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Carnival Cruise Ship News 2013 Updates/Accidents/Incidents
- Details
- Written by Chavdar
Regularly updated Carnival cruise news - 2013 Carnival cruise accidents/incidents. Latest Carnival cruise ship news updates/itinerary changes/new itineraries. Integrated with Carnival cruise ships.
Our Carnival Cruise Lines news survey as data is based on the official Carnival news website (press releases), Carnival.com, some "under the hood" news/updates from the Funville forum, various online media sources.
Carnival itinerary changes 2013
- Carnival VALOR San Juan Puerto Rico - relocation from Miami to Puerto Rico (San Juan) to operate the 7-day Southern Caribbean Carnival cruise to Barbados in 2013 (the ship's new schedule starts on February 10).
- Carnival VICTORY Miami - the Victory ship's new schedule starts on February 4, with a set of brand new itineraries from Miami - 4-day Key West Cozumel and 5-day Bahamas (Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, Nassau).
- Carnival DESTINY - Carnival Sunshine - the Destiny ship was transformed into the new Carnival Sunshine!
- Carnival CONQUEST Miami - the ship will change again its home port in 2013, this time replacing New Orleans with Miami.
- Carnival FREEDOM Eastern Caribbean - new itinerary from Fort Lauderdale.
- Carnival LEGEND Europe 2013/Australia 2014! The list of Carnival Legend 2013 big changes includes Baltic cruises from Dover, England (12-day Baltic Sea, Norwegian Fjords, Scandinavia and Russia, British Isles) and several 12-day Mediterranean cruises from Venice and Barcelona. But the even bigger changes are about to be revealed on May 28, 2013 - because the Legend ship will offer Australia cruises from Sydney in 2014 Summer!
- Carnival MIRACLE 2013 Alaska/Hawaii/Mexico - the classic 15-day Hawaii Islands and Ensenada, and the 7-day Mexican Riviera to Cabo and Vallarta. Since the Miracle ship is the replacement for the Carnival Spirit on the West Coast, she will also offer the Carnival 7-day Alaska cruise deals from Seattle WA.
- Carnival SPLENDOR 2013 NYC New York - 8-day Eastern Caribbean, regularl New York cruise to Florida and Bahamas stopping in Port Canaveral, the exclusive Half Moon Cay island and Nassau.
- The new ship Carnival SUNSHINE itinerary/schedule. A result of the US $155 million dollar refit and refurbishment of the old Destiny ship - to be transformed into the new and shiny Carnival Sunshine. The Sunshine will operate several 9- and 12-day Med cruises while in Europe, followed by a Transatlantic repositioning to New Orleans LA - the new home-port of the newest Carnival cruise ship 2013. Sunshine will also operate 7-day round-trips from New Orleans to Eastern and Western Caribbean.
Carnival cruise news 2013
- The updated list of ships with the Carnival all you can drink package (new alcohol included package by the "Cheers" bar program). More and more "Best Fun Ships" offering alcohol all inclusive deals! May 2013 update - new Cheers package price on some ships!
- Carnival swaps the old Carnival Bar credit coupons with a Cruise Cash account - you can pre-purchase bar/photo credits which will be applied to your S&S card.
- Carnival Fascination 5-day Bahamas itinerary change and Carnival Ecstasy Bahamas itinerary change - to visit CocoCay (Little Stirrup Cay of Royal Caribbean!) instead of Key West Florida .Coco Cay is a tendering port of call and a privately owned by RCCL island.
- CCL is going to pump a whole bunch of cash into fixing the mechanical problems - $300+ million on a new fleet-wide Carnival ship refurbishment&renovation program/dry-dock schedule. By the Fun Ship 2.0 program (started in 2011) a total of 14 Carnival ships will be "updated" by upgrading their onboard venues and programs. At the above link you can also see the complete list of ships scheduled to be refurbished - at the Carnival-big cost of around half a billion dollars - go get a candy-heart and read the stuff!
- an honorable act of good will - Carnival Corporation will voluntarily repay US Government for the help CCL received from the US Coast Guard and Navy related to fire incidents on Triumph (2013) and Splendor (2010). By submitting a payment to the US Treasury, Carnival will reimburse the federal government for all costs related to these two incidents - Splendor incident (USCG $1,5 mill, US Navy $1,9 mill) and Triumph incident (USCG $800). Carnival officially stresses that no agencies have requested remuneration, but the company has made this decision voluntarily. It all started with the US Sen J.Rockefeller asking in an open letter to CCL whether the company would repay the US Gov for the Triumph and Splendor cases. Some of the most popular comments on the CCL's decision are that they shouldn't pay, it's the USCG job to do rescue operations, the money's already in the budget, and that this act sets an awful lot of precedents.
- see the video for the biggest Carnival cruise ship Carnival Pinnacle - the largest Carnival ship ever to be build sometimes in the near future!
- How about a Carnival cruise tracker showing your ship's current location/AIS position on a digital map? Well, this is a link, alright!
Carnival cruise news 2014
- CCL extended its loyalty program offering a Carnival shareholder benefit 2013 through 2014 July (giving an OBC to passengers who own at least 100 CCL shares).
- (May 10, 2013) There will be no Carnival Europe/UK cruises in 2014. In an official letter, the Carnival UK's Managing Director Adolfo Perez says Carrnival will relocate its ships out of UK and Europe. This decision is based on, quote, "market conditions, increasing air fares, and the fact that most of [CCL's] guests are from the US... we never expected the UK market to fill up those ships... We rely very heavily on the US to fill ships out of Europe and UK, and with the airline tickets pricing being so high, it's been difficult. Our guests are mainstream America and the costs of air fares is pricing them out", end of quote.
Carnival cruise ship accidents/incidents 2013
- Carnival Dream (St Maarten/technical)
- Carnival Triumph (engine fire, mooring)
- Carnival Legend (mechanical problems)
- Carnival Elation (mechanical)
- Carnival Ecstasy (mechanical)
- Carnival Spirit (passengers overboard)
- Carnival Miracle (cruise ship virus/Norovirus).
Carnival Cruise Line news 2013 - the "bad media" coverage
An intelligently-smart person would say "bad media produce nothing but ignorant and stupid people". A street-smart person would say "bad media produce cattle infused with negativity". A philosopher probably would say something like "bad media produce bad people". And they all would be right - because bad media produces good ratings and bad/evil people. It's true that most people tend to be superfluous, knowing their lives only on the surface. They tend to enjoy shallow and easy digestible "true stories" from authoritative media sources, like Reuters, AP (Associated Press), NPR (National Public Radio), and in our Internet times - the online "truth" from ABC News, CNN, Yahoo News, MSN News, etc.
First of all, I totally disagree with all the "bad media" references to Carnival as "the cruise line of problems". It surely was a rough sea and a most tough time for CCL. Most of the big media companies described messy "Carnival experiences" of myriads of passengers - stranded, worried, unhappy, suffering miserable and disgusting conditions. These "only truths" were spurred by both online and print media groups in February and March 2013. It all started with the Triumph engine room fire. Then the "embarrassing" mechanical problems with Dream and Legend happened - and a second rogue wave raised from the "bad media" sea mentioning Carnival once again as the "bad ships experience" line. At the following media analysis you can see details on how CCL was "media treated" in those days (all numbers below are with approximate values).
| War-days dates | number of articles published | number of audience reach | "negativity-positivity" over time |
| Feb 10 (Triumph fire) | 200 | 30 million | 0 |
| Feb 11 | 450 | 300 million | -2 |
| Feb 13 | 650, to reach ~1400 at day's end | 750 million | -5 |
| Feb 15 | 1800 | 850 million | -4,7 |
| Feb 17 | 150 | 200 mill | -5 |
| Feb 19 | 200, to reach ~400 at day's end | 100 mill | -3,8 |
| Feb 21 | 100 | 50 mill | -3,5 |
| Feb 23 | less than 30 a day | less than 10 million a day | -2,5 |
| Feb 25 | -1,5 | ||
| Feb 27 | 0 | ||
| March 1 | -4 | ||
| March 3 | 0 | ||
| March 5 | +5 | ||
| March 7 | +3 | ||
| March 9 | 0 | ||
| March 11 | 30 | 30 mill | -1,5 |
| March 13 - Legend (Azipods) | 200 | 300 million | +1,8 |
| March 14 - Dream (St Maarten, back-up generator) | 450 | 300 mill | -5 |
| March 15 | 400 | 400 million | -3 |
| March 17 | less than 50 | 50 mill. | --5,5. |
"bad Carnival cruise ship" news - the "bad guys" & money talk
Did you noticed how the populous when charged with negativity goes to the extreme minus? And when left to their senses to reconsider what is what and why, people change their minds rather quickly in the plus direction? While the above numbers are only news-pick values, the numbers that follow are based on page views/comments counters. See also the Top 10 in the anti-Carnival cruise online news alliance. In [brackets] - what media they work for, and the number of articles they've produced in the "Carnival ship accidents" period. Take notice of the fact, that 7 of the top 10 journalists covering the Carnival news were from national or international media companies with significant reach (AP and Reuters), and that 7 of the top 10 media companies also have a huge national and international reach (CNN, Yahoo, MSN).
- the total "bad Carnival news" audience reach of coverage was 3,9 billion readers.
- the total advertising value of the "bad Carnival cruise ship news" campaign alone was US $13,5 million.
- top 10 anti-Carnival journalists: RamitMasti [for AP, 159], Jay Reeves [AP, 136], Kaija Wilkinson [for Reuters, 128], Brendan Farrington [AP, 36], Curt Anderson [AP, 35], Molly Fiske [for LA Times, 35], Bill Chappell [for NPR, 34], Tom Stieghorst [for Travel Weekly, 23], Juan Lozano [AP, 22] and Ginger Otis [for NY Daily News, 20].
- top 10 anti-Carnival online media sources: Cruise Addicts [125], CNN [102], New York Daily News [54], Examiner [52], Yahoo News [46], MSN News [46], Chicago Tribune [44], ABC News [42], Orlando Sentinel [42] and Reuters [42].
They all have being manipulating their markets since day one - to make money out of bad news. While it's a plain fact that anything can happen just anywhere anytime, it seems the mass-market/mainstream human mind likes so much to dwell on the negatives rather than on the positives. People like to blame people, products, companies, institutions, God, the angels, the devils. And it's the sad truth - people don't like to like.
"bad Carnival" news means "bad cruise industry" (the impact)
A lot of cable news networks took the "bad Carnival Triumph" story and turned it into the world's most important US news of all times. CNN in particular should be ashamed for its ridiculous to absurd excess in covering this accident. About the industry impact:
- the CCL shares price declined 9,8% compared to the end of 2012. Major cruise lines stock prices changes because of the 2013 accidents (March 14 data): CCL [-1,43%], Royal Caribbean/RCL [+1,28%], NCL/NCLH [-0,97%]. Stock exchange analysts still rate the CCL stock a strong buy.
- cruise travel agents. Many reinforced their hard feelings toward CCL, some praised CCL's reactions for handling the situation. Many expressed confidence that the 2013's strong cruise booking rates would not be affected.
- cruise travel deals. Cruise bookings in North America, and the cruise prices 2013 are much higher than were in 2012. Still, there are record levels of cruise cancellations and low bookings from new cruisers. Apparently, quite a number of travelers were "impressed" by the "bad Carnival" reports.
- first-timer cruisers. Some potential cruisers may not want to get on a Carnival – or any other - cruise ship at all. No one mentions these days that ~120 million people over the last decade have got on a cruise - incidents free.
- too much media - not healthy for business. Cruise ship incidents get more and more attention than is really warranted. It looks like they've replaced the plane crashes with the cruise incidents/accidents as news anchors. The industry became fodder for late night TV comedians. While in general travelers are tolerant of problems that happen on cruise ships, obviously too many people took this to heart, cancelling their cruise deals and booking land-based vacations instead.
When you tarnish the name of the world's largest cruise line, you tarnish the name of the world's cruise line industry. More and more people would think of the whole business as a "bunch of big greedy ship owners legally robbing their customers by selling a product that's not so great as advertised". And where is the truth here? Is the Carnival product a bad product?
the "bad Carnival" news cost - the money facts
- the cruise line industry in 2011 contributed over US $40 billion to the US economy.
- ~17,6 million people in North America alone will take a cruise in 2013.
- pricing data shows Carnival cruise prices in Spring 2013 dropped ~20% or more for equivalent deals. Observers blamed the hot headlines over Carnival ships problems. As an example, 7-day Carnival Dream Eastern Caribbean cruise deals from Port Canaveral in May 4, 2013, were traded $300 pp - in 2012 similar CCL cruise would have been at least $400 or higher.
- luckily for the industry, this price dropping issue is 100% CCL and not all cruise lines. According to official Priceline data, CCL prices for April through June are: -20% (Alaska), -18% (Bermuda), -21% (Mediterranean), Carnival Glory Canada cruise deals for July 2013, for example, are -40% (US $480 pp) compared to December 2012 (US $800 pp).
CCL has a great product. CCL means convenient departure ports, cheap cruise deals, great amenities. CCL remains a popular cruise travel choice. Carnival Corp is a huge company trying its best to make huge profits to keep its shareholders happy. And also to increase its market share - aggressively. This is done with low prices, huge discounts, and probably - as all them big players do - with squeezing its suppliers. This is the big money world, where big players play their big games. Probably many people could blame Carnival Corp for many things. But when bad things happen, and the media speaks its news-money mind, lets not forget the many thousands of cruise lines employees. They all work hard, playing by the rules, putting their heart into what they do every day, pursuing their dreams for a better life. They are and always will be our true friends out there, and the real heroes. They are the best part of the Carnival product, and they deserve our thanks - for their loyalty and support, and for all our fun time at sea.
You can share/like our "Carnival Cruise News Updates" article via the social buttons below. Lets hope for only good Carnival news - without cruise incidents and accidents, and definitely without the shamelessly bad media conspiracy against The Fun line and its satisfied customers - us! ShipCruise.org has been and always will be a pro-Carnival Cruise Lines website. CCL will continue to dominate the market for big cheap ship cruises - no matter what. Simply because they are the most fun line and the richest of them all. Good luck with the business, Carnival, and thank you for being The Fun line! Happy and safe sailings!