Some cruise ports -- Key West and Venice -- no longer want cruise ships to dock at their ports. Others, like Cuba, remain a political nowhere land where passengers would like to visit and cruise lines would like to stop, but the United States government has made that impossible.
That has helped push Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) and Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) to make their namesake cruise line ships and private islands destinations in themselves. When you board an Oasis-class or an Excel Class ship, where you're stopping isn't really the point.
These massive ships offer more than just a floating hotel with restaurants, pools, a theater, and a casino. They're floating amusement park/cities with more choices than you could experience in a week-long cruise.
Royal Caribbean has expanded that experience with its Perfect Day at CocoCay private island. What used to simply be a beach with bars, a barbecue lunch, and a small market has become a destination with a waterpark, huge pool, and a private beach club.
CocoCay is a destination in itself and an extension of the ship as destination concept. Basically, Royal Caribbean has made where its ships stop less relevant by making it ships more impressive and its private island a highly-desirable stop as well.
Both of those are moves Carnival has been watching closesly.
Image course: Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival Answers Royal Caribbean
Carnival clearly launched the Excel Class as an answer to Royal Caribbean's Oasis class. The new line, which just added Celebration to sister ship Mardi Gras, may not be as big as Royal Caribbean's ships but they offer a similar family-friendly amusement park-like experience.
Now, Carnival wants to further answer Royal Caribbean by providing a rival for Perfect Day at CocoCay. Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein touched on both of these strategies during his remarks at the cruise line's fourth-quarter earnings call.
"We delivered stunning new flagships for five of our brands, including Carnival Celebration, AIDAcosma, Costa Toscana, and Discovery Princess, as well as our first luxury expedition ship, the finest in the world, Seabourn Venture. All of these ships were purpose-built to generate higher returns," he said. "We broke ground at a new exclusive destination, Grand Bahama Port, which will be a game changer for Carnival Cruise Line, while, at the same time, benefiting, more than ever, from our existing private islands and unique port destinations, which captured 6 million visits from our guests."
A Look at Carnival's New Private Port Destination
Royal Caribbean plans to give some of its other private islands around the world the Perfect Day treatment. It's also actively building a new beach club/private destination in Nassau, Bahamas with an eye toward turning that ho hum destination into a desirable one.
Carnival wants to follow a similar script with its Grand Bahamas project. The cruise line is calling the new project a "port destination."
Carnival's Grand Bahama cruise port destination, which is being developed on the south side of the island, "will continue to serve as a gateway to Grand Bahama while also offering guests a uniquely Bahamian experience with many exciting features and amenities, along with business opportunities for the residents of Grand Bahama," the cruise line said.
The port will be able to accommodate two Excel-class ships at a time.
"The cruise port itself will also feature an area designated as a nature reserve and an interior pool feature, along with many Bahamian-operated retail, food, and beverage options for guests to enjoy," the cruise line shared. It will offer beach access and a pool.
