CARNIVAL GOING LONG WITH EXTENDED TRIPS
Cruises of 9 to 15 days offer more ports, local focus and blasts from the past
When do you decide to “go long?” Anyone who has played touch or flag football knows that at some point in these fun games, the quarterback will call at least one play for all his receivers to “go long.”
That’s what Carnival, the largest cruise line in the world, has decided to do. Branded Carnival Journeys, “going long” in Carnival speak means cruises of nine to 15 days that will run from next fall though the first half of 2016 (in doing so, Carnival’s moving from its bread-and-butter comfort zone of mainly three- to eight-day cruises).
The move also means resetting the GPS, as some of the ports have rarely been visited by Carnival ships — Bonaire, Aruba, Curaçao, Barbados, Martinique, Grenada, and Ixtapa and La Paz, Mexico.
Terry Thornton, Carnival’s senior vice-president of Fleet Development and Port Operations, elaborated: “We have spread our departure points out across North America: Baltimore, Port Canaveral, Tampa, Southern Florida and across the bottom of the U.S. from New Orleans, Galveston to Los Angeles.”
He added there will be “no amalgamation of cruises, where in some cases you stop at the same port twice. Every trip ? no repeat ports.”
I suggested these were developed to give loyal Carnival cruisers a chance to stretch their legs.
“Partly right,” he added. “We also saw this as an opportunity to introduce our core supporters to going long but also to introduce a new audience to Carnival.”
So with longer cruises, some with several sea days (Hawaii as an example), how do you keep cruisers from getting bored?
“We just don’t want to give them a longer cruise,” Thornton replied. “Each journey has to be a unique onboard experience. For example, Authentic Eats will partner with local restaurants to show our guests how to cook signature and local dishes of the country we’re visiting.”
Local entertainment will feature the music of the country — calypso, soca and goombay — either outside in the port or on the ship. Experts will teach and offer advice on everything from cooking, arts, digital photography and social media.
But I’m not sure if my stomach can handle “Throwback Tuesday.”
“I know,” Thornton says, laughing, “but on each cruise we’re going back to 1987 when baked alaska and, yes, the Midnight Buffet were the norm.”
Carnival is putting its toe in the water with 28 cruises that are part of the first release, with more coming as the schedule rolls out.
“The first one will be a one-way cruise on October 4,” said Thornton, “when the Carnival Dream sails from New Orleans to San Juan over 11 days. This will be the only cruise out of the ‘Mardi Gras’ city that takes in Bermuda with an overnight stay.”
Price for a balcony is attractive — under $100 a night.
It’s an interesting juxtaposition for Carnival Corporation, as sister line Princess Cruises — known for longer sailings — started doing three- to five-day cruises out of South Florida and California a few years ago.
It won’t take long to determine if Carnival’s going to be successful in the long-cruise market. Just watch the prices. If they go up, it’s a winner for the cruise line.