Carnival Cruise Strategic Alternatives/Recommendations

Answer: Carnival should place a high priority on marketing. They can include more varied activities that should be marketed towards different lifestyles. This will attract more people who would not have considered a cruise in the past. They can offer many promotions that lower the cost of their cruise. The company can also offer a large selection of cruise options, with ports located in many countries around the world. (Source: http://www.echeat.com/essay.php?t=31046).

Example of weaknesses that Carnival Corporation & plc has is their safety record. In early 2012, the Costa Concordia struck off the coast of Isola del Giglio, Italy. In 2013, Carnival Cruise Line’s Triumph reported a fire, which left the ship adrift in the Gulf of Mexico (Carnival Corporation & plc SWOT Analysis, 2016). Among the other cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines have notably been the worse. In 2009, the Center for Disease Control tracked all major outbreaks, about 56% on Carnival cruise lines compared to a 48% average market share from 2009-2011. The company is also accounted for worse safety record for persons lost at sea. Since 2000, about 179 disappearances happened with Carnival Cruise Line alone (Levin , B., Jones, J., & Slade, T., 2012).

Coast4life Inc with the expected downturn situation due to recent terrorist attack on a cruise ship in 2012 and on airline industry would prepare to remain profitable by finding ways to cut cost or generate additional revenue. Target is to recommend the best among the four alternative suggested aiming at 16% after tax return and tax rate of 38%.

Carnival Corporation & plc. is a global company with over 100,000 employees that serve 5 million passengers a year. At the end of 2014 Carnival Corporation & plc. income earnings were $15,884,000 dollars. Tickets sales at $11,889,000 dollars. After paying salaries and other fees Carnival Corporation & plc. income came to $459,000 which is low considering that in 2012 and 2013 income was over $1,070,000 dollars for each year after deducting costs. (Financial Information) The total sales come for the different age demographics, so approximately 50 percent of the predictions for cruise come from the 25-39 age group followed by the 40-59 age group at about 39 percent and the 60 plus age group at 11 percent. (Cruise Demographics)

Health Cruises, Inc. packages cruises to Caribbean islands such as Martinique and the Bahamas. Like conventional cruises, the packages are designed to be fun. But the cruise is structured to help participants become healthier by breaking old habits, such as smoking and overeating. The Miami-based firm was conceived by Susan Isom, 30, a self-styled innovator and entrepreneur. Prior to this venture, she had spent several years in North Carolina promoting a behavior-modification clinic.

They make it enjoyable for all by adding value to the many different activities that they have on and off board. Carnival Cruise wants to be known as a cruise that instills a great time no matter what. Their rapid growth is simply amazing, due to the great people that work on their marketing team. When you think of some of the top companies in the world today, Carnival Cruise has to be one of those companies. They are the leader of the cruise line industry, and they will continue to be the leader of the cruise line industry, because they are able to adapt to the times.

As the number of cruise ships continues to increase in the industry, domination by a few companies continues to rise. Carnival Corporation & plc is one of the largest cruise companies in the world has put orders for three new cruise ships to be built in China. This is in order to have cruise ships that are going to different routes at a time, hence serving a more diverse customer base (Vairo, Quagliati, Del Giudice, Barbucci, & Fabiano, 2017). The company has already almost exhausted the older generation of its customers. Carnival Corporation & plc has however found it hard to attract the younger generation.

Carnival is a leader in the cruise industry and it’s highly likely that the consumers would select this company; as it is also a branded company recognizable on the market it allow the process of word of mouth that lessen the power of the consumers from their self.

On February 2016, Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas set sail off the East Coast of New Jersey with more than 6,000 passengers and 1,500 crew member on board (Almasy, 2016). The passenger ship sailed into a storm which threatened the lives and safety of everybody on board. According to CNN and other new agencies, a lawsuit was filed in a Miami federal court alleging the captain’s negligence in sailing into a well-publicized and forecasted storm. In another case, Royal Caribbean 's Explorer of the Seas was on a 10-day cruise in January when a fast-moving bug left nearly 700 passengers and crew stricken with vomiting and diarrhea. The CDC reports that this is the highest number of sick people reported on any cruise ship in two decades. Yet, in another report, the Eastern Star went down during a storm killing more than 450 people. It 's the deadliest boat disaster in China in almost 70 years Cruise Line Safety: In the last 5 years approximately 1000 people have died on cruise ships which ran aground or sank (Ahmed, 2016). Ironically, there are a lot of people who will never get to experience of going on a cruise because of the fear driven by reports like the aforementioned. In actuality, cruise vacations have a higher percentage of satisfied customers than any other vacation experience. There are a number of compelling reasons why a cruise would be an ideal vacation for family and friends. Taking a cruise can have many different price ranges depending on the location you

This analysis delves into the company’s operation management principles to interpret its successful strategies and offer future recommendations.

It lets others control the story and suggests the organization has yet to gain control of the situation” (p. 4). On January 19, 2012, Carnival posted on Facebook saying “Hi, everyone. Out of respect for all those affected by the recent events surrounding our sister line, Costa cruises, we are going to take a bit of a break from posting on our social channels. We will still be actively listening and answering any questions you have about your past or upcoming cruises, but for now, the majority of our time will be spent focusing on all those affected by this event. We thank you again for all your support” (Facebook, 2012, para. 1). On January 23, 2012, four days after ceasing from updating social channels Carnival corporation suffered false accusations in articles published in the New York Post, The Daily News, and the Huffington Post regarding the compensation plan for victims on the Concordia. In The Huffington Post, Dolan (2012), claimed that a memo sent from Costa Cruise to travel agents offered thirty percent discount on future cruises and was valid for eighteen months. Kennedy (2012), also said that a spokesperson from Costa Cruise told the New York Daily that a thirty percent discount was offered to victims who were willing to stay loyal to the company. In the New York Post, Bennett (2012) said, “representatives of Carnival

Carnival’s value proposition was to be a cheaper alternative to land vacations at all inclusive resorts while providing a variety of activities and destinations in one trip. Carnival was the “fun ship”, providing contemporary vacationing to first-time and repeat cruisers. Because customer retention is low, Carnival uses a more traditional style of marketing, focusing on the short-term customer.

In order to remain competitive in the market and increase hot tube sales, Surfside Leisurescapes must address the following. Failure to respond to these critical issues will decrease sales and weaken the quality of the employee workforce.

Carnival Corporation has four operating groups in charge of their own geographical areas. Carnival Corporation controls all operations in North America, Costa Crociere is in charge of the operation in Europe, other than U.K. which is operated by Carnival UK, and Carnival Australia is in charge of Australia and South Pacific. These individual divisions reported to the executive management of Carnival Corporation & plc, led by Chief Executive Officer Micky Arison. Carnival attributed its success to its ability to manage brand autonomy, with each major cruise line maintaining separate sales, marketing, and reservation offices, as well as through the industry’s most aggressive shipbuilding program.' (Carnival- Mission and History, n.d.)

Once air travel caught the fancy of the vacationing public in the late 1960s, passenger cruise lines were no longer the preferred method of travel. People felt it was no longer practical to travel by boat when they could hop aboard one of Boeing aircraft’s new 747 jumbo jets and arrive at their destination within hours instead of days. With their passenger lists grower shorter by the month, the major cruise lines found themselves in a quandary. No longer financially afloat, it seemed that the days of cruise ship travel as a lucrative business were just about over.