Articles tagged “carnival”

You can't bring a T-1 line with you at sea, but cruisers are connecting faster than ever before as cruise lines see a benefit to keeping communication quick and increasing customer loyalty.

After two years of illness and bad press, the cruise industry is ripe for disruption, but Virgin's drawn-out entrance into the hotel sector suggests we won't see Branson at the helm of any ships for several years.

With norovirus outbreaks hitting the cruise industry relatively hard in the beginning of 2014, Costa Cruises, still in recovery mode from the Costa Concordia crash, didn't need a suspected measles outbreak among crew on one of its ships. Neither did the passengers who, according to reports, have so far not come down with the virus.

Increased advertising, lowering cruise prices and trying to win back the hearts and minds of travel agents have been key to Carnival's brand-rebuilding efforts. Advanced bookings for 2014, even though they are on par with last year's lower pricing, have been sluggish, pointing to the challenges ahead for Carnival.

If you thought social travel and trip-planning were hard, just consider online cruise booking, where travel agents and the phone are still the predominant tools.

Carnival CEO Arnold Donald is likely asserting himself with these changes, as some of the old guard loses its grip and management gets a refresh. Although Buckelew isn't exactly an insurgent, having been at the top ranks of Princess for almost a decade.

Some Caribbean nations aren't nearly as cruise-dependent as the industry would have you believe, but others still rely heavily on the jobs and cash flow the ships provide.

Carnival is evidently enlisting its friends in the media for its recovery tour, but it knows this is going to take a long time anyway.