A Surprise Ending: Why Did Carnival Ditch Mobile with No Warning?

[LHP]

You hit the nail on the head, Linda. It will be interesting, indeed. And if there is not an "outcry", my point that perception is important will be made.

 

Just a guess, but my guess is not only would there not be any outcry on these boards about the jobs lost....there would hardly be a post about it.

 

which seems hypocritical to me.....

 

but then it also seems hypocritical to me that folks talk about jumping to RCCL or NCL when they have BOTH done the EXACT same thing.....

 

(RCCL to California and NCL to Hawaii)

[Vanessa L]

You are correct.

 

Again, according to a VP at Carnival.....

 

Carnival expressed their disappointment in the lagging revenues to Mobile.

Mobile ignored it.

 

(probably because Mobile understood there was nothing they could do about it...they can't order people to spend more money on the ship)....

 

But now to act all "surprised" .... gives the perception that Mobile is being less that honest.

 

Now everyone on this board knows that Carnival would have preferred to have been given the opportunity to sit down with the Mobile officials (I can't say leadership after everything I have read to date) in a formal setting to say :

 

" we have expressed our disappointment in the revenues and sadly due to the new 2012 fuel regulations....we are going to have to make some major adjustments. We are going to have to leave as of October 2011."

 

But because the PC official announced the Ecstasy was coming there, Carnival did not get the opportunity to do that. It all came spilling out in the media and the only responsible thing for Carnival to do was confirm.

 

 

But the result would have been the same....

 

In the "perception" column, I wonder if it was presented as, "We are really not liking the revenues, folks," vs. "We are really not liking the revenues and should you not be able to turn this around by oh, say, end of 2011, we will have no choice but to permanently pull out of Mobile." I do not have an MBA, but I suspect that, human nature being what it is, if a clear boundary is not set, those in charge will put stuff on the back burner until they absolutely have to address it. If Carnival just made some half-a$$ed sort of broad statement that was open ended about not liking the revenues, I can see where the powers that be would file that concern away until it did have some sort of stipulation attached to it. Does that make "brilliant" the powers that be? Nope. But knowing human nature, it does make sense on the surface.

[golfadj]

Carnival certainly has the right to pull out from the port but it would have been nicer to have completed the sailings for which they have sold tickets.

[LHP]

Carnival certainly has the right to pull out from the port but it would have been nicer to have completed the sailings for which they have sold tickets.

 

I don't see Carnival having much control over the pullout date since the following was already set into motion....

 

The Magic has a set date it is coming to Galveston. That means the Ecstasy had a set date it was coming to New Orleans. (just like the Triumph has a set date it is headed to Galveston).

 

Since the new 2012 fuel regs foiled that plan.....the Ecstasy was sent to PC and Carnival is simply left filling contracts the best it can.

 

The Elation's scheduled Drydock ( October 22nd ) probably figured into those plans as well. I can't imagine changing that would have been possible.

[LHP]

In the "perception" column, I wonder if it was presented as, "We are really not liking the revenues, folks," vs. "We are really not liking the revenues and should you not be able to turn this around by oh, say, end of 2011, we will have no choice but to permanently pull out of Mobile." I do not have an MBA, but I suspect that, human nature being what it is, if a clear boundary is not set, those in charge will put stuff on the back burner until they absolutely have to address it. If Carnival just made some half-a$$ed sort of broad statement that was open ended about not liking the revenues, I can see where the powers that be would file that concern away until it did have some sort of stipulation attached to it. Does that make "brilliant" the powers that be? Nope. But knowing human nature, it does make sense on the surface.

 

Again, I wan't present for the actual conversation, so I don't know how it was "presented".

 

The Carnival VP said that Mobile was aware of the revenue issue .... I think it was more about the FACT that there was nothing Mobile could do.

 

If Carnival told them, raise the revenues or we are leaving EVERY year for the past 3 years, it would do no good. That would be like telling someone paralysed to walk. They just can't do it. Why would Carnival constantly "threaten" Mobile with leaving, if the problem was something Mobile could do nothing about?

 

Again the capacity numbers were fine. Mobile can't force people to send more onboard a ship.

 

The "perception" I have though is that Mobile is being less than honest in their statements that they had "no idea". Sorry, I just don't buy that...

[CorvetteLady]

Just a guess, but my guess is not only would there not be any outcry on these boards about the jobs lost....there would hardly be a post about it.

 

which seems hypocritical to me.....

 

but then it also seems hypocritical to me that folks talk about jumping to RCCL or NCL when they have BOTH done the EXACT same thing.....

 

(RCCL to California and NCL to Hawaii)

 

I am not jumping to RCCL because of what Carnival did to Mobile, if you read my post it's because of the choices we will have in NOLA. Before this happened I was looking at RCCL from NOLA, I like sailing from NOLA, it's the main reason we tried NCL. We usually only cruise once a year, this year we may not cruise because the choices aren't that interesting, we will be platinum on our next Carnival cruise.

 

So far we have only cruised from ports within driving distance. We did Galveston and didn't really like it, the Dream wasn't our favorite ship so no real motivation to try the Magic. We've been on the Conquest twice and the last time I read her reviews it sounded like she needs a little TLC. No desire at all to sail on the Elation, I like having a balcony so I am not a big fan of the Fantasy class. So RCCL out of NOLA is looking better, plus if we have to drive to Florida we will have a lot more choices.

 

I have also been checking out Princesses 10 day cruises, it offers some different ports, we did the 9 day Dream cruise and enjoyed the longer cruise. So I may choose a different cruise line for my next cruise, or I may find one on Carnival that is to good to pass up.

[Raku Mama]

We are cruising 4/1/11 on Spirit out of San Diego to the Mexican Riviera with four seasoned cruisers. Both couples are just sick that San Diego "won't have a (Carnival) ship anymore". Both loved Elation. Spirit is going downunder and we all know about Splendor.

 

I guess, given the previous discussion, that since LA can pull from a larger geographic, they get to keep their ships. Lord knows, its certainly not as clean or pretty as San Diego.

[Chief Vette]

I wonder what the excursions before and after in Mobile are. I can't find them on Carnival's site. In Port Canaveral Carnival is able to sell Disney, Universal, NASA, etc. Plenty of tours in New Orleans as well.

 

Lets see... Hidden gems include Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. Both offer beautiful sugar white beaches, fresh Gulf seafood and world class sportfishin. Other attractions include the local dog track, the flea market, shopping center and Mississippi casinos (1 hour drive).

[firefly333]

I was there on the 3rd friday downtown Mobile art walk held monthly where all the art places have open houses with drinks and snacks. Very nice way to spend a evening.

 

Last time I made it a point to see the 300 year old fort from the civil war around the corner from my downtown hotel.

 

The battle ship just past downtown Mobile I hear is fascinating and you can easily spend all day there.