Carnival eyes fly-cruise boost

AMIDST the fanfare of Carnival Splendor debuting in the Australian market this week (TD yesterday), the line’s Senior Vice President - Global Sales & Trade Marketing Adolfo Perez was also in town to talk up what developments are on the horizon in the American market.

Speaking to TD on board Splendor, Perez underscored the importance of Australia as a source market for its suite of products in the United States.

“Obviously the United States is a huge market for us, it’s our number one source market, but our number two market is Australia by a long way, in fact our next largest market is only half of what Australia does for us,” he said.

Perez also revealed the cruise line had a number of drivers coming up to encourage growth in Australia’s emerging fly-cruise segment.

“We have some great news for our Australian guests out of the US, Panorama is launching her seven-day Mexican Riviera out of Long Beach, California, which is perfect for the Australian market because it’s easy to get to with just one flight to Los Angeles,” Perez enthused.

“And then of course we are launching our very first XL-Class ship Mardi Gras debuting on 31 Aug - so there is plenty to be excited about,” he added.

Mardi Gras’ maiden sailing will depart Copenhagen in Denmark bound for Southhampton, United Kingdom, before doing a transAtlantic cruise to New York and repositioning to Port Canaveral.

Pictured: Carnival Splendor as she prepares to embark on her maiden Sydney journey.