Why are Celebration cruises so cheap?

[BlerkOne]

The US is in no danger of running out of natural gas anytime soon. Export facilities can't be built fast enough.

[notscb]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

The cruise lines' "environmental promise" is just PR pandering.

 

I figured as much. It's always a good reminder to oneself that if a business is making a certain decision, the only reason they're doing it is for their bottom line (even if it seems to benefit customers). If all of these cruise lines switch to LNG, i'm wondering if the cost is just going to go up and put them in a similar problem to where they are right now (eventually)

[Illbcruzn4life]

17 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

The west coast is having trouble filling Panorama.

 

WRT Celebration - fares are down because this is Carnival’s new business model. Cut the experience to bare bones and hope to make up the difference in onboard spend and fines.

 

doesn't seem feasible in the long term but more power to them if it works.

[Illbcruzn4life]

12 hours ago, trvlgirlmq said:

I just booked 2 cabins on Celebration for May 2023 and it ain’t cheap! Like someone above I wanted Horizon but was overruled for the new ship.

If you are not staying in the Havana area that is good news.

[mom2tcdx2]

I get you on the pricing, we have been looking at the Mardi Gras for ages and found it just to be higher than we were willing to pay.  Browsing around the Carnival site a couple weeks ago looking at my offers and we were able to book the Celebration in February for $848 and my parents had $502 (they get better casino offers than I do).  

 

All the time when we have checked the Mardi Gras it never had pricing that was as good as we are getting with the Celebration.  So we booked the Celebration.  

[yamaharis]

just booked a balcony on the Feb 26 cruise out of Miami  yesterday.  When I went to look for the cruise on the carnival site and can't find it.  does that mean it is booked full?  there were only 2 balcony rooms available on the deck when we booked.

[mom2tcdx2]

40 minutes ago, yamaharis said:

just booked a balcony on the Feb 26 cruise out of Miami  yesterday.  When I went to look for the cruise on the carnival site and can't find it.  does that mean it is booked full?  there were only 2 balcony rooms available on the deck when we booked.

I am on that sailing as well, I have an upgrade offer that has quite a few balcony cabins showing available that I can pick from.  Right now we just have 4 inside cabins booked.  

[twentypearls]

Booked Celebration for July 2023 and it was not cheap. As a matter of fact, it’s now about $400 more than when I booked 3 weeks ago. And availability is its slim pickings. I think, like others have said, it depends on the itinerary and season. By the way, I went on Mardi Gras in early August and paid MUCH less than Celebration. 

[cruisingguy007]

On 10/26/2022 at 5:31 AM, mz-s said:

The west coast is having trouble filling Panorama.

 

I'm not seeing that based on rates and reviews. I'm seeing none of the discounted rates that others are mentioning and nothing close to pandemic rates. There are also review after review of folks on multiple social media sites posting positive reviews/photos and the overwhelming response to those is concurrence and affirmation of positive vibes and good times. I just find it hard to believe they are having trouble filling Panorama with all the positive energy and non-discounted prices.   

[tidecat]

If Long Beach was having trouble filling Panorama, it wouldn't be getting Firenze, which may possibly be priced higher than a comparable traditional Carnival cruise with the same duration and itinerary.

 

The interesting question is will Long Beach have both Firenze and Panorama? Something likely has to give in spring 2024. It may be easier to move Miracle, especially if Jacksonville will be standing in for Charleston post-2024. I suspect Radiance will still be running the 3-4 day cruises out of Long Beach for a while. Will Carnival finally go back to San Diego, or perhaps go year-round in San Francisco?

[cruisingguy007]

8 minutes ago, tidecat said:

perhaps go year-round in San Francisco?

 

That would be awesome! Even if not year round, the more the merrier. I actually noticed a lot more shorter princess cruises listed now so it's definitely possible to do.   

[DramaQueen22]

We are booked for the Jan. 3 sailing.  Total cost for an inside on Deck 10 was just over $600.  It's actually costing us more to fly to MIA than the cruise itself.

 

I'm now watching for upgrade offers...none yet!

[Illbcruzn4life]

5 hours ago, DramaQueen22 said:

We are booked for the Jan. 3 sailing.  Total cost for an inside on Deck 10 was just over $600.  It's actually costing us more to fly to MIA than the cruise itself.

 

I'm now watching for upgrade offers...none yet!

Thats what i was looking at last night. The airfare going isnt bad but outrageous coming home.

 

i was looking at the Jan 22nd cruise.

[ober134]

Just wondering what is considered "cheap"? We have Celebration booked for 2nd week Jan 2023. Basic inside cabin and we paid $504 pp +fees/tax. Only $50 OBC for this one. My definition of "cheap" is the $90pp we paid this past April - yes it was on Elation, but it was cheap but we had a great time. I've been watching for price changes in Jan but nothing so far!

[yesornocruising]

On 10/25/2022 at 8:59 PM, tidecat said:

Icon of the Seas is a class leader; the Oasis class will have been in service for over 14 years when Icon makes her debut, so Royal may be seeing a bump from it being a newer product.

 

Carnival Celebration is not a class leader, but Mardi Gras is. You also have to figure in any effect from cruising out of Orlando versus Miami - the former can clams more cruisers who may be unwilling/unable to fly. Differences in itineraries can also affect fares.

Can you please explain why Mardi Gras is a class leader but Celebration is not? I haven't been on a cruise in over 7 years and am out of touch with the newest details. Thank you!

[Moviela]

LNG is readily available on the West Coast. There is a bi-directional train 15 miles North of Ensenada that is capable of unloading and filling ships. Ensenada is a popular stopping point for cruise ships, anyhow. In Port Canaveral there is no train. The Mardi Gras is refueled by a barge, and I assume Miami will service Celebration in the same manner. The barge was built in Wisconsin and gets the LNG from Elba Island, GA.

[Illbcruzn4life]

On 10/28/2022 at 10:04 AM, ober134 said:

Just wondering what is considered "cheap"? We have Celebration booked for 2nd week Jan 2023. Basic inside cabin and we paid $504 pp +fees/tax. Only $50 OBC for this one. My definition of "cheap" is the $90pp we paid this past April - yes it was on Elation, but it was cheap but we had a great time. I've been watching for price changes in Jan but nothing so far!

when I originally posted the question the price for inside was around $233 if my recollection is correct.

 

This was for a January 7 night cruise. Unfortunately the Mrs. couldn't get off. The sail ended 10/31 and the prices went up about $200+ pp.

[jerseyjjs]

On 10/25/2022 at 10:42 PM, notscb said:

 

I imagine that while RCL has a lot of selling points for their newer ships, their price points are just not economical enough for many families for the new product. Carnival, on the other hand, will be offering a brand new product at the very same time for half of the cost which will likely drive some families their way as they look for an affordable way to cruise until prices for Icon come down. From a marketing perspective, Carnival has the upper hand with new product + family friendly pricing over RCL right now.

 

 

       The Icon of the Seas is targeted toward young families and it's first sailing in January of '24' is completely sold out.....15 months ahead of it's departure date.   

[CruisingWalter]

On 10/25/2022 at 6:37 PM, BlerkOne said:

Compare Icon prices in a year.

 

There will be some specials for sure, but overall their prices will remain a premium until the second Icon ship is released. I priced out that Ultimate Family Townhouse yesterday for giggles. $64,000 for one week for a family of 4. Not as much as Celebrity's Iconic Suite for a week, and actually a better deal than Iconic because that's for 4 people while Iconic can be as high as $80,000 for one week for 2. 🙂

[CruisingWalter]

On 10/25/2022 at 9:59 PM, tidecat said:

Icon of the Seas is a class leader; the Oasis class will have been in service for over 14 years when Icon makes her debut, so Royal may be seeing a bump from it being a newer product.

 

Carnival Celebration is not a class leader, but Mardi Gras is. You also have to figure in any effect from cruising out of Orlando versus Miami - the former can clams more cruisers who may be unwilling/unable to fly. Differences in itineraries can also affect fares.

 

That's true, but each new ship in the class is usually the 'premium price' because it's the newest one. Oasis OTS is priced lower than Wonder OTS for example. The standard premium is on the 'new shiny toy,' not last year's gift. 🙂 

 

A quick glance at Oasis vs. Wonder show the same cabin on nearly the same itinerary priced anywhere from $350 to $100 less on Oasis than Wonder. That's consistent for most of the cruises. Of course the Oasis class is a bit of an outlier because it has been the most ridiculously successful and profitable class of ship for pretty much any cruise line. Because of that, the Oasis class ships don't generally have as much of a falloff between the new ship and older ships in the class. Especially as Royal has gone in and 'amplified' most of the ships over the past 5 years or so. 

 

Icon is definitely in a class by itself with that incredible water park on the top decks. She really doesn't even need to go to Coco Cay, she essentially has it on the top deck. So she will draw a premium price for a while. 

 

Celebration really should command a higher price than Mardi Gras or at the very least be equal in all the classes. If she's cheaper than Mardi Gras for the same itineraries, then something is off. Instead it looks like Carnival keeps raising individual fees for food and services vs. making modest adjustments to their cabin prices. 

[talkorpi]

8 hours ago, yesornocruising said:

Can you please explain why Mardi Gras is a class leader but Celebration is not? I haven't been on a cruise in over 7 years and am out of touch with the newest details. Thank you!

 

The term "class leader" here means the first ship in a new class.  Since the first Excel-class ship was MG, she is the "class leader" while Celebration and Jubilee are just other ships in the class.

[Theosprey247]

MOst be all the cancellations over room serivce charge, no 24 hour soft serve, and $5 for a 3rd entree.

[JOHN 57]

My wife and I are sailing on Celebration, 5 March and our price for inside was $500

[htkodiak]

We just booked the Celebration yesterday B2B in mid May 23' , free balcony w/drinks throughout the ship.It was a Diamond offer my wife received in the mail that our PVP booked for us.She told us these rates were going fast.I tried finding it myself before calling and could not she found it right away.All we paid was taxes and port fees.

[Pyxie]

I don't know why, but yes the Celebration prices are great. However, my Mardi Gras sailing is still $200 less than a similar Celebration sailing for the same week next year. Or at least compared to what I paid, but I booked a year ago. The pricing of my sailing has gone up quite a bit since then.