Request: What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of Carnival

compared to the cruise industry at large?

INSIGHTS

- The cruise ships of Carnival Cruises are placed in places/ports that can be easily
reached by the Americans.
- The strength of Carnival and the cruise industry includes cheap fares, while its
weakness includes the Costa Concordia tragedy.
- The opportunity of Carnival and the cruise industry includes investing in gadgets
to attract more customers, while its threat includes lack of innovativity.

In this study, we found that the strengths of Carnival and the cruise industry include
cheap fares and employment options, while the weaknesses include the Costa
Concordia tragedy and high maintenance costs. The opportunities of Carnival and the
cruise industry include investing in gadgets and using Instagram to attract more
customers, while the threats include lack of innovativity and the limited presence of
shipbuilders. Below is a detailed explanation of our findings.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF CARNIVAL

STRENGTHS
Carnival Cruises places its cruise ships in places that can be easily reached by the
Americans and in ports that can be accessed by less than a day of driving for 50% of
the Americans. Cruises are primarily cheaper than other ways of travel so Carnival
focuses on low fares and is typically seen as budget-friendly. The cruise industry
generates employment of 800 to 1,500 new job positions for each new ship. Carnival
Cruise is expected to deploy four new cruisers in 2019. Factors including increased
violence or migrant crisis on some tourist destinations motivate people to join cruise for
vacation. Another factor is the cheap fares that provide high-class experience Carnival
and other cruise industries can offer above standard dining and nightclubs at low price
are inspiring many younger people to join cruise vacations.

WEAKNESSES
The cruise industry has been damaged by the Costa Concordia tragedy in 2012.
Moreover, Carnival was negatively affected when a fire in Carnival Triumph’s engine
room left 3,100 people stranded for five days in Gulf of Mexico on February 2014. The
ship had to be repaired at a total cost amounting to $115 million. After the incident,
Carnival spent $300 million in a safety upgrade program. Overall, cruise companies
should always operate and have their ships ready because one week of inactivity due to
maintenance would mean losing ten or millions of dollars and having many dissatisfied
customers.

OPPORTUNITIES
As technology and passenger apps continue to become hot topics in the cruise industry,
Carnival introduced different technology innovations including sensors, 4K
touchscreens, equipment for gaming such as PlayOcean and Ocean Medallion (an
innovative and wearable piece of technology used for embarkment and entertainment).
Furthermore, there is a rising trend in using Instagram regarding cruising. Carnival has
become active on the platform and is constantly capturing 12,000 followers monthly.

THREATS
The presence of few shipbuilders and technology developers in the industry pressures
the cruise companies to accept the prices and costs offered to them. Larger repairs last
for more than a month and the costs are about $50 million. In terms of innovativity,
Carnival is inferior to Royal Carribbean. Carnival’s entertainment options have more
classic touch such as pools and mini-golf, but they should be introducing innovative
entertainment options including waterslides or observation pods that can bring
passengers up and out over the water. On the other hand, Royal Carribean has larger
ships that can bring more than 5,500 passengers, while Carnival’s biggest cruisers can
only bring below 4,000 passengers. After the Costa Concordia tragedy in 2012, cruise
ship experts, passengers, and cruise ship injury law firms noted that somen aspects of
cruise travel were becoming less safe.