Carnival Spirit is as much for
couples as it is for families,
according to Carnival Cruise Lines.
THE cruise line is trying to break the
perception that Carnival Spirit is a ship just for
families, with Vice President for CCL’s
Australian operations Jennifer Vandekreeke
telling Cruise Weekly, that Carnival Spirit’s
family-friendly advertising push may have
been “too successful” and scared away couples.
“We seem to have done an extraordinary job
of telling everybody what a great family
holiday Carnival Spirit is, and it is,” she said.
“But it’s also a great holiday for couples and
empty-nesters, and I don’t think we’ve done as
good a job of telling everybody that,” she added.
Speaking to media to introduce them to what
she described as “Sydney’s newest entertainment
quarter” Vandekreeke said that Spirit offers
couples experiences which can take them from
“zen to adrenalin”.
“Docked at Sydney’s OPT, this entertainment
quarter will take you all the way to Fiji, New
Caledonia, NZ, or wherever you may go,”
Vandekreeke said, adding that from 8pm
“there’s a whole lot of stuff going on onboard”.
This “stuff” includes big shows in the ship’s
show lounge, Superstar Live (audience
members sing in front of a live band), the
“sing-along” style piano bar (with an Aussie
piano player), shows in the comedy club (with
Australian comedians), loads of live music
Zen features include the ship’s adults-only
Serenity area, the largest open deck on the ship
and which features hammocks, lounges, pods,
a pool and a bar; as well as Spirit’s day-spa.
Speaking to CW about the reason behind the
push for couples, Vandekreeke said “We’re
almost out of quad share rooms, because there
has been such an extraordinary response from
families, and I’m not going to lie it is a great
family holiday, but it’s also great for couples.”
“I think that when we entered the market it
was differentiating to be a family holiday and
so everyone put it in that box, and so we’re
trying to explain to people that it’s not only
great for families, its perfect for couples.
“The other challenge we had is that families
will book the school holidays but when you’re
outside of the holiday period or when you
have the longer sailings, families aren’t going
to go on those sailings,” she added.
Allaying the fears of couples who are worried
about being flooded with children Vandekreeke
told CW that “you’re not really going to be in
the same places onboard the ship- and
remember the ship is three football fields long”.
“The reality is during the day if you are on
the ship and you’re a couple you are going to
be in Serenity, you’re going to be in the day
spa, you’re going to be going to the restaurants,
you’re not going to see the kids because the
kids are in the splash park, they’re in the kids
club or they’re on the mini-golf course.”
“There is an absolute separation of where
adults and couples are going to be,” she said.