.jpg)
The customer is not always right, or at least not always right according to the company’s bottom line.
Just because people want something doesn’t necessarily make sense for a company to give it to them. For example, Red Lobster customers wanted as much shrimp as they could get for $20. The chain gave them shrimp, and those customers ate so much shrimp that it helped push the company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Related: Carnival Cruise Considers Bringing Back Cruise Ship Tradition
Cruise companies have to balance passengers’ desires with profits all the time. For example, Royal Caribbean removed the “Classics” section from its main menu, meaning customers can no longer eat steak, chicken, salmon and New York-style bolognese every night.
These dishes were a nice safety blanket for people who didn’t like the menu choices that night, but serving them led to increased costs and food waste. Their withdrawal angered people, but the cruise line’s growing sales and profits suggest it made the right choice.
Carnival Cruise Line has made similar decisions. It no longer offers the midnight buffet that was once a staple on cruises. It has also dropped its popular association with DreamWorks and reduced cabin service, outside the suites, from twice a day to once.
The cruise company also plans to build new ships, but not ones that many of its passengers want.
Image source:Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival to build 3 new mega ships
For family-friendly cruise lines, the trend has clearly been to build bigger ships than better. That’s the standard set by Royal Caribbean, which has consistently built the world’s largest cruise ship and continues to add only mega-ships to its fleet.
Royal Caribbean’s Carnival won’t challenge the Icon of the Seas for the title of “world’s largest cruise ship,” but it has ordered three new megaships. The cruise line has already ordered two more ships in its Excel line and has placed an order for three ships in a new class.
“With more than 3,000 guest rooms, the new ships will be the largest in Carnival Corporation’s global fleet and will be able to entertain more guests than any ship in the world when carrying nearly 8,000 guests at full capacity,” the cruise company said.
The cruise company has made clear that it will not build the smaller ships that many passengers have requested until at least 2033. Carnival brand ambassador John Heald addressed the issue on his Facebook page in March.
“We have no plans at all to … build smaller ships. It’s not profitable, it’s not affordable, and it’s not something that will attract new cruisers,” Held wrote.
The brand ambassador has given some good news to fans of small ships.
“If we don’t attract the new cruiser we won’t be able to survive, we won’t have the money to continue investing in the smaller ships we have, and we will continue to invest in them,” he added.
Sign up for the Come Cruise With Me newsletter to save money on your next (or first) cruise.
Royal Caribbean has plans to build smaller ships.
Royal Caribbean has ordered two more Icon-class ships and one Oasis-class ship. Those ships are the world’s largest cruise ships, but the cruise company has announced it is building a new, smaller Discovery-class ship.
Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bailey has mentioned the Discovery class on numerous occasions, but no ship has been ordered. He made a definitive statement aboard Icon of the Seas in January about the new class.
“From a brand perspective, we recognize that Radiance and Vision are getting old. We’re working on ideas and concepts around replacing those ships. We’re very actively working on what that would be,” he said. “If we go through the whole process and get the approvals, it’s going to be great.”
Read also: Top Travel Agents Share How to Get the Best Price for Your Cruise
Jewel of the Seas, the newest ship in the Radiance class, was built in 2004. All other members of the Radiance and Vision classes are at least 20 years old.
Many cruise enthusiasts want smaller, modern ships because they can visit ports that larger ships cannot.
Related: Get the best cruise tips, deals and ship news from our cruise experts.
