Carnival Corporation brands will be allowed to decide the pace at which they emerge from the pandemic, according to the company’s new president.
Josh Weinstein set out his goals in his first UK trade press interview since taking over the running of the world’s largest cruise firm on August 1.
Weinstein, who was previously chief operations officer and before that president of Carnival UK, told a Travel Weekly webcast this week that he would not “centrally dictate” and would allow each of the nine Carnival brands to operate how they wished to.
During the pandemic, the cruise sector operated using protocols that were “a first” and were “imposed” upon it, said Weinstein, who added Covid protocols were not “appropriate around the world” given the industry’s track record.
“I know this from being the chief operations officer for two years of the pandemic, our statistics, no matter how you cut them, were remarkable,” he said.
“Case counts, serious illness or worse if you stack us up versus land we were doing really well.”
Around 95% of the company’s capacity was “up and running” following the industry’s restart last year, Weinstein said.
“We allow brands based on where they are, who their target market is, what their guests are looking for to operate how they believe is most effective for that audience. They get to control their destiny.
“We don’t want to centrally dictate what we think makes sense for a particular country or a particular guest base.”
He went on to say P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow and Carnival UK president Sture Myrmell had drawn up plans that were right for both Carnival UK brands.
“The playing field in the UK is different than in the United States,” Weinstein added.
Reflecting on how Carnival Corp had come out of the pandemic so far, he said each brand had restarted “having one arm tied behind” its back.
But he said that Carnival’s brands had reached a point where they could control their “destiny” and could “normalise” their own protocols.
“We get to untie one of the arms that’s been behind our backs,” he explained.
After Carnival Cruise Line announced it was easing restrictions on its ships, a week later booking volumes “doubled” for the line, said Weinstein.
“There is this pent-up demand,” he said. “We want to take advantage of that as best we can.”
Weinstein also said agents were crucial to the success of Carnival Corp and attracting guests back on to vessels.
Along with satisfied customers sharing positive experiences about their cruises with friends and family and advertising, Weinstein pointed to the trade’s ability to fill cruise ships.
He said: “We work with the trade all the time. We want to make sure we’re being supportive.
“So, we arm the trade with what they need to be successful.”
Addressing agents directly, he added: “If you’re successful, we’re successful.”
Weinstein said he wants to educate the trade and remove “friction points” by carrying out a “listening tour” with agents.
“I’ve scheduled a bunch just to hear them tell me what the friction points are that we can cut down,” he said. “How can we help them be more efficient and effective in getting to people to book and get them service correctly.
“I need to hear from the trade where we can make the most difference.”
He noted how advertising investment had increased and added that guest satisfaction scores were high.
“We’re finally getting back, getting our occupancy up, getting all of our ships back, we finally getting that army of champions to rave again which is gratifying.”