Universal Cruise Line

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edpride

New Member
Original Poster
The Disney Cruise Line is such a great companion to the Disney Parks hands down, and nothing like a Disney Cruise to go along with a Walt Disney World vacation. If Disney can have a cruise line to companion the Disney Parks, then I want a Universal Cruise Line to companion the Universal Theme Parks. Now would be a great time for Universal to launch a cruise line, especially with Epic Universe under construction that is set to open in 2025. I would do anything to see a Universal Cruise Line, imagine a Harry Potter fan day at sea, a Dreamworks fan day at sea, a Despicable Me/Minions day at sea and this is the biggest reason why I want a Universal Cruise Line, I want a Nintendo fan day at sea which would be so awesome, with Super Nintendo World that just opened at Universal Studios Hollywood and The Super Mario Bros. movie that will be in theaters about six weeks from now, a Universal Cruise Line would give Nintendo franchises alot more than movies, and attractions. Also throw in franchises like E.T., Back To The Future, Jurassic Park and such, and the Universal Cruise Line would really give the Disney Cruise Line a run for their money. What would you guys think? I hope this happens.
 
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donsullivan

donsullivan

Premium Member
One thing to keep in mind on this one is that Universal does not own or operate any resorts- they are all operated by Lowe’s. Unlike Disney, they have no direct expertise operate hotels.
 
E

edpride

New Member
Original Poster
donsullivan said:
One thing to keep in mind on this one is that Universal does not own or operate any resorts- they are all operated by Lowe’s. Unlike Disney, they have no direct expertise operate hotels.
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Actually Universal does own the hotels at their theme parks, Loews is under contract to run the hotels for Universal. That doesn't mean that Universal can't run a successful cruise line. I know that Universal partnered with Royal Caribbean for a Land and Sea package which bundles a Universal Orlando vacation with a Royal Caribbean cruise, maybe it's a sign that Universal is testing out the waters about launching a Universal Cruise Line.
 
CJR

CJR

Well-Known Member
With the way ships are getting more efficient and cruise rates are rising, I could see it. Very few companies would be able to enter the market, but Comcast has the ability, I think.

If they didn't want a new build, they could also buy an existing line if they wanted to, but it depends how far they'd want to go with ship transformations, in that case. There's a few lines that are really struggling, some owned by the Carnival Corporation specifically. Some of the ships aren't that old either. I've also heard Virgin has had a hard time, launching during the pandemic.
 
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vsmoscruceros

New Member
If Universal was going to do this, I would want to see them with a private island/destination ready to go when their first ship enters service. Having rights to use major IPs like Harry Potter at sea is a must.

Even if Universal announces this Monday, they might be looking at 2030 before actually launching given the timeline for ship construction. It might be quicker to try a hostile takeover of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. They can work IP-based entertainment in fairly quickly, and do large-scale renovations as ships come up for drydock every 2.5 to 5 years. This might mean operating Norwegian as a separate brand for a while, but after about six years Universal Cruise Line would likely be the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by number of ships behind only Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and MSC.
 
BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
This doesn’t terribly make sense for the company. How do they realistically differentiate themselves from Disney and Royal? What market slice are they trying to wedge into?

Because they aren’t competing with DCL per se, they are going against Royal’s core demo.
 
BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
Andrew C said:
We may just find out. I think the market is large enough for more competition.
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Certainly! But they won’t be second fiddle this time, more like 3rd or 4th in their target demo and possibly 10th in the industry. Depending on how you feel about Carnival.

As you know, I’m not the biggest DCL fanatic by any means. Disney isn’t leading the cruise industry like it does the theme parks, but it has found its clear place.

I’m curious what defines a Universal Cruise line. Not out of opposition, but what sets it apart outside of slathering some IP’s on a ship. Should be fun to watch.

Royal is really in their equivalent market space and oh so frankly far ahead. Particularly looking at some of their upcoming private offerings. Then DCL fits into that slightly more premium, much more expensive, lifestyler family niche. Does Universal stick general and go against RC or does it try and be a Harry Potter licensed cruise?

I almost feel like they are showing up a bit too late to the party. DCL is massively swelling, RCCL has gotten too big and independent for them to acquire. They missed the boat last decade when they were too busy bickering over Fox and Cable assets.

There’s definitely room for a lot of lines to be at the table. But there’s already 8-9 main “English” players and I would only just start calling DCL a main player. That’s before we get into niche players or luxury brands.
 
Andrew C

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
BrianLo said:
I almost feel like they are showing up a bit too late to the party. DCL is massively swelling, RCCL has gotten too big and independent for them to acquire. They missed the boat last decade when they were too busy bickering over Fox and Cable assets.
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They aren't going to move forward on anything unless their analysis shows there is space for them. This is not something you just pursue on a whim...
 
BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
Andrew C said:
They aren't going to move forward on anything unless their analysis shows there is space for them. This is not something you just pursue on a whim...
Click to expand...

I think you are reading into my post as exclusively cutting criticism more than it’s really meant to be speculation and discussion.
 
B

Bob Harlem

Well-Known Member
Some more rumors about this popping up. With comcast perhaps looking at acquiring Carnival. (With it's recent add of Celebration Key that contains "portals").

From here:


ymmv, on this.
 
Andrew C

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
Carnival is a massive cruise company...they own all of these brands to put things in perspective. I guess they could sell off certain brands.

1753290872557.png
 
donsullivan

donsullivan

Premium Member
This whole concept doesn't make any sense at all. Comcast or Universal have absolutely no experience operating hotels much less running a cruise line. All of their hotels are operated by Lowes resorts.

Given that Comcast is already struggling with close to $100B in debt. It does not make any sense for them to try to add that much debt on the books all at once.

It can certainly make sense to do something like Disney did before the days of DCL with Premier Cruise (The Big Red Boat) to introduce Universal owned characters to Carnival ships but a full acquisition makes no sense at all given their debt position right now.
 
networkpro

networkpro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Carnival currently has an image problem of being the preferred choice of the "People of Walmart" crowd due to its "US' most budget-friendly cruise lines" ranking which also translates to booze cruises, raucous confrontations, and "Club Carnival" antics. Thats not where I think Universal/Comcast wants to go right now.
 
BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
That's one way to swim down market.

I'm not sure Carnival Corp would be willing to sell off just their flagship. Maybe? They can refocus on becoming an more upmarket holding company. As mentioned, there is one too many brands under the hood that I don't see any real synergy benefit from the purchase in totality. Are they going to slather Jurassic Park on Cunard, HAL and Princess?

Royal has become unaffordable to Comcast; though my one stupid lottery pick solo stock.

Edit-I watched the video, didn't realize it's just an inside baseball fan video. As alluded to Carnival recently ruined their rewards program and this seems to be more a Hail Mary wish.
 

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