Carnival Cruise Lines Although sea voyages have held an aura of mystique for cen
ID: 398352 • Letter: C
Question
Carnival Cruise Lines
Although sea voyages have held an aura of mystique for centuries, only in recent decades have the general masses been able to experience open seas and exotic ports of call as a purely recreational activity. Cruises, i.e., sea voyages for pleasure, offer passengers the convenience of an assigned cabin as they sail along a fixed itinerary that concludes at their original point of sea embarkation. Almost everything about the entire cruise industry is international, from the routes traveled to the use of flags of convenience to the locations of shipyards to the staffing of vessels. By far the largest cruise competitor is Carnival Corp., which owns a number of different lines that it calls brands. Because Carnival operates globally, it can treat the entire world as a source of both customers and supplies. At the same time, its widespread operations also leave Carnival vulnerable to political upheavals, health crises, economic recessions, and natural disasters. Still, in all, the future outlook both for the industry and for Carnival is bright as more people the world over choose a holiday cruise.
Questions - "must include jounral or articel references"
1- What specific steps has Carnival Cruise Lines taken to benefit from global social changes?
2- What economic factors influence success of the international cruise industry? Explain how each affects such success.
3- What threats exist for the future performance of the cruise-line industry and, specifically, of Carnival Cruise Lines? If you were in charge of Carnival, how would you (a) try to prevent these threats from becoming reality, and (b) deal with them if they were realized?
Explanation / Answer
1. the major cruiser lines have a policy of strict security checks for boarding passenger . In addition following 9/11 , carnival increased their number of U.S ports of embarkation so that passanger could more convinently reach their cruisers by land. they also avoid cruising area of increased danger and crime. During hard economic times , carnival all inclusive deals are bargains when compared to other travel option. Also the options of shorter cruise or nearby ports has helped keep the cost down.
2. The economic factor affect the operations of cruise lines , which are truly international in nature. For example most shipping lines choose to flag their vessel in countaries such as liberia, mongolia,or panama because of the lower taxes and less stringent employment practices required by the laws of those countaries. Relatively few countaries have shipyardcapable of building ship cruise . consequently govermnet may choose to subsidize the shipbuilding industry in order to secure contracts for their domestic firm.
3. Port capacity could very well become an issue to the future of the cruise line industry. it more than likely will not be an easy task for another cruise line to enter the industry due to the huge startup costs assosiated with starting a cruise line also due the time it will take to establish new customers. Another issue would possibly be the costs that goes into training and maintaining employee as well as the price of fuel to keep the cruise liner running. Also another factor that could also affect the performance of the industry is the income of customers , how many customers are buying, as well as who is selling the cheapest and most affordable packages.