Carnival CEO plans to raise prices: "we are way too much of a value"

[talkorpi]

https://www.thestreet.com/travel/royal-caribbean-carnival-have-bad-pricing-news-for-cruise-fans

 

Weinstein commented on the matter during the cruise line's third-quarter-earnings call.
"The issue is we are way too much of a value. We should not be priced at a significant discount to land, which is exactly the case today, anywhere from 25% to 50% based on itineraries," he said.

 

Sounds like prices won't be coming down anytime soon.  I undertstand what Weinstein is saying, but doesn't this seem a little strange?  The whole value proposition of cruising is that is is "cheaper" than land and it is (mostly) inclusive of everything you can get on land at a lower cost.  If you change that, how can you expect to sustain your existing customer base or attract new ones?

 

With this new strategy I guess I will cruise less and less often.  I totally understand that the industry was hit hard and CCL is still in the red with mutliple factors, but with higher prices for both base fares and onboard experiences, coupled with all the cutbacks and generally worse experience, it really puts budget-concious brand loyalists in a pinch.  I expected prices to drop during a recession, not rise.

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by talkorpi

[shof515]

and watch they complain when the ships are not sailing at full capacity like they used to and then they have to reduce the price to get people to book. its a double edge sword 

 

i too am not looking forward to the future and i will have to cruise less too if this happens. 

 

its going to be much hard to travel now

[pirate4me2]

Ouch! Guess we will maybe have to do 1 a year instead of 3-4.

[Kevin308]

They will just do what they do now when they don't sell at higher prices which is have a lot of sales.

[mz-s]

To me their product is not worth higher prices. Everyone will have to do their own comparisons and everyone's calculus will be different obviously.

 

I get that Carnival doesn't want to be known as the Dollar General of the cruise industry anymore, but that reputation is not entirely due to price.

[crooooze]

Speaking for myself, I got too comfortable with these insanely low deals over the past year.
Now if I don’t see an 8 day cruise for under $400 pp, I yell “Rip-off!”  🙂

Maybe when they say they are raising prices, it means bringing them back to “normal”. But you still watch for the occasional VIFP deals….?

Edited December 15, 2022 by crooooze

[talkorpi]

1 minute ago, crooooze said:

Speaking for myself, I got too comfortable with these insanely low deals over the year.
Now if I don’t see an 8 day cruise for under $400 pp, I yell “Rip-off!”  🙂

Maybe when they say they are raising prices, it means bringing them back to “normal”. But you still watch for the occasional VIFP deals….?

I’ve only gotten a great VIFP deal one time, which was my most recent Vista sailing. I was not in a place financially to book during the low COVID rates and the rates I see today already seem higher than pre-Covid pricing. With further increases on the way but no improvement to service looking likely, I just fail to see this working out. 

[blyle]

Prices are pretty high on all cruises I'm looking at.  I am moving to Princess for awhile since the deals were fantastic.

[jjzblla]

I would never pay the same price or more for a Carnival Cruise as I would for a land vacation. 

 

I think Weinstein is maybe considering their new big ships but not all of the rest of the tired old ships with minimal staffing and cutbacks in every area when he says they're "too much of a value".  Comparing a Carnival cruise to a land based vacation is comparing apples to oranges.

 

We were on the Breeze in June and I felt like it was a fine vacation for the price but it certainly wasn't worth any more than what I paid for it.  I most certainly wouldn't consider it "way too much of a value". There seem to be so many cutbacks in so many areas that it was almost depressing.  We decided on that cruise that we will move to a different cruise line for a while because Carnival isn't the value that it used to be. 

 

 

[staceyglow]

I have news for you:  Carnival, as well as every other cruise line, has and always will sell their cabins for as much money as they think they can get for them, but it is always the goal to sail full.  If there are empty cabins, they will lower the price.  Once the ship leaves the home port, any chance to get revenue for that cabin is lost.  That is not only the base fare, but drinks, shore excursions, specialty dining, etc.

 

They can set any price they want for their cruises, but if people don't buy them, the price is going to go down.

Edited December 16, 2022 by staceyglow

[Bulldogsoc]

Spoiled in 2022
 

Feb 2022 - 4 night on Radiance out of LA $0 pp +PF & Grats  for inside or window; $15 pp ++ for balcony $150 pp ++ for Suite. Went with Suite. 

 

April 2022 - 7 nigh on MG $380 pp ++ for balcony

 

July 2022 - 9 night to Norway on Pride for $480 pp ++ for extended balcony. 🤩
 

i don’t mind paying the $1239 pp ++ for Xmas 8 day on the Magic x2 rooms. The previous deals were insane. 
 

Still deals to be had but we were SPOILED!

 

One more week!
 

 

 

[Mic101680]

I've been sailing Carnival more often because the pricing is so much lower when compared to similar itineraries on other cruise lines (at least from what I have seen). If they increase their pricing, they need to step up their game with the quality of their food, entertainment, and service to match it IMO.

[staceyglow]

Don't forget that this was the CEO speaking to shareholders.  They always have to put the best spin on the current situation that they can, including how they hope to increase revenue.

Edited December 16, 2022 by staceyglow

[momof3cruisers]

If they’re going to up prices they better get staffing issues fixed. 

[1kaper]

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

To me their product is not worth higher prices. Everyone will have to do their own comparisons and everyone's calculus will be different obviously.

 

I get that Carnival doesn't want to be known as the Dollar General of the cruise industry anymore, but that reputation is not entirely due to price.

 

I don’t always agree with your posts but I agree with this one. I put up with a lot from Carnival but we are getting ridiculous deals. I would not pay the current full price to do a Carnival cruise. 
 

In regard to your second part, I’ve seen some comments on the MSC forum discussing the change in clientele on the shorter MSC cruises which is attributed to price. 

[DallasGuy75219]

Apparently he doesn't understand basic economics, i.e. supply and demand.  Carnival has too much capacity on old ships with an onboard product that is uncompetitive by today's standards (basically Conquest class and older).  Combine that with the short-staffing and cumulative cuts to every facet of the onboard experience and there are not enough customers to fill those old ships at the prices Carnival *thinks* their product is worth.

 

He must be blowing smoke up the shareholders' rears because in the current environment, Carnival's only options are basically to: (1) scrap more ships to try to decrease supply and increase prices, but that comes with the cost of writing off any remaing book value, (2) continue the perpetual cycle of cutting the onboard experience and having to discount fares more and more (or give them away through the casino) with the hope of making some onboard revenue, or (3) go belly up. 

 

In a perfect world Carnival could improve its onboard product to something people were willing to pay more for, but I think they're so far underwater (pun semi-intended) that they can't afford to make that investment and risk it not paying off.

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, 1kaper said:

In regard to your second part, I’ve seen some comments on the MSC forum discussing the change in clientele on the shorter MSC cruises which is attributed to price. 

Carnival already had a reputation for attracting a certain clientele, but it's gotten worse since the restart with some of the blue cards they're attracting with the rock-bottom fares required to fill the ships.

[MMastell]

With the 3 cruises I've had this year on Pride, Panorama and Glory I hope Carnival does not put in a price increase until their staffing issues have been resolved.  I overlooked a number of things in regards to the dining room, steak house, cabin and ship condition because of the lack of staff.  If they increase pricing and maintain the same level of service and maintenance then I will look elsewhere.

[DallasGuy75219]

35 minutes ago, MMastell said:

With the 3 cruises I've had this year on Pride, Panorama and Glory I hope Carnival does not put in a price increase until their staffing issues have been resolved.  I overlooked a number of things in regards to the dining room, steak house, cabin and ship condition because of the lack of staff.  If they increase pricing and maintain the same level of service and maintenance then I will look elsewhere.

It's so bad that that we had problems getting drinks even at the Diamond Party (as in like only 50 people in attendance) on Splendor in October.  The Beverage Manager wound up bringing me a couple of drinks himself when he saw I couldn't get a drink from the servers.

[RockHoundTX]

Because we have teenage kids and have to sail during "peak" times the last few years, we got decent prices but not any of the spectacular deals some have seen. Over the last 15 years we have done about 30 cruises between RC and Carnival. While we tend to prefer RC due to the activities (rockwall, ice skating, flow-rider, etc.), the last 2 trips were on Carnival since RC had already priced us out of the market. The "value for money" of our last few trips already had us questioning how much cruising we would be doing in the future. While we had a "good" time, it was far from the "great" time we typically had pre-Covid. There were just too many distractions: understaffed, lower quality food, closed venues, way less time in each port (maybe just a Vista issue?), etc.

 

We have another Carnival cruise coming up and this is the first time that I am not excited to go on a cruise. If the prices go up any higher, I expect that we will quit cruising until the kids move out. For a family of 4, there are a ton of good land-based options (especially when driving) at the same or lower prices compared to what we are already paying.   

[pc_load_letter]

I definitely agree that Carnival needs to improve their product. Granted, I have not been on the new big ships but reviews seem to be mixed on them. 

 

We were on NCL's Bliss the week after Thanksgiving and we had an amazing time. If I had to choose Panorama or Bliss, I would choose Bliss every time. It was just a beautiful fun ship. And I think I only had one bad entree out of numerous bfasts, lunch and dinners in the MDR.

 

Yes, I realize Bliss is for Alaska but it will surely take it in the fall when it comes again.

 

We're booked for Panorama in March and I really not that excited for it as my last cruise on it was entirely meh.

Edited December 16, 2022 by pc_load_letter

[snowballs mom]

We have done six weeks on Carnival cruises since the restart and have the month of January booked on the Sunrise, along with Alaska and the Mexican Riviera in 2023. We do not receive the fantastic deals that many seem to, however we like balconies and spa cabins so that could be a factor. We have been happy with our experiences since the restart but we are not willing to pay any extra above the current pricing. 

[sfaaa]

Time to book more cruises and lock in the price before it goes up.

[Itried4498]

The market dictates pricing.  There's a reason that the major cruise operators have focused on cutting costs and raising onboard pricing, in lieu of raising base pricing or passing fuel surcharges onto its passengers.  Unless Carnival shrinks its global fleet, or hikes prices significantly so that a smaller number of passengers can cover the cruise costs, its ability to raise prices is very limited.

 

Cruises' pricing was a concern pre-COVID.  Reality is, supply increased faster than demand, and even COVID hasn't corrected that.

[Saint Greg]

Prices haven’t really changed for me. My jubilee is the same price my celebration and Mardi Gras were. The only time I got good deals was the 2022 spring sale booking for 2024 and that was to pay. $100/day for an interior instead of $150-300/day for an interior. If it goes up any more for me I may start shopping around. 
 

Edited December 16, 2022 by Saint Greg