carnival fun times with the carnival pride

Carnival Has Brought Back the Paper Fun Times for Everyone

June 19, 2024 Randy Young

On any cruise ship, guests have many activities to choose from. The daily schedule can be jam-packed, making it essential for guests to easily find out what is happening and when. For years, the solution was a printed newspaper delivered to guests each day. Carnival calls this the Fun Times.

Carnival shifts Fun Times to digital during COVID

During the COVID-19 restart, Carnival Cruise Lines removed all paper and loose items from cabins to reduce the spread of germs between guests, pushing passengers to use the HUB app instead. While many of the COVID policies have since fallen by the wayside, this change stuck around much longer.

Carnival brought back a printed version of the Fun Times, but guests would have to request it or pick it up at the coffee shop on board. Unfortunately, the service was inconsistent. For instance, on a March 2023 cruise on the Carnival Celebration (follow along on that cruise here), we only received the Fun Times about half the time, often having to go to Java Blue Cafe to get a copy.

Carnival cited this policy as being more “green” and said the Carnival HUB app was much better. While those are true, it likely also served as a cost-cutting measure. For example, look at the Carnival Jubilee with 2,687 cabins. Assuming a relatively low cost of $0.12 for each Fun Times, it would save Carnival around $118,000 per year to stop printing them. And that’s just one ship!

Return of Carnival’s paper Fun Times

While Carnival’s HUB app contains the same information, the layout isn’t as conducive to casual browsing of the upcoming day. Guests will often return to their cabin at night, sit in bed, and review what’s on the agenda to see what they’d be interested in. While the HUB app would allow this, a newspaper format makes much more sense.

Because of customer demand, Carnival has reversed their decision. According to a post by Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald on June 19th, the paper Fun Times is now being delivered to guests’ cabins on recent sailings. This decision follows feedback from passengers who missed the traditional paper format. It’s been quietly happening across the fleet for months.

Passengers clearly prefer the printed Fun Times

In his post, John Heald asked guests how they felt about a paper version of FUNTIME. An astounding 90% of surveyed guests respond that they use the paper copy of the Fun Times, either alone or in conjunction with the HUB app. That’s a huge percentage of guests, which makes it clear that it’s a valuable marketing piece on board the ship.

How do other cruise lines handle this?

Comparing this to other cruise lines, Norwegian Cruise Line provides paper copies of their daily schedule, known as the Freestyle Daily, to all guests. On a recent sailing trip on the Norwegian Viva, they delivered a four-page, full-size paper schedule each day. While Norwegian also has a robust app, the newspaper format made finding events and venues’ operating hours much easier.

In contrast, Royal Caribbean only offers paper copies of their Cruise Compass upon request. On a recent Royal Caribbean cruise aboard Liberty of the Seas, the Cruise Compass holder at guest services was always empty. When I asked for a copy at Guest Services, I was met with reluctance and told, “It’s all in the app.” Eventually, they printed one out, but it was clear that they preferred guests to use the digital version. Not coincidentally, during that sailing, I overheard several first-time cruisers expressing frustration that they never knew what events were happening and felt bored.

Another example of Carnival listening to guests’ feedback

The return of the paper Fun Times on Carnival ships is a welcome change for many passengers who prefer the tactile experience of flipping through a physical schedule. It highlights Carnival’s commitment to listening to guest feedback and enhancing the cruise experience. As cruising continues to evolve post-pandemic, it’s clear that a blend of traditional and digital options best serves passengers’ diverse preferences.