Carnival signs five year deal with Mobile

[CarnivalShips480]

On 9/8/2023 at 5:40 PM, ledges1 said:

Another Conquest.

I know, but I meant in their mind they proud of their decision to give New Orleans a ship that hasn't been there before.

 

And of course, Carnival knows what ports and ships are booking the best, so they put each class of ships in the best fits.😉 But hey, New Orleans has two ships year round, while some ports like Mobile has only one seasonal. (And its been a year since Ecstasy left)

[RMcoolX]

On 9/11/2023 at 3:45 PM, CarnivalShips480 said:

...Carnival knows what ports and ships are booking the best, so they put each class of ships in the best fits.😉 ...

EXACTLY!!!  Money talks, bull sweat walks. It's all about supply and demand folks.

[Stallion]

I bet your right about cruise fares out of New Orleans but its kind of disappointing. I'd love to cruise more out of New Orleans if they had better ships. Much better port than Galveston where I usually cruise from, You can get a much better hotel in New Orleans than Galveston and pre-cruise festivities blow Galveston away.

[ray98]

So far the Spirit has been a huge success for Mobile.  It is pulling in fares dramatically higher than any of the other older ships, Mobile fares uses to be fairly equal to Jacksonville.  When we shopped around for next month and early spring it was cheaper to book on the Mardi Gras than Spirit.

[ledges1]

1 hour ago, ray98 said:

So far the Spirit has been a huge success for Mobile.  It is pulling in fares dramatically higher than any of the other older ships, Mobile fares uses to be fairly equal to Jacksonville.  When we shopped around for next month and early spring it was cheaper to book on the Mardi Gras than Spirit.

Is it the ship or the new 6 and 8 day itinerary vs the previous 4 and 5 day trips. I would lean toward the new itinerary of the the 6 and 8 day cruises. It is just an opinion. I do agree with your pricing comment. All in, Mobile is more expensive. Mobile, AL is an expensive city for flights. I live in the area and if I need to fly, I drive to Pensacola.

[mz-s]

43 minutes ago, ledges1 said:

Is it the ship or the new 6 and 8 day itinerary vs the previous 4 and 5 day trips. I would lean toward the new itinerary of the the 6 and 8 day cruises. It is just an opinion. I do agree with your pricing comment. All in, Mobile is more expensive. Mobile, AL is an expensive city for flights. I live in the area and if I need to fly, I drive to Pensacola.

 

It just further proves that Carnival is at their best when they don't have to compete with anybody else. Fares in Long Beach are rock bottom - the Celebration in Miami is priced like a Conquest-class ship - but in Mobile, they're pulling premium rates for a 25 year old ship because they aren't competing with anybody else.

 

11 hours ago, Stallion said:

I bet your right about cruise fares out of New Orleans but its kind of disappointing. I'd love to cruise more out of New Orleans if they had better ships. Much better port than Galveston where I usually cruise from, You can get a much better hotel in New Orleans than Galveston and pre-cruise festivities blow Galveston away.

 

There are other lines sailing out of NOLA. Carnival's only choice is to compete on price apparently.

[ray98]

3 hours ago, ledges1 said:

Is it the ship or the new 6 and 8 day itinerary vs the previous 4 and 5 day trips. I would lean toward the new itinerary of the the 6 and 8 day cruises. It is just an opinion. I do agree with your pricing comment. All in, Mobile is more expensive. Mobile, AL is an expensive city for flights. I live in the area and if I need to fly, I drive to Pensacola.

 

I'm sure the itinerary is a factor but either way, the Spirit is commanding a higher price on many of the voyages over the next 4 months than either Mardi Gras or Celebration.

Edited September 15, 2023 by ray98

[mz-s]

On 9/15/2023 at 11:04 AM, ray98 said:

 

I'm sure the itinerary is a factor but either way, the Spirit is commanding a higher price on many of the voyages over the next 4 months than either Mardi Gras or Celebration.

 

Carnival just wishes they could fill a bigger ship in Mobile I'm sure. I bet they'll put the Sunshine there once they slot a bigger ship, like Magic, into Norfolk.

[tidecat]

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Carnival just wishes they could fill a bigger ship in Mobile I'm sure. I bet they'll put the Sunshine there once they slot a bigger ship, like Magic, into Norfolk.

I wonder if Carnival would consider consolidating the Alaska service from Seattle from two smaller ships (Luminosa, Spirit) to one larger ship. I actually think Seattle would be a good option for Firenze, with it doing winters in Long Beach. Panorama would still hold down the 6-8 day Mexican Riviera route, and Radiance would do the shorter cruises year-round out of Long Beach. Luminosa could then stay in Australia year round, or spend the US summer season in Long Beach (in place of Firenze, which would be in Seattle), or if the market supports it, Seattle. Spirit could stay in Mobile year round.

 

I think Mobile needs to re-establish itself as a year-round market before it gets a larger ship, mainly because any larger ship is going to have fewer options for getting from one side of North America to the other.

Edited September 17, 2023 by tidecat

[shof515]

1 hour ago, tidecat said:

I wonder if Carnival would consider consolidating the Alaska service from Seattle from two smaller ships (Luminosa, Spirit) to one larger ship. I actually think Seattle would be a good option for Firenze, with it doing winters in Long Beach.

 

I am very surprised Carnival is not competing with other cruise lines that sail out of Seattle with the big mega ships:
NCL has the Encore and Bliss
Royal has the Quantum Of The Seas and Ovation Of The Seas

Seattle has the capacity for these big ships, its kind of odd carnival is sticking to two smaller ship

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, tidecat said:

I think Mobile needs to re-establish itself as a year-round market before it gets a larger ship, mainly because any larger ship is going to have fewer options for getting from one side of North America to the other.

 

And I think that is also why they're putting Sunshine in Norfolk at first. They need to establish Norfolk and give Mobile time to re-establish itself. Then they can move the ships around.

[mz-s]

3 minutes ago, shof515 said:

 

I am very surprised Carnival is not competing with other cruise lines that sail out of Seattle with the big mega ships:
NCL has the Encore and Bliss
Royal has the Quantum Of The Seas and Ovation Of The Seas

Seattle has the capacity for these big ships, its kind of odd carnival is sticking to two smaller ship

 

Carnival is happy with their parent brands Princess and HAL business in Alaska is my guess.

[CarnivalShips480]

I would love to see a big Carnival ship in Seattle. When Encore was built in 2019 it started Alaska/Miami right away. Maybe the next newbuild Carnival ship can be Panama canal size so they could do a similar thing. (Of course, the next newbuild will be in awhile....)

[brilliantseas]

On 9/7/2023 at 1:20 AM, tidecat said:

The Spirit is a little over 22 years old now.  Sunshine is 27 now, which is how old Spirit will be in five years. Sunshine is scheduled to go to drydock in 2025, so Carnival will likely get 32 years out of her. I would expect the same for Spirit, possibly longer. 

 

Mobile works because it's a convenient place to put a ship outside of the Alaska season. The Spirit class works well for Alaska since it can transit the older Panama Canal locks and has a very high percentage of balcony cabins

 A third ship in New Orleans would be limited to short cruises, which potentially doubles short cruise capacity out of New Orleans. Galveston already has Miracle during the Alaska off-season. Luminosa does her off-season in Brisbane. Tampa serves the same purpose with Europe.

 

Carnival might cycle the Spirit class ships between Baltimore, Brisbane, Tampa, Mobile, and Galveston (and maybe even Jacksonville), but I expect all of them to be in the fleet in 2030. Fantasy was originally scheduled to have spent just shy of 6 years in Mobile (2016-2022), I would expect Spirit to have a similar tenure in Mobile.

 

Keep in mind Star Princess in 2025 is the last scheduled new build across all of Carnival Corporation. There are zero ships on order for 2026, and 2027 may wind up the same way based on remarks made during earnings calls. The existing fleet is going to be here for a while.

 

I would expect Sunshine to remain in the fleet beyond 2028. You're correct regarding Carnival's fleet plan. The ship got a major mid-life update that brought the interior areas of the ship closer to current standards. Unless there are major mechanical concerns with the ship at that point, they'll need to extend the life of the current fleet until they can afford to build two new classes of ship - one to replace the Spirit class in Alaska and the height-restricted ports, and another to replace the Destiny and Conquest class ships. I'd actually put money on Conquest and Glory being retired before Sunshine or Spirit given that the Conquest class ships have not had the benefit of the major mid-life refresh. 

 

Let's hope for a great fiscal 2024 so that Carnival Corp can begin planning for replacements of the Conquest and Spirit class with Carnival, and the Grand class with Princess. 

[tidecat]

Just as an example I found:

 

Both of these are 6 night Western Caribbean sailings departing on November 17, 2024

 

Sprit: Mobile - at sea - at sea - Belize - Cozumel - at sea - Mobile
$499 inside, $609 Ocean View, $649 Balcony, $1,399 suite

 

Horizon - Miami - at sea - Ocho Rios - Grand Cayman - Cozumel - at sea - Miami
$439 inside, $549 Ocean View, $719 Balcony, $1223 suite

 

Granted Horizon crushes Spirit in terms of average revenue yield because of all of the upcharge categories (Havana, Spa, Deluxe Ocean View, etc.). The port taxes should also be higher on the Horizon sailing because of the extra port. Horizon also more ways to separate you from your money once you're onboard that aren't on the Spirit.

[brilliantseas]

3 hours ago, tidecat said:

I wonder if Carnival would consider consolidating the Alaska service from Seattle from two smaller ships (Luminosa, Spirit) to one larger ship. I actually think Seattle would be a good option for Firenze, with it doing winters in Long Beach. Panorama would still hold down the 6-8 day Mexican Riviera route, and Radiance would do the shorter cruises year-round out of Long Beach. Luminosa could then stay in Australia year round, or spend the US summer season in Long Beach (in place of Firenze, which would be in Seattle), or if the market supports it, Seattle. Spirit could stay in Mobile year round.

 

I think Mobile needs to re-establish itself as a year-round market before it gets a larger ship, mainly because any larger ship is going to have fewer options for getting from one side of North America to the other.

 

The smaller ships are ideal for Alaska. Not only can they maneuver into areas where the larger ships cannot, but they also have a higher ratio of balcony staterooms, which are highly desired for Alaskan sailings. 

[jimbo5544]

15 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Carnival is happy with their parent brands Princess and HAL business in Alaska is my guess.

Think you have the “parenting” wrong, but in terms of options, those two brands reign supreme for Alaska with Princess the volume leader but HAL having WAY more options with cruise/land combos.  They simply go places where others do not tread.

[ray98]

14 hours ago, tidecat said:

Just as an example I found:

 

Both of these are 6 night Western Caribbean sailings departing on November 17, 2024

 

Sprit: Mobile - at sea - at sea - Belize - Cozumel - at sea - Mobile
$499 inside, $609 Ocean View, $649 Balcony, $1,399 suite

 

Horizon - Miami - at sea - Ocho Rios - Grand Cayman - Cozumel - at sea - Miami
$439 inside, $549 Ocean View, $719 Balcony, $1223 suite

 

Granted Horizon crushes Spirit in terms of average revenue yield because of all of the upcharge categories (Havana, Spa, Deluxe Ocean View, etc.). The port taxes should also be higher on the Horizon sailing because of the extra port. Horizon also more ways to separate you from your money once you're onboard that aren't on the Spirit.

 

 

Yup....exactly what I was saying earlier.  You can even go a little deeper into next year..... using an inside cabin for example.....a 6 day on 1/14 on the Spirit is $729ea, a 7 day on 1/13 on the Mardi Gras is $679.  People act like Mobile is struggling and it is beating or keeping up with the fares on the flagships.

Edited September 18, 2023 by ray98

[dolphinsfan246]

We love sailing from Mobile so I’m glad to see this. Coming from Ohio it’s one of our easiest drives down. I was very excited to see the longer itineraries from Mobile and we booked the Spirit as soon as that was announced and actually got a really good deal on it ($349 PP, balcony , 8 days) those prices are long gone and the same cruise is going for over double that now. One of the reasons we didn’t cruise from Mobile that often was because the 4&5 day itineraries were so boring. I’m definitely hoping they release even more exciting itineraries in the next 5 years.

[mz-s]

4 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Think you have the “parenting” wrong, but in terms of options, those two brands reign supreme for Alaska with Princess the volume leader but HAL having WAY more options with cruise/land combos.  They simply go places where others do not tread.

yes actually none are parent brands of the other - I should have said sister brands

[MississippiMom]

On 9/6/2023 at 8:35 PM, ledges1 said:

Will the Spirit be around in 5 years? This is good news for Mobile. They need the $s from parking to pay for the bond issue on the cruise terminal and parking deck. It remains empty during the off season. It is difficult with only about 5 months of cruising. I live in the area and prefer New Orleans. Parking in Mobile is $20 a day. That is steep for an 8 day cruise and there are not other parking options in Mobile. You can find reasonable priced parking in NO (Fulton Garage). I am bored with the Conquest Class in New Orleans.

I think "bored" would be putting it nicely for our family.  We never have cared for the Conquest class ship layout, because there are so many times when it feels very crowded.  As a matter of fact, the first time, we said "never again."  But then we "nevered" two more times - Conquest, Glory and Valor.  We are done.  I was super excited to see competition in NOLA from two other cruise lines over the Spring Break 2025 time frame.