Amigoe: Carnival takes Aruba off their list of destinations (aka: Its not you, its me)

The tourism news just keeps getting better and better in Aruba. First they had a decline in the passengers to Beatrix Airport in 2005. Then the first quarter numbers for passengers to Beatrix Airport were disastrous. Now the latest news is that Carnival Cruise Line will no longer use Aruba as a port of call. Starting 2007, Carnival Cruise ship ‘Destiny’ 7 day cruise will no longer go to Aruba. At some point some one in Aruba is going to have to question the powers that be, what is going on.

Carnival Cruise Lines starts a new 7-day cruise with 5 destinations in January 2007. The ship Destiny that leaves from San Juan Puerto Rico currently stops in St. Lucia, Antigua, Dominica, Barbados and – back to the north – St. Thomas. Up till now, after leaving Puerto Rico, the ship calls on 4 islands, St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados and Aruba.

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The delicate reason given as to the cause of the change in itinerary was that Carnival sited savings on fuel costs. One would think that if past and present Carnival customers voiced a demand to go to Aruba, a business entity like Carnival would supply the demand. That seems not to be the case. After all, the motto at Carnival is; Aruba, Its not you, its me.

Spokesperson Vance Gulliksen says that the decision to take Aruba off the list of destinations is to save on fuel costs, because the ABC-islands are quiet a bit more to the south and also because after five years, Carnival wants to renew this route. “By not calling on Aruba, we can add two extra destinations and save on fuel.

If fuel costs are really the reason, does that mean that other cruise lines will follow suit? The fact that Carnival is predicting 2007 fuel costs is rather telling. What seems to be a major factor in this decision is that, “after five years, Carnival wants to renew this route”. That would indicate that they were going to change the route prior to any rising fuel costs. There is a demand to go to Caribbean destinations; however, Carnival Cruise seems to indicate that Aruba is not on that list. What other underlying factors might have gone into this decision? Could what cruise travelers witnessed on TV this past year with the Natalee Holloway investigation be one of them? Possibly; however, be assured that Carnival would never admit it.

Amigoe; May 9, 2006: Carnival takes Aruba off their list of destinations (Full article) 

ARUBA – Cruise Company Carnival takes Aruba off her 7-day ‘South Caribbean’ journeys. Curacao or Bonaire will not replace Aruba. Barbados is the most southern destination of the popular Carnival in the Caribbean.

Carnival Cruise Lines starts a new 7-day cruise with 5 destinations in January 2007. The ship Destiny that leaves from San Juan Puerto Rico currently stops in St. Lucia, Antigua, Dominica, Barbados and – back to the north – St. Thomas. Up till now, after leaving Puerto Rico, the ship calls on 4 islands, St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados and Aruba.

Spokesperson Vance Gulliksen says that the decision to take Aruba off the list of destinations is to save on fuel costs, because the ABC-islands are quiet a bit more to the south and also because after five years, Carnival wants to renew this route. “By not calling on Aruba, we can add two extra destinations and save on fuel.

From Travelweekly.com,

Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said the decision to eliminate Aruba from the itinerary is part of a fuel-saving initiative as well as a way to freshen up the ship’s itinerary, which has remained the same for five years. “New itinerary options that enable Carnival to operate our ships more fuel-efficiently has become an increasingly important focus,” Gulliksen said.

No other port of calls were eliminated to “freshen up” the itinerary. No changes are ever made for fuel efficiency if the over-riding demand is not present for the product. Call it what you will, supply and demand, law of diminishing returns, etc … The internal numbers for Carnival did not show that it was worth stopping in Aruba. If they did I am sure any big business could care less how fresh their service was as long as it made money. So what changed just recently to make such a change and does not seem to be going to change in the not too distant future? Fuel? Maybe. How about the feedback that Carnival must have received from its passengers in response to the Natalee Holloway disappearance and the manner in how it was handled.

Carnival made a conscious choice to change locals as they also know there are beautiful beaches all over the Caribbean that carry less baggage.