Recently I went on a five day cruise to Mexico. I do this quite often and have gone to courses in the different ports of call that the ship visited. My cruise line of choice is Carnival, since we have cruised with Carnival on several occasions. Each time, if I didn't play I did go to the seminars and as a writer for a golf magazine I always introduced myself to the pro on board. Our conversations were very good about the game, instruction and the courses the cruise line visited. On this particular cruise, nothing: no pro, no seminar, no lessons and no escorted trip. Something was not right.
On the third night of the cruise, I went to have a cigar in the bar that was set aside for smokers and met the hotel manager who was having a cigar and an off duty cocktail. I asked him what was happening and if Carnival no longer offered golf on its itineraries. He explained that for the amount of guests that were taking advantage of the golf shore excursions and taking lessons, it was not worth the expenditures. They had suspended the program.
I kind of can see where they were coming from and it was purely an economical decision. I have played golf a couple times off the ship and the largest group on board that went to play was fifteen. Think about it a moment; on a ship of almost 2500 passengers, only 15 go to play golf. That is about .5 % which is not cost effective. Though I am a huge supporter of golf, the program couldn't sustain itself on board.
Today, they do offer golf excursions, but the price only includes transportation to and from the course and green fees. They are not escorted by a pro. This is kind of sad and from my experience I always had a great time with the pro. the almighty dollar is king, I guess and it is important to make money to stay in business. If you have to look at your expenditures you also have to look at your revenues. If it isn't contributing, it may have to go. Such is the way of the golf program on Carnival.
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