Carnival's June 22 announcement - burning questions

[Jamman54]

Spirit Class ships can get under the Dames Point bridge, but only during low tide. I've seen pictures of the Miracle sailing under the bridge with an officer sticking out of a hatch on the top of the funnel visually checking the clearance. 😎

[Charlie1422]

We have a Dec. 2020 on HAL booked almost 2 year ago and a Feb 2021 on Carnival booked a long time ago as well. I was feeling pretty confident about them but now not so much. Looking forward to tomorrow's announcement to put me out of my misery one way or the other.🤞

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, N7786W Flyer said:

 

I don't believe this is entirely true...at least based on my observations of the Miracle's (Spirit Class) "Trophy Case" which documents all the maiden arrivals the ship has made into various ports.

 

If the 'case' (and my memory) can be believed, it looked like the Miracle took their maiden cruise voyage from Jacksonville, so I would ASSUME that all of the Spirit class ships can successfully sail from Jacksonville as well.  I've attached a picture which seems to show the Miracle sailing under the bridge near the Jax port.

 

Now, whether Carnival would actually assign a Spirit class ship to Jacksonville is another discussion!

 

https://www.*****/attachments/awww-cruiseblogger-com_nf40315i-jpg.37290/

 

Garnett

I agree. Miracle might fit but makes a whole lot more money doing alaska. There must be a reason they use miracle instead of a larger class to alaska.

 

I'm just stating my belief some of the ships sold will be from other lines like P & O and not selling all of the fantasy class ships.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, Charlie1422 said:

We have a Dec. 2020 on HAL booked almost 2 year ago and a Feb 2021 on Carnival booked a long time ago as well. I was feeling pretty confident about them but now not so much. Looking forward to tomorrow's announcement to put me out of my misery one way or the other.🤞

Again I could be wrong but dont think they will put you out of your misery. They dont want to refund more than they can get away with at a time for cash flow reasons. I'd even be surprised if I find out about my october sailing. 

[amyjoy202697]

I also think they will further delay or cancel altogether the Radiance. I am scheduled to sail on that ship Thanksgiving week.

[Cruiseboy06]

I have a feeling they will cancel beyond into October as well.    I'm booked on  Carnival Panorama on Oct 24th, I booked it last year.. 

Edited June 22, 2020 by Cruiseboy06

[ladychater]

As desperate as we all are to cruise, Carnival is even more desperate.  I'm sure that they're only cancelling cruises that they absolutely positively know they can't do, and are fighting tooth and nail to get everything in place to honor the sailings that are booked (as well as having those sailings filled to whatever the capacity will be).  We're doing the same thing in publishing (my industry), where printer closures and shipping delays etc. are killing our publication dates, but we're reluctant to announce/resign ourselves to delayed publications because we're pulling every string and working every logistical angle to make the dates so our books come out on time and our revenue keeps rolling in.  So whatever date they announce as their new proposed start date, believe you me, it's not a  game they're playing with us, they've plotting, planning and cajoling various government agencies, etc. to ensure that they can hit that date.  And if they end up having to cancel further out, it'll be due to things beyond their control.  And when you're dealing with an unpredictable pandemic and numerous government agencies, there's A LOT that is out of Carnival's hands. 

 

Fingers crossed for tomorrow.  As for me, I won't believe my 10/12 cruise is happening til I step onboard.

[BroadwayGirl]

9 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Try four! Been moving FCC around like chess pieces! 🤪

Hi,  can’t PM you..but know you will prolly have the answer. what have you been told about your FCC from our Sunrise hurricane cruise last year? We never applied it before the Radiance for this fall got cancelled. If you applied it to a sailing that got cancelled, did your date reset? Or are we still bound to sail by March 2021? I know there were conflicting reports to of “use” or “sail by” too.

Edited June 22, 2020 by BroadwayGirl

[KmomChicago]

13 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Spirit Class ships can get under the Dames Point bridge, but only during low tide. I've seen pictures of the Miracle sailing under the bridge with an officer sticking out of a hatch on the top of the funnel visually checking the clearance. 😎

 

So they may have to keep at least Paradise and Elation, which are the most upgraded and newest Fantasy class ships. I assume when they added the additional decks up front they made sure not to go higher than the funnel and thereby increase the overall height of the ships.  That still leaves six Fantasy class ships,  of which only 3 - Fantasy, Inspiration, and Imagination, have had no additional balconies added over the years.  I am predicting over on another thread that your balcony stateroom count may be the primary factor in deciding which Fantasy class ships go first.  On the other hand, we sailed on Sensation a few years ago and of course we had a nice time at a great value, but I'm not blind and I can see why these old ships get very mixed reviews.

 

People mention Tampa, Baltimore, and Mobile also having some ship size concerns but Tampa and Baltimore already have Spirit class ships.  I would think a shuffling makes more sense, if possible, than dropping departure ports.  It would seem that driving to port will be increasingly popular over flights and the large number of options gives Carnival a significant competitive advantage.  I have calculated the shortest drive to a Carnival cruise several times, even before COVID because of the expense and decreasing convenience of flights in the years since 9/11.  

[Jamman54]

7 hours ago, BroadwayGirl said:

Hi,  can’t PM you..but know you will prolly have the answer. what have you been told about your FCC from our Sunrise hurricane cruise last year? We never applied it before the Radiance for this fall got cancelled. If you applied it to a sailing that got cancelled, did your date reset? Or are we still bound to sail by March 2021? I know there were conflicting reports to of “use” or “sail by” too.

We applied our Sunrise "hurricane " FCC to our May 25th Sunrise 9 day cruise, which of course was canceled. We have since reapplied that FCC to our April 2021 cruise on the Radiance with no problem. Even though you haven't officially used your FCC, under the circumstances,  I can't see them holding you to the March 2021 deadline especially since you had booked another cruise but didn't get a chance to apply it because it was canceled. 😎

[Jamman54]

54 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

So they may have to keep at least Paradise and Elation, which are the most upgraded and newest Fantasy class ships. I assume when they added the additional decks up front they made sure not to go higher than the funnel and thereby increase the overall height of the ships.  That still leaves six Fantasy class ships,  of which only 3 - Fantasy, Inspiration, and Imagination, have had no additional balconies added over the years.  I am predicting over on another thread that your balcony stateroom count may be the primary factor in deciding which Fantasy class ships go first.  On the other hand, we sailed on Sensation a few years ago and of course we had a nice time at a great value, but I'm not blind and I can see why these old ships get very mixed reviews.

 

People mention Tampa, Baltimore, and Mobile also having some ship size concerns but Tampa and Baltimore already have Spirit class ships.  I would think a shuffling makes more sense, if possible, than dropping departure ports.  It would seem that driving to port will be increasingly popular over flights and the large number of options gives Carnival a significant competitive advantage.  I have calculated the shortest drive to a Carnival cruise several times, even before COVID because of the expense and decreasing convenience of flights in the years since 9/11.  

Can't argue with your logic. 😎

[Honolulu Blue]

According to Brand Ambassador John Heald, the announcement will come at about 9:30 AM EDT.  For those that are interested, he will follow the announcement with a video.

 

Thanks for the commentary.  I hope we all get some of our loose ends tightened.  It won't be long now.

[Honolulu Blue]

A couple more questions I thought of yesterday and early today:

 

• What will this week's incentives be to get us to book?  The usual mix of reduced deposits and sale prices, or will they surprise us?
• Will a new launch date be mentioned for the Mardi Gras and/or the Carnival Radiance?

[tidecat]

As of 7:00 AM Miami time, there are no US cruises to book for the entire month of September 2020. The only two options are the September 25 and 29 sailings on Splendor from Sydney.

[PhillyFan33579]

18 hours ago, sandy toes said:

Joe817 it is rough when you have had 2 cruises cancelled. 

I have already had 3 cruises cancelled and expect my cruise in October to be cancelled as well. 😕

[pzsdd6]

16 hours ago, N7786W Flyer said:

 

I don't believe this is entirely true...at least based on my observations of the Miracle's (Spirit Class) "Trophy Case" which documents all the maiden arrivals the ship has made into various ports.

 

If the 'case' (and my memory) can be believed, it looked like the Miracle took their maiden cruise voyage from Jacksonville, so I would ASSUME that all of the Spirit class ships can successfully sail from Jacksonville as well.  I've attached a picture which seems to show the Miracle sailing under the bridge near the Jax port.

 

Now, whether Carnival would actually assign a Spirit class ship to Jacksonville is another discussion!

 

https://www.*****/attachments/awww-cruiseblogger-com_nf40315i-jpg.37290/

 

Garnett

Good morning All,

Just to qualify. This post is just my personal thoughts, not based on any insider information.

We here in Tampa also have a bridge clearance issue with the Sunshine Skyway. Tampa has been limited to Fantasy and Spirit class ships as well. For quite some time now we have been serviced by the Paradise. While I love the ship, it has been getting stale taking the same ship all the time. Prior to all the current chaos, we had been hoping for a change. With the announcement of retirement of ships, all that seems to be up in the air now. Paradise has been updated recently, so of the Fantasy class she may make sense to keep her but possibly shuffle ports. 
Hopefully today’s upcoming announcement will give us diehard cruisers some much needed good news.
We have one scheduled for 10-5 and another for 12-12, fingers crossed and a prayer said.

Wishing all my fellow cruisers fair sailing in the future and healthy families!

[Oppalopa]

We are having a real problem with his virus here in Florida. Critical beds are filled and you will be fined 500 dollars for not wearing a mask in Tampa or Pinellas county.  

[Moviela]

Long Beach has been served by Inspiration and Imagination since I started cruising again. I notice that none of the "California" ships are close to home. Panorama is basking in Manila Bay, Miracle is resting its anchor off Cabo San Lucas, and Imagination and Inspiration are loitering near the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal.

 

I know all these ships have been involved in returning crew home, but I wonder if the Fantasy ships have been sold. I notice they are flying colors from The Bahamas, could they have been sold to a Caribbean operator? Now they are waiting for the ink to dry on the paperwork?

 

[sanmarcosman]

20 hours ago, Joe817 said:

 We all are waiting with baited breath.

 

 

[Charles4515]

Canceled thru September 30.

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23125-carnival-cancels-cruises-through-september.html

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[secondchance]

My email has already hit my inbox.  Looking at a road trip for our anniversary, oh well, it's still 34 years.

[shof515]

[Honolulu Blue]

All right, looking at the base announcement that shof515 posted just above (thanks), there's little here that we didn't expect.  The cancellation is through 9/30 and they're not changing any incentives.  The other questions remain.

 

 

I did a cruise search and found nothing was available to be booked before January 2021.  😲  This may or may not mean anything, but I found it more interesting than the announcement itself.

 

UPDATE:  Just checked again and October-December cruises are back as they have been for the past few days.  Sorry for the alarm.

Edited June 22, 2020 by Honolulu Blue
False alarm about missing cruises

[Tapi]

19 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I've read only fantasy class can get under the bridge at Jacksonville. I would be extremely surprised if all were retired and they give up a port.

My completely unscientific and speculative assessment is that 2-3 fantasy class ships will “cross the rainbow bridge”. It seems to me that in the current state of events, people will initially be drawn to ports of embarkation that they can drive to rather than fly, so it makes sense to keep smaller, limited (but accesible) ports of embarkation like Jacksonville and Mobile operating by keeping some fantasy class ships. 

Get rid of fantasy class ships from ports that can handle larger ships (Miami, Port Canaveral, Long Beach for example) and reshuffle ships. For example, eliminate sailings on the Sensation out of Miami, Elation out of Port Canaveral, and Imagination or Inspiration from Long Beach, and reassign those ships to Jacksonville or Mobile if the older ships (Fantasy, Ecstasy) are the ships that go. 

Edited June 22, 2020 by Tapi

[Honolulu Blue]

There were a few more nuggets in Mr. Heald's video (not enough for non-die-hards to watch, IMHO):

• He didn't have any news on either the Mardi Gras or the Radiance; he promised to let us know when he got some
• He gave a special thank you for those who continued to book again and again and get canceled on again and again
• He will be posting a calendar tomorrow for the cruises he will be on in October.  I hope he's not on the one I still have scheduled; that would doom it for sure!