The $200 million conversion of the Carnival Triumph into the Carnival Sunrise is driving both booking volumes and ticket pricing, according to Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, speaking on the company’s second quarter earnings call.
The Triumph was sent to Cadiz in March for what is said to be the biggest drydock and refurbishment project in cruise industry history, emerging as the refreshed Carnival Sunrise with new venues, new interiors and more capacity.
The major industry players: Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, MSC Cruises and Genting Hong Kong are estimated to spend around $2.0 million per day on a ship during a routine drydocking, according to estimates in the 2019 Drydocking and Refurbishment Report by Cruise Industry News.
“We continue to reinvest in the existing fleet to drive demand and have more major refurbishment projects planned next year,” said Donald. “For our Carnival brand, we’ve garnered double-digit yield premiums and double-digit return on investment for the renamed Carnival Sunshine.
“And we’re off to a strong start for the recently reintroduced Carnival Sunrise with both booking volumes and pricing up double digits,” he continued.
On schedule for 2020, the Carnival Victory will undergo a similar transformation, and become the Carnival Radiance after an extensive refit.
Carnival Corp. is expected to have 520 drydock days for its nine brands in 2020, up from 500 this year, according to CFO David Bernstein.