It was often said that sailors had “a girl in every port.” When Carnival was shuffling ships in the south this year, it was our friend and cruise colleague Phil Reimer who observed that the world’s biggest cruise line “…is going to have a ship in every port” around North America.
Or something like that.
A little research showed us that Carnival is circling the ships around the ports of North America. There are presently port cities that service what you might call the major lines — Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Celebrity and Princess joining the list of the big boys.
Carnival sails from all but six of the 21 ports. Two of them (Seward, Whittier) are because Carnival sails round-trip to Alaska, from Seattle. Another (L.A.) is offset by being down the freeway in San Diego. Another (Bayonne, N.J.) is close to New York, where Carnival has 28 sailings a year.
That leaves two: Montreal and Boston.
Every Gulf of Mexico port — there are four — has Carnival departures. Every Florida port — there are five) — has Carnival departures. The three most-traveled cruise areas in North America are Caribbean, Alaska and Mexico, and the “biggest boy” has them covered.
What it all means is that more people can drive to a port and board a Carnival ship than any other cruise line. Just like more people can walk to Starbucks for coffee than any other chain that offers a caffeine fix.
That’s how they get to be the biggest players, and how they stay the biggest players.