Carnival Says Goodbye to Mobile, Tweaks Gulf Coast Itineraries

[ocntscha]

Wow, I was just shopping for Dec. 2011 cruises on Carnival's site and kept thinking something was wrong since Mobile was grayed out. That's a bummer. I live in St. Louis so Mobile and New Orleans are both about a day's drive away. I liked being able to choose between the two. I guess its just New Orleans from now on. Something else I noticed that is a big bummer is that the itineraries out of New Orleans don't included Playa Del Carmen (Calica). I much prefer it to Progreso.

[madge57]

I am going to say sorry right now for what I am about to say!! But those of you that are close to a port BOO HOO!!! WE have to fly everytime we go on a cruise we don't have the convience of having a port a couple of hours away!! Now enjoy what you have and quit complaining!! Oh I'm sure Mobile will survive and make up the business they will lose. they didn't have the ship before and they did fine they will do fine now!!! Ok I said I was sorry!!!!!

[GRAMMYTAN]

I am going to say sorry right now for what I am about to say!! But those of you that are close to a port BOO HOO!!! WE have to fly everytime we go on a cruise we don't have the convience of having a port a couple of hours away!! Now enjoy what you have and quit complaining!! Oh I'm sure Mobile will survive and make up the business they will lose. they didn't have the ship before and they did fine they will do fine now!!! Ok I said I was sorry!!!!!

 

 

YES, you are.

[vanityfur]

I am going to say sorry right now for what I am about to say!! But those of you that are close to a port BOO HOO!!! WE have to fly everytime we go on a cruise we don't have the convience of having a port a couple of hours away!! Now enjoy what you have and quit complaining!! Oh I'm sure Mobile will survive and make up the business they will lose. they didn't have the ship before and they did fine they will do fine now!!! Ok I said I was sorry!!!!!

 

I don't live close to a port, but I have NEVER tried to make someone feel guilty b/c of where they choose to live. Instead of trying to make people feel guilty who are sad to see a ship leave a port, how about placing some responsibility on yourself? You choose to live in a place that doesn't have a port.

 

And, I cannot stand it when someone prefaces a post with "I'm sorry, but..." or "No offense..." The truth is, that's just that person's way of making themselves feel better for saying something that is a little rude.

[LHP]

lhp i am sailing on the triumph the week before you 5-7-11, missed each other again :(

 

 

rats!!!

[LHP]

After being a loyal Carnival customer - 18 cruises with Carnival in 7 years, plus purchases of 12 more cruises for family - I agree that Mobile should boycott them. They threw us overboard! They cancelled already booked Elation cruises and have not offered a similar replacement at the same price and only gave them a $25 OBC. Mobile kept the ship sailing full the entire time and will lose jobs, and tourism will take a huge cut. Hotels, restaurants and transportation services associated with these cruises have been blindsided.

I had scheduled a cruise for late May booking two cabins for us and our grandsons on the Fascination but today I cancelled it and booked with RCCL. This will be a new experienced for us...who knows we just might love RCCL.

 

Certainly you are kidding about Mobile boycotting Carnival....

 

Sailing full capacity means nothing if the cabins are having to be discounted to do it. You are also not taking into account that these cabins were not producing on the "back end" (Spa, Casino, Bar Sales, Shore Excursions etc)

 

Capacity and cruise price only tell PART of the story.

 

Btw, if you were working for $10 an hour and another company guaranteed you $20 an hour..... are you going to stay at the $10 an hour job?

 

I didn't think so....

 

If you are going to start boycotting cruise lines because they made a hard but SMART business decision, then you won't be cruising ....because all the mass market lines have done it ...just ask California about RCCL.......

 

California is in FAR worse shape financially than Alabama or Mobile....

 

By the time Carnival leaves...they will have given Mobile 7 YEARS to meet the MARS.

 

Have you stopped to think that during those 7 years, Carnival could have been making more money somewhere else?????

 

Carnival did not have to stay past their contract...but they did.

 

Like I always say, no good deed goes unpunished.

[LHP]

Yep I saw in port of Nola site in date cruise or check in carnival com find the conquest in Nola she moved in novmber 13 this year I'm excited I love Nola.

 

If you never going in Nola or Galveston or anywhere port?

 

Yes. Carnival had 2 ships in New Orleans before Katrina that did very well...so we knew one day there would be 2 ships there again.

 

The Conquest will come when the Magic comes to Galveston....

 

As unfortunate as it is....it makes no sense to have the expense of TWO ports with one ship at each one going to the same destination when one of those ports is not producing.

[DarthGrady]

Well that definitely sucks for folks in and around Mobile. Ebenezer Cahill strikes again. ;)

 

I'm glad PC is getting new itineraries (its been needed for awhile now), but I'm sorry it comes at Alabama's expense.

[soohoo]

Not that this is exactly related....but living in North Alabama, I find it somewhat interesting that until yesterday - commercials were still airing for AL tourism ....."and you can even sail on a cruise ship" (while showing pic of ship in port of Mobile)....

 

Today, the commercial is. ...."fly Airtran on a direct flight to Baltimore where you can sail on a cruise ship" (showing direct flight map)

[Pollyanna22]

The announcement last week that Carnival is leaving Mobile was very disappointing and dismaying. Local travel agents have reported they had heard no complaints from Carnival that they were losing money. City officials had heard no complaints from Carnival, either. This quickie announcement may have been spurred by Port Canaveral jumping the gun, but it still doesn't make it right. In my opinion, Carnival should've been sharing this info with city officials before all this went down. Instead, our city was blind-sided and given the shaft. It may be a "smart business decision" but it certainly does not ease the anger and dismay felt by Mobilians. We have every right to be angry with Carnival for treating our community with such apathy. I won't cruise Carnival again. They have left a really bad taste in our community.

[LHP]

The announcement last week that Carnival is leaving Mobile was very disappointing and dismaying. Local travel agents have reported they had heard no complaints from Carnival that they were losing money. City officials had heard no complaints from Carnival, either. This quickie announcement may have been spurred by Port Canaveral jumping the gun, but it still doesn't make it right. In my opinion, Carnival should've been sharing this info with city officials before all this went down. Instead, our city was blind-sided and given the shaft. It may be a "smart business decision" but it certainly does not ease the anger and dismay felt by Mobilians. We have every right to be angry with Carnival for treating our community with such apathy. I won't cruise Carnival again. They have left a really bad taste in our community.

 

 

Did you ever consider that perhaps it was something like the major event in the Middle East (and oil probably going to $140 a barrel) that was the deciding factor?

 

How is Carnival suppose to predict that?

 

Perhaps Carnival was willing to suffer with less than acceptable MARS (back end cabin revenues) until the reality of $140 a barrel oil made this decision for them.

 

And IF Carnival had complained, what was Mobile going to do? ORDER their passengers to spend more on board. ORDER their passengers to not remove their tips.

 

Mobile is angry at the wrong person.....they should look in the mirror.

 

In fact, Carnival should be angry that they had to WASTE 7 years on Mobile when they could have been making a lot more money on that ship somewhere else.

[LHP]

Not that this is exactly related....but living in North Alabama, I find it somewhat interesting that until yesterday - commercials were still airing for AL tourism ....."and you can even sail on a cruise ship" (while showing pic of ship in port of Mobile)....

 

Today, the commercial is. ...."fly Airtran on a direct flight to Baltimore where you can sail on a cruise ship" (showing direct flight map)

 

 

That is a good point. Mobile also got 7 years of free advertisement and promotion ...... at Carnival's expense.

[familycruzinnewbie]

Consumers vote with their money. If people in Mobile are upset with Carnival, it's their right to spend their $$ elsewhere. People do it for all sorts of reasons, sometimes only short term. When Carnival changes programs, or tries to squeeze a little more money out, some people react by booking another cruise line, or choosing a land based vacation. If RCCL doesn't deliver, Grammytam may be back to Carnival.

[LHP]

Consumers vote with their money. If people in Mobile are upset with Carnival, it's their right to spend their $$ elsewhere. People do it for all sorts of reasons, sometimes only short term. When Carnival changes programs, or tries to squeeze a little more money out, some people react by booking another cruise line, or choosing a land based vacation. If RCCL doesn't deliver, Grammytam may be back to Carnival.

 

Although it does seem a bit hypocritical for Mobile cruisers to threaten to run to RCCL when RCCL just did the same thing to California.....

[futaba951]

That is a good point. Mobile also got 7 years of free advertisement and promotion ...... at Carnival's expense.

 

And Carnival got a full year of free advertising from RSA through their radio, TV and newspaper holdings when the Holiday first came to Mobile. I believe that was a $5 million dollar incentive. Personally, I'll be glad to see Carnival go away. There are some infrastructure improvements to downtown that have been delayed because of arguing over the ability of cruise ships to pass under a planned new I-10 bridge. I seriously doubt another cruise line will be interested in coming in to fill the void left behind by Carnival, so a lot of these off the table issues could find their way back into the dialog now. As for the cruise terminal, Mobile still owes $26m including interest payments on the debt.

You should know that these cities use voodoo accounting and there's no way in hell that they will do the smart thing no matter how much money they may be making off of a venue.

[Purplesaurus]

We just got off the Elation Saturday and we were sad to hear the news of Mobile losing her.

 

Glad to have sailed the Elation before she left.

[derekjp47]

Jimmy..you are not looking at the whole picture....

 

A cabin is rated on TOTAL REVENUE generated...not just the cruise fare...

(spa, casino, gift shop, bar, shore excursions etc)

 

Also, I am a little surprised that we heard none of this reaction with RCCL pulling out of California. WE all know that California is in far worse shape than Alabama or Mobile......

 

And yes, an official at Port Canaveral messed up and announced it before they were suppose to. It hits the wires (USA TODAY) so the only responsible thing for Carnival to do was confirm.

 

I am certain that Carnival would have loved to have been able to talk to all the official involved before making the announcement...but Carnival wasn't given that option.

 

Carnival gave it 6 years. Carnival Passengers paid for the terminal, gangway and improvements. Mobile got 6 years of promotion and advertising.....but could not deliver.

 

AS I have posted earlier....no one on this board would work for $10 an hour when another company guaranteed them $20 an hour.......

 

it is business...period.

 

You obviously don't know what you are talking about. Carnival left Mobile with a $26 million debt for the terminal and gangway, and cut 125 people out of jobs. They showed true professionalism in the hadling of this matter. The should not try to place the blame on Port Canaveral, they should have had dialogue with mobile well in advance and attempt to workout an exceptable solution.

[derekjp47]

I am going to say sorry right now for what I am about to say!! But those of you that are close to a port BOO HOO!!! WE have to fly everytime we go on a cruise we don't have the convience of having a port a couple of hours away!! Now enjoy what you have and quit complaining!! Oh I'm sure Mobile will survive and make up the business they will lose. they didn't have the ship before and they did fine they will do fine now!!! Ok I said I was sorry!!!!!

 

How would you feel being left with a $26 million debt and 125 people loosing their jobs. Carnival gave Mobile the shaft.

[tallyho8]

Carnival gave those 125 people a job for 6 years. Lifetime jobs are a thing of the past in America. Now those people can go back to doing whatever they did before they went to work for Carnival.

 

An economist at the University of Southern Alabama estimated that the city made $22 million a year for the 6 years Carnival was there. This $132 million could have easily paid for the $26 million port with the proper planning.

[LHP]

How would you feel being left with a $26 million debt and 125 people loosing their jobs. Carnival gave Mobile the shaft.

 

 

 

How is Carnival passengers generating enough revenue to cover ALL of Mobile's investment giving Mobile the shaft?

 

Mobile was left 26 million in debt because MOBILE was fiscally irresponsible.

 

Mobile leadership gave Mobile citizens the shaft.

 

Sorry, it isn't Carnival's fault if the citizens of Mobile put people in office that can't run a ferriswheel...much less a business.

 

St Clair "saying" that 125 jobs will be lost is totally different than showing documentation that this will be the case. I mean this is the same person that can't add 2 + 2, knows nothing about the business he was running for Mobile...I certainly would not trust any number he spouted.

[LHP]

You obviously don't know what you are talking about. Carnival left Mobile with a $26 million debt for the terminal and gangway, and cut 125 people out of jobs. They showed true professionalism in the hadling of this matter. The should not try to place the blame on Port Canaveral, they should have had dialogue with mobile well in advance and attempt to workout an exceptable solution.

 

 

Derek:

 

FACT: Carnival passengers generated 24.5 million in DIRECT revenue. Investment in the port was less than 24 million by the highest figures quoted at Al.com (could be as low as 22.1) . Every time I read an article, they quote a different number.

 

FACT: There has been NO documentation to support that 125 lost job number. NONE. That could be St Clair pulling a "fluf" . (overestimating for sympathy) Since they can't get a solid number on the debt, I would not at all be surprised to read that this is a number that St Clair pulled out of the air.

 

FACT: According to a CC member, Mobile's "leadership" is well known for their irresponsible financial management.

 

FACT: The problem was not capacity. The problem was that the people were not spending enough money on the ship to generate the necessary TOTAL revenues. There was NOTHING that Mobile could do to change that.

 

IF Mobile is 26 million in debt due to fiscal mismanagement, that is in no way Carnival's fault. 8 months is plenty of "warning" btw.....

 

NOW ... want to rethink who doesn't know what they are talking about?

[LHP]

And Carnival got a full year of free advertising from RSA through their radio, TV and newspaper holdings when the Holiday first came to Mobile. I believe that was a $5 million dollar incentive. Personally, I'll be glad to see Carnival go away. There are some infrastructure improvements to downtown that have been delayed because of arguing over the ability of cruise ships to pass under a planned new I-10 bridge. I seriously doubt another cruise line will be interested in coming in to fill the void left behind by Carnival, so a lot of these off the table issues could find their way back into the dialog now. As for the cruise terminal, Mobile still owes $26m including interest payments on the debt.

You should know that these cities use voodoo accounting and there's no way in hell that they will do the smart thing no matter how much money they may be making off of a venue.

 

Want to compare that "free" advertising that Carnival got for 1 year all those years ago......

 

with the FREE advertising that Mobile got EVERY DAY through hundreds of outlets that deal with Carnival Cruise for the entire time Carnival was there.

 

Every TA office, every travel website, every Carnival commercial, every Carnival brochure .... for 7 years

 

Mobile had 7 years to make an impression that would make folks want to "come back" to over a MILLION passengers over the years thanks to Carnival...

 

that is priceless

[gtalum]

Calling a cruise to Freeport, Nassau, and Key West an "Eastern Caribbean" itinerary seems a bit of a stretch. Otherwise it's nice to have more short cruise options from Florida.

[futaba951]

Mobile had 7 years to make an impression that would make folks want to "come back" to over a MILLION passengers over the years thanks to Carnival...

 

that is priceless

 

I'd be interested in seeing how many of those million passengers really WANT to come back to Mobile. Funny how many ppl who are already here are busting the door down to get out! :)

[chachi]

I will say that when planning our upcoming cruise, several trips out of Mobile were in the list presented to us by the travel agent, and we tended to pass over those in favor of the ports we recognized as more of a vacation destination like New Orleans and Miami. I did a little further research and found that Mobile does have more going for it than I expected, but I wonder how many cruisers turn it down right off the bat because it doesn't "sound" like a place to take a vacation.

 

Me. I have never even considered a cruise out of Mobile. It seems to me like a port people drive too. Flights are so cheap to Florida I am not paying extra to fly to Mobile.