Carnival Share Discussion Threads

[stupmy] 05/6/2020 07:45

Yes Knarf, that's what I was feeling.

[seanmiller] 04/6/2020 23:48

It didn't, at least not to the extent they warned you about.

[smurfy2001] 04/6/2020 23:16

If you look at the queues at McDonalds it's as though Covid never happened 😂

[rettah] 04/6/2020 23:00

Currently trading around $18.5 in US, equivalent to about £14 here.

[scottish007] 04/6/2020 19:40

Thanks for the ride Carnival.
Ironically a cancelled Marella Cruise bought these shares.
Need boats at sea before l’ll be back.

[stupmy] 04/6/2020 09:00

Further delays to getting some cruises going again. RNS this morning.



I have to say I'm struggling a bit with LSE's new website.

[kirtonender9] 03/6/2020 15:42

Apologies. Thanks for the link.

[andy flower] 03/6/2020 14:00

I am out of CCL as of last week. I meant Saudis will not be happy about CCL leaving FTSE100. Having said that they could easily be back next year or already in Sep. For now the MA, RSI, CCI and Bollinger all showing a pull back. I will start adding from £8.50 in tranches. So far CCL has been very good to me :).

[blusteradjuster] 03/6/2020 13:17

Sailing again in October?

Just in time for a seasonal resurgence of the virus.

Oh dear.

[pierre oreilly] 03/6/2020 12:33

Haven't they made a quarter a billion dollars already?

Not sure about you, but they seem a lot cleverer than me atm, judging by gains over the last couple of months.

How about you, are you doing better than the saudis?

[andy flower] 03/6/2020 11:29

Let's wait and see how clever the Saudis were with their investment into CCL.

[andy flower] 03/6/2020 11:24

150th currently and will be eliminated from FT100.

[kirtonender9] 03/6/2020 07:31

Why will it be kicked out - it's in 49th place by market Cap

[goldrush] 03/6/2020 00:02

Pierre

Many thanks for the information.

[sutton3] 02/6/2020 18:06

It is normal for a share to suffer being delisted from The 100.
More importantly is how many ships will be able to sail into or out of USA when the second surge of the virus strikes?

[yasyas1] 02/6/2020 14:48

Do you all think the share price will drop dramatically when this is licked out of ftse100 nxt wk??

[onehanded] 02/6/2020 11:46

Modern Water MWG Having invested GBP20m over the last 14 years, the results comprise of a robust patent portfolio of cutting edge technology, focused on monitoring of contaminated water and decontamination of wastewater. Now partnership with SKIN in real time virus and other contamination in real time report. Waiting for contracts all over the world, UK looking to and that would be interesting. We will see BUT DYOR please.

[arai] 02/6/2020 11:44

Found it, MWG :o)

[arai] 02/6/2020 11:41

I agree the waste water testing shown up infections far quicker than anything else non invasive. I can't though find out anything about leading companies in this area.

MGW ??

[onehanded] 02/6/2020 10:40

Now Cruises pushed back to Oct 15th, as no one wants a possible 3,000 passengers in their town or Island on a visit. Time to install Waste virus detection units to the ships to give their Customers confidence that it can get any virus outbreaks under control quickly and ports they call. May be whats ports insist to use them. Good news MWG (Corrected) and Skin a UK company have the technology with real time 4 - 6 seconds detection and report. Await news on them with possible contract to come. This delay and possible again delayed start to 2021 will put a break on any more share price rise here i'm afraid as a holder from £16.

[rizler] 01/6/2020 15:39

On the move!

[pierre oreilly] 01/6/2020 13:12

Th shareholder benefit isn't a 10% discount! It's an on-board credit and varies with the line you're sailing with, and the length of the cruise and sometimes the cabin you're in. It has to be approved and can change each year i think, although i haven't noticed any changes for several years.

On p&O, it's worth £150 (per cabin, not per customer) on a 22 day (or more) cruise, £30 on a 1 day cruise.

On cunard, $250 on a 14 day in a balcony, $50 on a 1 day (and other prices inbetween).

It's all on their various websites. You have to apply each time and prove share ownership.

[goldrush] 31/5/2020 23:11

Pierre Oreilly

My wife and I very much love cruising.With regards to the share owners discount what are the rules ? Say for my missus and myself if I book a voyage and own 100 shares in my name do I get 10% discount on both tickets ?

If the shares are held in my name J Goldrush as part of my pension fund e.g. Dunmore Pension fund scheme No1234 re J Goldrush would that we acceptable to Cunard booking office sales assistants ?

TIA.

g

[sambuca] 31/5/2020 09:28

Another interview from Cruise critic. Quite long but interesting read.

Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald: Science Will Drive Cruise Changes and Return Dates
Composite photo of two ships in the Caribbean and Arnold Donald, CEO and President of Carnival CorporationArnold Donald, CEO and President of Carnival Corporation
May 27, 2020


Chris Gray Faust
Managing Editor
(12:45 p.m. EDT) -- Scientific and medical discoveries and advances will dictate any changes and protocols that Carnival Corporation and its nine cruise lines implement before they return, CEO and President Arnold Donald said.

In an exclusive interview with Cruise Critic, Donald said it's too soon to tell what exact changes cruisers will see on ships once they return to service, but he vowed that whatever protocols are put in place would follow guidelines put out by global health authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.


"If we let the science community and the medical community do their thing in the coming weeks, there'll be more alignment around what are the most effective protocols to mitigate the spread of COVID-19," Donald said. "Within that, along with working with others in the industry and the experts, we'll be able to develop the protocols that'll put cruise at the forefront in public health and again, great vacation experience."

While more information continues to come out about COVID-19, Donald is loath to put a specific date on when the nine brands under the Carnival Corp. umbrella will resume cruises. Sailings on Carnival Cruise Line have been canceled through August 1, while other brands such as Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn Cruises, have stopped itineraries until fall.

But Donald predicted that clarity will come in the next six to eight weeks. "I don't know when we'll sail again," he said. "I think there's going to be so much more alignment around what makes sense from a public health standpoint regarding this virus in the coming weeks than there has been. … The more clarity there is, the easier it's going to be to organize around it."


Changing Information
Purell hand sanitizer with sinks in the background, and sign encouraging passengers to wash their hands (Photo: Cruise Critic)
Since the CDC issued its "no sail" ruling in mid-April, Carnival Corp. has been working with the government organization to follow appropriate protocols, Donald said -- although he stressed that the CDC isn't the only health organization out there for a global organization to satisfy.

"We go to 700 destinations around the world," he said. "Everybody's got their own rules and regulations, and we have to abide by them all."

What's made his corporation reluctant to announce hard and fast changes is that the information about the virus keeps evolving, week by week, Donald said. A few examples he quoted: Concerns first centered around the virus being spread through HVAC systems and on surfaces; now the science points more toward face-to-face transmission.

"You heard a lot about testing early on. Now you hear that it should be multiple testing. You heard about temperature checks in the past. Now they're saying temperature checks may be indeterminate. … There's so much data being generated right now everywhere in the world … things are starting to open up and everybody's doing it a little bit differently, so there will be lots of data, lots of things to compare and contrast."

The same state of flux can apply to cruisers who are older, or who might have pre-existing conditions. In mid-March, the lines were doing temperature scans and requiring doctor notes. "Today I would say that school is out on all of that. … We'll see if those things need to persist. … Any protocols that are in place that people might perceive as barriers will only be in place because the best information at the time says it's in the best interest of public health."

Donald stressed that no matter what guidelines the CDC and other government organizations come up with, Carnival Corp. and its brands will comply -- and noted that the company has tried to do so, even as the virus evolved over the spring.

"Whatever the CDC said, we did," he said. "The epidemiology of this thing is still not totally well understood, so things kept changing and not just with the CDC but everywhere in the world. Whatever the rules were, we followed them.

"We're not trying to out expert the experts. Of course, we participate in discussions. We have perspective. Sometimes we have data. Sometimes we think we may have some insights. Obviously, we always appreciate the opportunities to share those, but in the end whatever the rules are, we're going to be compliant with them."

August 1 Return Announcement "Insightful Mistake"
Exterior on Carnival Breeze
Until cruises resume, almost all of the cruise lines -- not just those with Carnival Corp. -- have been canceling sailings at a staggered pace, generally on a month-to-month basis. While this approach has been essential for the lines to try to keep up with issuing future cruise credits and refunds, a recent Carnival Cruise Line announcement turned out to be "one of the most insightful mistakes we've ever made," Donald said.

In early May, the line issued a news release that seemed to detail a return to service on August 1, starting with eight ships out of three ports. In reality, that announcement was more meant to note that additional voyages had been canceled, Donald said -- but that's not how consumers and the media interpreted it.

"It wasn't a pronouncement that we were going to come back August 1," he said. "We're waiting to see how things evolve and develop."

What made the mistake so insightful is that bookings for those August cruises "went through the roof," Donald said. "They just jumped at that point, showing the pent-up demand there is. … Starting out, it's unlikely that we're going to have a demand challenge whenever we do start sailing again, whether it's August 1, prior to that or later."

So if August 1 isn't the official return date, what is? "The world is going to tell us," Donald said. "Destinations are going to open when they decide to open. It's not going to be us telling them. The things that are going to drive that is the citizens' relative appetite for risk and the extent to which they've experience COVID-19. … We'll just have to see where it goes, but the destinations are going to rule the day."

No Consolidation Plans
Panorama Deck on Eurodam
With brands such as Holland America Line and Seabourn Cruises experiencing later return dates, as well as widespread layoffs a few weeks ago and line presidents Orlando Ashford and Rick Meadows leaving, many cruisers have speculated Carnival Corp. might consolidate or weaken some of their favorite brands.

Arnold ruled out that possibility, noting that the nine brands under Carnival Corp. are all different and appeal distinctly to different types of passengers. "The reason that we have nine differentiated brands is because they are organized around guests. So as long as there's a pool of guests large enough to make those brands financially successful and viable, then we're going to have the brands. At this point, we see no reason to consolidate the brands.

"There are some ships and maybe even some brands that try to be all things to all people, but that's not us."

Again, it's geography that will drive which brands return to service first, Donald stressed. Carnival is mostly in the Caribbean, whereas a luxury line like Seabourn prides itself on itineraries that span the globe.

"What it's likely to look like in the beginning is that all the destinations won't open at once. So it's likely to look at reduced ships in any given fleet, initially. We'll start with a few ships because there will be probably only be a few destinations. … Then as more destinations and itineraries open up, you'll bring in the rest of the ships to service.

"We just have to wait and see."

Onboard Changes Still Debated
Lido Marketplace on Carnival Horizon
As the medical and science communities work through COVID-19 study and destinations evaluate their risk, Carnival Corp. has been studying different ways that the cruise experience will have to change to meet the challenges that the virus presents.

Donald said that the company was researching everything from embarkation and the terminal environment to cleaning protocols and dining and shows -- and everything in between.

"When you're on the ship, if you're in a cabin, you're already socially distanced," he said. "So the issue is more the public spaces on the ship and also sufficient capacity to handle if there's spread that occurred on land that people brought on that is discovered on the ship."

A few thoughts being kicked around that Donald mentioned, without committing to any as changes cruisers should expect: Mandatory room service one night to reduce the number of people needing dining menus in the restaurants. Spreading more people from the main dining room to other dining experiences. Reducing show lengths and adding more of them. Putting empty seats in the theater between couples.

Buffets have been mentioned as a form of dining that might go away in the post-COVID-era, but Donald stressed that there are ways to have buffets with servers that are more protected than the traditional self-serve approach. When ships have norovirus outbreaks, for example, servers step in and dish out the food, rather than people using the tongs themselves.

What's more likely to change with a buffet is the queuing and the lines, rather than the choice of casual option, Donald said. "There might be some distancing or something so people aren't all together around the same service station," he said.

Lines and preventing people from being bunched together are definitely something that the cruise lines will have to address, he said. "Queuing might change. You might not be able to go out and line up in front of a restaurant. But we'll see."

A big question with many cruisers is whether masks will be required onboard. Donald said that he's not willing to commit but said that "initially whether it's required or not, some guests will choose to (wear them) on their own." For the crew, it depends on timing and what the public health recommendations are.

"Whatever the rules are, we'll follow them. Obviously, wearing masks in certain places like the theater is probably not as taxing as trying to wear it during dinner when you're trying to eat. But we'll see what happens with all that. Society and people adapt. They figure things out."

Working With Destinations
Half Moon Cay Port
To get ships back in the water faster, some cruisers have expressed interest in itineraries that concentrate on the popular private islands. Carnival Corp. has several islands in the Caribbean, including Half Moon Cay and Princess Cay, as well as custom-built ports such as Grand Turk and Amber Cove.

But Donald said that he'd rather return in partnership with destinations. "That makes for a more interesting experience for the guest, and obviously it's an economic driver for the people of those places."

As the pandemic unfolded, cruise ships ran into issues with different ports turning away cruise ships, even if there were no COVID-19 cases onboard. But Donald said that the company wouldn't hold any grudges.

"At the time, people didn't know what they didn't know. Everybody was trying to do what they thought was best, in trying to honor their obligation for public health excellence. … We prefer science to rule the day, but at the same time, human beings are human beings, and in a state of uncertainty, we don't begrudge anybody anything."

At the same time, Donald said that the company would be as proactive as possible with destinations to share protocols and information to avoid unscheduled itinerary changes or ships being turned away.

Cruiser Loyalty
Boarding Area on Carnival Glory
Cruisers who are booked on the first sailings out do have a higher chance of having their itinerary adjusted, in terms of ports, as well as possibly more stringent health protocols onboard, he said. But port changes also happen during hurricane season, and travelers adjust.

The most touching thing to come out of the pandemic is cruiser loyalty and the concern that many avid cruisers have shown for the crew, Donald said.

"This is devastating for the travel and tourism industry…" he said. "It's been very hard for cruise because we have all those cabin stewards, the chefs, the wait staff, all these people whose livelihoods are dependent on this and who live every day to exceed the guest expectations. They're not able to do that."

In the end, Donald predicts that cruising will return strong -- and with stellar health and safety protocols.

"We want cruise to absolutely continue to be the greatest vacation experience and the greatest vacation value there is," he said. "We want people to be able to cruise knowing that they're at minimum as safe from a public health standpoint as they would be in any other form of social gathering -- and hopefully even safer."

Sam