Latest news with #CarnivalCruise
Bloomberg
13 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Stock Movers: Equinix, Royal Caribbean, Enphase
On this episode of Stock Movers: - Equinix (EQIX) shares ended the week higher after seeing two days of consecutive losses. It was the second-best performing stock in the S&P 500 on Friday, following shares falling nearly 20% in the previous two trading sessions. - Royal Caribbean (RCL) shares ended the week higher, driven by Carnival Cruise, which raised its guidance for the second time this year. Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein told analysts in the earnings call that he sees no signs that demand in the travel sector will slow. - Enphase Energy (ENPH) shares, along with other US solar companies saw their shares rise as investors keep close tabs on how the clean energy industry could be impacted by regulatory changes as President Donald Trump's tax bill makes its way through Congress.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Royal Caribbean cruisers react to Carnival cruise loyalty shakeup
Royal Caribbean cruisers react to Carnival cruise loyalty shakeup originally appeared on Come Cruise With Me. As Carnival Cruise Line revealed details of its overhauled cruise loyalty program on June 18, it wasn't just Carnival cruisers who recoiled. Carnival Rewards, a spend-based rewards program set to roll out in June 2026, has many cruisers reeling, even some who don't sail with the cruise new program appears to require passengers at the highest tiers to spend tens of thousands of dollars each year to maintain their elite status, and it could open the door for other cruise lines to do the same. Carnival's new spend-based loyalty program isn't a completely new concept — most airlines and hotels already follow this type of model, but the cruise industry has been slow to evolve. What do Royal Caribbean cruisers think about the new program and what it could mean for the cruise industry? Many "loyal to Royal" cruisers made their opinions clear in a discussion in the Royal Caribbean community on Reddit.'The new program Carnival announced yesterday rewards money over loyalty. Do you think this is something Royal and the other lines will try to adopt?' Redditor oOoOsarahOoOo asked fellow Royal Caribbean cruisers. 'If so, would cruisers stay loyal to Royal, or would this be a reason to try other brands?' A number of cruisers reasoned that Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines will likely follow suit in a few years, if Carnival reports that the change increases revenue. 'I think the other cruise lines are going to wait to see how this affects Carnival's business. If there's not too much of a difference, or somehow Carnival's earnings go up with this reward program? You will 100% see other cruise lines adopt this model,' CricketCapital4095 other travel loyalty programs increasingly reward travelers based on their spending, it's not surprising that cruise lines would follow. 'This is an extremely logical move for [Carnival] to make, despite how many people are deep in their feels about it, and I'd bet the cost of my next cruise that other lines will follow suit within a couple of years of Carnival's first earnings call after this goes into effect,' baltinerdist added. Commenters also pointed out that if the industry moved in this direction, cruisers may be more inclined to sail with multiple cruise lines rather than stay loyal to one in order to gain status.'If there is no loyalty program, then why be loyal,' Routine_Day_1276 questioned. 'That's the entire reason for it. Granted, you don't get a lot for being loyal, but anything that isn't an insult is better than nothing. In my opinion, what Carnival did is an insult to everyone who has been loyal. So no, if Royal went that route, I would not be loyal to them anymore.' Royal Caribbean cruisers don't want the cruise line to change its popular Crown & Anchor loyalty program. Like Carnival's current VIFP Club, Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor program rewards cruisers based on nights sailed.'I very much hope Royal realizes that by having the best loyalty program in the industry, they would have the most to lose by making drastic changes to Crown & Anchor,' xAdray commented. Still, if the Carnival Rewards program proves successful, Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines would likely begin to incorporate spending-based rewards into their loyalty programs in some way. 'Even if other cruise lines don't adopt the Carnival-specific model, I wouldn't be surprised if an 'onboard spending' category was added as a way to retain top-tier status. It's all about capturing dollars on board for the cruise lines,' CricketCapital4095 pointed out. 'If you're top-tier status but don't spend much on board, why would a cruise line much care about your loyalty status? More than likely those customers cost cruise lines money in some capacity,' CricketCapital4095 added. (The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.) , or email Amy Post at or call or text her at 386-383-2472. This story was originally reported by Come Cruise With Me on Jun 21, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Carnival Cruise Line responds to troubling Netflix documentary
Carnival Cruise Line responds to troubling Netflix documentary originally appeared on Come Cruise With Me. Netflix probably couldn't have chosen a worse time to release its documentary on the infamous Carnival Triumph disaster of 2013. The new documentary looks back on the truly crappy results of an engine room fire on board the cruise ship that left a cruise carrying 4,000 passengers stranded in the Gulf of Mexico for five days amid a foul the ship lost electricity as a result of the fire, passengers were no longer able to flush toilets, and the situation quickly turned dire and disgustingly unsanitary. Netflix's new documentary released on June 24, 'Trainwreck: Poop Cruise,' covers all the nasty details and the media frenzy surrounding the ordeal. As if reliving the awful incident through the documentary wasn't bad enough, Carnival just so happens to be dealing with another public relations nightmare at the moment of the documentary's release. Carnival's most loyal passengers are currently revolting against the cruise line's plan to link status to spending through a new Carnival Rewards loyalty program rolling out in 2026. Despite these setbacks, Carnival Corporation is well positioned for continued growth and success after reporting record-breaking financial results for Q2. Doug Parker shared details on Carnival's response to the new Netflix documentary, as well as its record revenue, on the June 25th edition of Cruise News This is Cruise News Today with Doug Parker. Good morning, here's your cruise news for Wednesday, June 25th. Carnival Cruise Line has released a statement regarding the Carnival Triumph incident, which unfolded 13 years ago and is now the subject of a Netflix documentary called 'Trainwreck: Poop Cruise.' The statement says in part that the Carnival Triumph incident was a teachable moment for the entire cruise industry. It goes on to say that it resulted in a thorough investigation that revealed a design vulnerability, which was corrected. Carnival then spent more than $500 million dollars to implement a fleet-wide program dealing with everything from fire prevention and suppression to enhanced management systems. You can read the entire statement from Carnival Cruise Line as well as our review of the Netflix documentary at Carnival Corporation just posted record profits saying that demand has never been higher. The cruise giant reported $6.3 billion dollars in second quarter revenue driven by strong onboard spending and last-minute bookings. It also hit a record $8.5 billion dollars in customer deposits with more guests booking further in advance than ever. Adjusted net income — well it was also up there as well — it tripled over the same quarter last year, and all of their ships are now sailing over 100% Disney Cruise Line is raising prices at its adult-only restaurants, but only on select ships. Dining venues like Palo, Remy, and Enchanté are seeing five to 10-dollar price hikes. The changes are rolling out gradually starting with Disney Wish and Disney Treasure and then reaching Disney Fantasy in November. For now, only U.S. and Vancouver sailings are impacted. This comes just days after Disney lowered its cruise deposit cruise stocks ended higher on Tuesday. Carnival Corporation: up 7 percent, 25.70. Royal Caribbean: up 2 percent, 280.47. Norwegian: up 4 percent, 19.40. And Viking: up 3 percent, 51.38. If you have a lead on a story let us know. Tips@ Have yourself a great Wednesday. I'm Doug Parker with Cruise News Today. (The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.) , or email Amy Post at or call or text her at 386-383-2472. This story was originally reported by Come Cruise With Me on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.
Travel Weekly
3 days ago
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Strike in Europe forces Carnival cruise cancellation
Carnival Cruise Line canceled a July 6 sailing out of New Orleans after a workers' strike delayed a drydock in Europe, according to Cruise Industry News. The Carnival Liberty had been scheduled for maintenance in Spain but had to relocate to France because of a strike at the shipyard, Cruise Industry News reported. That then delayed the ship's repositioning to the United States. Guests booked for the weeklong July 6 sailing are receiving full refunds, travel reimbursement of up to $200 and a 100% future cruise credit, according to the report.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Inside the revolting story of the infamous ‘poop cruise': ‘Complete media bloodbath'
Elevator pitches don't get much more captivating, and possibly revolting, than 'poop cruise' – a modern day Gilligan's Island tale that's almost too good to be true. For those who may have missed the headlines in 2013: a two-day transit from Galveston, Texas, to Cozumel, Mexico turned disastrous when an engine room fire struck the Carnival Triumph and stranded its 4,100-odd passengers and crew in the Gulf of Mexico. The fire devastated the Triumph's electrical nerve center and crippled the auxiliary systems aboard the ship, from the wifi to the toilets – which literally backed up into cabins and spilled into the hallways. After three days adrift, the Triumph was towed to Mobile, Alabama – but not before the limits of socially conditioned behavior approached a breaking point. To widespread relief, however, the saga ended with passengers kissing the ground and laughing off the calamity as they disembarked – and the stricken Carnival cruise went from a potential Titanic epilogue unfolding in real time to the ultimate shaggy dog story. 'When you hear 'Poop Cruise', you think '… OK'', says Bafta-nominated director James Ross. 'But actually there's a lot more layers and twists and turns to the story.' His latest film, Trainwreck: Poop Cruise, follows recent documentaries in Netflix's Trainwreck series on the fall of Toronto mayor Rob Ford and the Astroworld festival tragedy. Poop Cruise doesn't just dive head-first into the graphic details; it deftly walks the line between the serious and the side-splitting while reconstructing the epic yarn in 360 degrees. Right away, we're introduced to a cross-section of Triumph cruise survivors: the bachelorette party looking to blow off steam, the nervous fiance traveling with his future father-in-law for the first time, the divorced dad who just wanted to have a nice vacation with his 13-year-old daughter. Their passive experience aboard the cruise – the bachelorette party ominously skipped the safety briefing upon boarding the ship and headed straight for the bar – is juxtaposed with perspectives from the cruise director, bartender and other non-Americans on the crew pulling 70-hour work weeks to keep the good times rolling. (Think Upstairs, Downstairs on the high seas, with bed-hopping above and below deck.) 'It's hedonism,' says Ross. 'There's this huge extreme of people on one end who are there just to really enjoy themselves and the crew who are there to facilitate that. But it was also important to show that this terrible scenario didn't just happen to the passengers; the crew were in it as well.' Poop Cruise cleverly puts viewers back onboard the Triumph, setting its expert witnesses inside kitschy dining halls, bars and other backdrops that suggest locations on the actual ship. At one point during the interview with the nervous bachelor, Devin Marble, the lights flicker out – a fortuitous and poetic echo of real life, as it happens. 'We were shooting in an arcade shop in a mall in Houston, and there was a power cut midway through,' says Ross. Poop Cruise also features one of the better applications of scene re-enactments in a documentary, especially when it comes to reconstructing anecdotes. (One memorable scene takes shape as one member of the bachelorette party recalls her disco-like endeavor to use a blacked-out cabin bathroom with a flashing beacon between her teeth.) Ross says he wanted the re-enactments to 'not feel too real' but also signal to viewers that 'you're in this kind of hyper real place, because the real footage is the star of the show'. Ross had his pick from hundreds of hours of passenger-generated footage, each adding to this mosaic of civilizational collapse in miniature. Passengers go from cannonballing into the pool and hoofing around the disco to creating tent cities on deck and contemplating how long they can hold off on going No 2 before they have to break down and defecate in a crew-issued hazmat bag. Finding the footage of those critical story beats, says Ross, was just a matter of tracking down insiders such as Marble (whose vlogs became a critical window into the crisis) and sorting through the trove of video and photo evidence that was submitted for the disaster investigation. Ultimately, the fire was blamed on a fuel leak – a preventable failure that Carnival knowingly sailed right past. Poop Cruise could have easily gone sideways again trying to shoehorn such a wide-ranging story into a tight 45 minutes. But it benefits from natural time constraints (five days) and legitimately earned twists that raise the stakes from scene to scene. A major inflection point sneaks up when the Triumph, which has drifted out of range for a Mexican rescue, crosses paths with a sister Carnival cruise liner – the Legend (which diverted its course to help). Triumph passengers go from thinking they're saved to realizing there's no way all 3,143 of them can be transferred over to the other ship safely. (The Triumph crew does manage to grab critical supplies from the Legend, and one passenger who required medical attention makes it across.) Worse, the passengers aboard the Legend shrug off the Triumph's plight, gawking at the destitute ship as if it were a breaching humpback before resuming the good time that Triumph passengers had themselves signed up for. But when Triumph passengers realize they can 'steal' the Legend's working wifi, they throng to the deck with phones in hand and reach out to their loved ones. Shockingly, it was through those mayday calls that the world learned that Triumph was in crisis. Up to that point, Carnival corporate's PR strategy was to relate as few details about the fire as possible – a scheme that kept the media uninterested at first. ('You give them what you believe they need,' says company spin doctor Buck Banks, 'and no more than that.') But once those Triumph distress calls started cropping up on Twitter and elsewhere online, Carnival was forced to reckon with a 'complete media bloodbath', says Banks. CNN was one notable outlet that struggled to justify covering the Triumph fire story over Barack Obama's State of the Union, Pope Benedict's abdication, saber rattling in Pyongyang and other pressing news. But once the fuller picture of the situation aboard the ship came into focus, the network – which had just been placed under the management of former NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker – went all-in on the story, and competitors swiftly followed their lead. Once the ship was under tow and within striking distance of shore, there was a mad scramble to intercept it in the air and go live with the first images of the deterioration. For many aboard the ship, that media onslaught was their first indication that this three-hour tour from hell was in fact drawing to a close. Of course there will be some who might not have the stomach for Poop Cruise. Besides holding the potential for inducing claustrophobia, it traffics – by necessity – in the scatological. (One of the cooks aboard the ship likened the desperate scene he found inside a god-forsaken lavatory to a 'poop lasagna'.) But the thing most likely to turn off viewers is that Carnival didn't really face any serious repercussions from the poop cruise. (In general, cruise passengers give up their right to sue when they purchase a ticket.) After a $115m clean-up effort, the Triumph was relaunched under a new name: the Sunrise. Buyer beware. The average person would never think to book a cruise again after surviving such an ordeal. But Poop Cruise is more than a deep rewind on 12-year-old clickbait. It's a rollicking allegory for the precariousness of our modern world and the resiliency of the human spirit. 'People were saying this was the best cruise they'd ever been on, I think because the crew worked so hard,' says Ross, who seized on the opportunity to make a different sort of documentary. 'This was an opportunity not to tell a kind of dark sad story about a crime or whatever, but to do something where in the end nobody died. Yes, it was a terrible experience, and people learned from it. But it was also one of those 'holy fuck' stories.' Trainwreck: Poop Cruise is available now on Netflix
