cruise ship size will be coming up in a couple years: Panamax II. Once the Panama Canal is expanded, ships up to 1200ft long x 160 ft wide will be able to pass through (Spirit class is Panamax today). I somehow thought that 1200x160 would become the new standard some point in the future, but come to think of it, the Oasis isn't even that big, so maybe not.

 

Then again, the posters on here who have pointed out "never is a very long time" do have a very good point...

[NH Cruisers]

I look forward to sailing "Deficit of the Seas" one day. It looks like a lot of fun. When vacationing on land I prefer huge resorts with multiple pools and sprawling tropical open space, rather than smaller hotels with one rectangular pool in the back. I have that in my own back yard.

What is so bad about having "A Mall on board"? Oh the horror, shops and restaurants on a ship, I know crazy right. And that whole idea of a park on a ship. Who thought it would be a good idea to have a shady outdoor space on a ship. What a bone head. Plus the fact that it created more rooms with balconies. Who needs 'em.

To be serious, I actually had more fun ice skating on my last cruise than I did playing bingo.

I guess old habits die a slow death. I'm sure some people are still driving cars that run on leaded gasoline. More choices is a good thing IMO.:D

Big and small ships, I like 'em all. The Oasis is a destination in it self. Kind of like a resort in Jamaica. Oasis will have even more to do though. At the Jamaican resort you are risking your life leaving the compound. Oasis won't be for everyone, but I am looking forward to going out with her.

 

Jon

[Amerikaner83]

Now I just know that someone is going to photo shop a picture of the Oasis with a funnel mid ship.

 

 

Be careful what you wish for, my friend...

 

 

about 15 mins of fiddling with it in Paint :-)

[chachi]

Spirit is my favorite ship, and also the smallest ship I have been on. I do not believe that bigger means better. I have to admit that there are things about the Oasis that look really interesting (skylofts and aqua theater). I am not sure that I will be on it though. I think that there is just so much that it could be overwhelming. Most of the extras are things that I would never use anyways (rock wall, zip line, is there an ice rink?) I will stick with Carnival for now. If there are great deals though, who knows.

[glrounds]

I remember pulling up next to the Jubilee on my first cruise, thinking, "OMG, this thing is HUGE!"

 

Same here, Pete . . . guess its all subjective. :D