BruceMuzz

My favorite all time cruise complaint was written by an elderly passenger;

"If I had known where this cruise was going, I never would have booked it."

Carnival Corp does not normally break out the profitability of any of its individual 9 cruise brands.

 

What is the source of your information that the CCL brand, only one of the 9, has the highest profits?

Correction. Carnival Corp does not normally break out the profitability of any of it's individual brands TO THE PUBLIC.

My attendance at the annual Carnival Senior Management meetings gives me that information - although I cannot divulge the actual numbers.

It would also be helpful if you told us if it is the Western or Asian New Year when you are visiting.

For the past 22 consecutive years, Carnival Cruise Line has enjoyed the highest guest satisfaction ratings and the highest profits of any cruise line on Earth.

That's quite an achievement.

Carnival didn't invent those numbers. The cruising public awarded them.

I don't agree with those results, and I wouldn't think of cruising on a Carnival Ship.

At the same time it is quite difficult to argue with a success of this magnitude.

Nobody ever lost any money underestimating the taste of the American Public.

EVERY Cruise Line CEO on Earth would give just about anything to be able to match Carnival's numbers.

One of my favorite pastimes is watching those corpulent types on a ship waiting for a lift to take them DOWN ONE DECK, all the while complaining that the lifts are so slow.

I've only sailed NCL once (so far) but I believe they provide a small (4-cup?) coffee pot in all cabins, and I think an espresso machine in the suites.

 

Correction: Maybe only certain ships and cabins? Looking at the NCL forum, it looks like only balconies and above have coffee pots? I was on the NCL Star in an OV and we had coffee pot.

NCL - and a few other cruise lines - have constructed some of their ships (and sections of some of their ships) with passenger cabin electrical systems that can accommodate the higher wattage and amperage needed for machines like water boilers and coffee machines.

Most cruise line passenger cabins are not designed to safely accommodate these machines. Overloading the electrical systems causes blackouts under the best of conditions and fires under less than ideal conditions. That explains why many cruise lines forbid - and confiscate - heat producing electrical devices you might like to bring onboard.

Have you ever considered that if the Port Authority did not charge a fee for passengers using the facility ...

it may not even be there for you , or your ship to to use ?

 

 

I have also considered that charging twice as much as any other port in the world causes my employer to re-consider taking my ship (and the US$1 Million we leave behind every time we visit a port) to another place that charges us less.

If my company tried to charge you double, and the competitors offered the same cruise for half the amount we charged, which cruise would you buy?

I do not play bridge, but on every cruise where I know there has been a bridge director the sessions appeared to be well attended.

 

I suspect this was a cost cutting move, not something done for lack of passenger interest.

All the major cruise lines are reducing / eliminating Bridge for both the reasons you mentioned - and more.

1. Bridge players are a dying breed; overall interest in playing bridge has been falling for over a decade.

2. Most cruse lines do not have a single employee who knows how to play or teach bridge. Hardly anyone under age 60 even knows what it is.

3. Bridge Instructors are rarely paid. They only receive a free passenger cabin. But that cabin could be sold to passengers who would spend money onboard. Reserving a passenger cabin for one year's worth of bridge instructors could cost a cruise line $250,000 per year per ship in lost revenues.

4. Bridge Instructors are lightning rods for drama. Half the people in the bridge tournaments / classes love them and the other half hate them. We usually receive endless complaints about them during the course of the cruise.

5. Since bridge instructors are no longer paid - and often have to pay their own airfare - they are getting far more demanding once onboard. They want cabin upgrades, free drinks, free excursions, etc. When they don't get what they want, they spend their bridge sessions complaining about the cruise line - eliciting more complaints about the bridge program.

6. Passengers who play bridge are notoriously frugal. Most cruise lines would prefer these people to sail on another line.

#1 ART AUCTIONS.. The cruise lines must get a HUGE cut.

#2 BINGO There they get another big cut.

 

I'm not saying cruise lines shouldn't make money but art & bingo on a ship do not work for me. Not even the free champagne.

Actually Art & Bingo DO work for you - for exactly the reasons you mentioned.

The cruise lines make so much profit on these two activities that we are not forced to raise prices in other areas in order to make a profit.

You save twice;

1. You don't waste your money on Art and Bingo

2. You are charged less money for the things YOU like.

There are some cruises where people are buying Caribbean cruises for about that amount

 

When you hear someone is aboard for $399 for the week, that's $57 PP Per day. :eek: That doesn't buy many groceries in FLL.

 

Have you done many cruises on your cruise line embarking/disembarking in Shanghai with lots of Chinese guests?

 

 

We are seeing a rapidly growing number of Chinese passengers from Shanghai and Beijing. They are paying higher fares than the Western passengers, and generally spending more money onboard than the Westerners are spending.

The salary numbers are much lower which means that a typical cruise fare would eat up a much higher proportion of a person's income. Because while the cost of living is undoubtedly lower in China, there's not much that can bring down the operating costs for ships in that market.

The major lines are offering cruises out of Shanghai for fares that range from US$50 to US$75 per person, per day. When my ship provisions in Shanghai, our costs are about 50% for the same items purchased in Hong Kong, Singapore, or the USA.

Port fees and head taxes in China are a small fraction of what we pay in Hong Kong, Singapore, or Australia.

Chinese passengers spend far more per person per day than Western passengers.

Chinese passengers do not smuggle alcohol onboard.

Chinese passengers are quite happy to tip my staff, despite the fact that tipping in China is not the norm.

This is incorrect. You can't board "part way through" on any cruise.

Having managed over 30 cruise ships over the past 3 decades, I have had thousands of passengers joining my ships "part way through" the cruise. Some had missed the ship at the turnaround port, some had been medically disembarked and then returned, some had been unable to join the ship on the date of the turnaround, some had the same challenge as the OP on this thread.

Despite cabotage laws and other challenges, joining mid-cruise is possible more often than not.

That needs to be put into perspective.

How does that compare to cost of living/average salary in U.S.?

 

Excellent point.

When I moved to Shanghai in 1999, the average Chinese family there earned a total of US$1,400 per year. The cost of living for that family was US$900 per year.

15 years later the cost of living for that Chinese family has risen by only $100 per year, to $1,000.

Government-controlled rents and utilities have not really increased in all those years.

The average annual income for that family is now US$40,000.

Shanghai is a best case scenario that you see mainly in the bigger cities in China. But China now has more than 160 cities with over 1 million population.

Still, there are some very scary statistics regarding how poorly-prepared the majority of Baby Boomers are for retirement - what a small percentage of BB's actually have enough savings/investments to see them into their 80's. Once the first joy of retirement is past, a lot of BB's might take a cold, hard look at their finances and realize that their cash flow might not support the kinds of vacations they had imagined.

The new Chinese Middle Class - flush with disposable income - is now larger than the entire population of the USA. It is going to get much, much larger over the next 10 years. They are already selling more American cars in China than they are in the USA. The mass market cruise lines will have no problems finding heads to put on those beds.

The fare is about 2,000 Yen or about US$20.

Takes about 15 minutes by taxi.

Tell the driver "Shin Yokohama Eki".

Looks like John Heald is honing his PR skills - but he needs more training. Calling those ports "World's Most Exotic" and "Breathtaking" is quite of a stretch.

Flights into and out of Puerto Rico are limited and expensive. That will reduce the demand for those itineraries.

Any cruise over 7 days is difficult to sell at any price. Most Americans do not have the time or money for cruises over 7 days. Those who do are not going to the Caribbean.

Most cruise ships could make far more profit by sailing in other areas of the world.

This experiment will not last very long.

I have no doubt that is true but as least the Port Authority (or someone?) will not charge up to $25 per pax to get on a bus or taxi that picks you up along side the ship.

 

Compare the wages of an Australian port worker to that of a Vietnamese/Thai etc and probably even a US worker and you will realise the huge and I mean huge disparity in paypackets.

 

Despite hours spent searching for an official order.act. edict call it what you like I have not been able to find a proper authority for this charge imposed in Vietnam ports other than travel agents who organise tours in Vietnam advising clients of the impost.

 

It has the hallmarks of another means of extracting monies from overseas tourists whereby up until a few years ago returning Vietnamese who had settled in another country had to slip $10/20/30 into their passport to have it processed by immigration authorities in Vietnam. A practice thank goodness has been deterred in most recent years.

 

I have been going to Vietnam on numerous occasions since my first visit 45 years ago and I love the country and it's people and no doubt as the country's tourist industry grows a lot of practices that a dubious or unhelpful to encouraging tourist to return will go.

How about comparing apples to apples?

The port of San Francisco has a new cruise terminal that is spectacular.

The American stevedores there are paid far more money than Australian stevedores.

San Francisco has the most expensive port fees in America.

The sail into and out of San Francisco Bay is equally beautiful - or possibly nicer - than the one into Darling Harbour at Sydney.

The new San Francisco terminal is far superior to the new one (and the old one) in Sydney.

But Port fees and passenger head taxes in Sydney are nearly double the same charges in San Francisco.

Can't someone explain this disparity?

Sounds like monkey-business to me.

Ships leaving Wednesday to Alaska frequently have the ports all to themselves.

No crowds, no tendering, no delays getting into or out of port.

Ships get cleared faster.

Friendlier shopkeepers and tour guides everywhere.

No lines to get into restaurants on shore.

Fewer children onboard.

Fewer first-timers onboard.

Better hotel rates before and after the cruise.

Better airline fares in both directions.

My ship is in Alaska for several months every summer.

This past May 01 we had 8 inches of snow on the decks at Glacier Bay, with freezing rain, high winds, and 30 foot seas.

On May 15 it was over 70 degrees fahrenheit, with sunny skies, and stayed that way for the entire month.

In May 2013, it was miserably cold for the entire month, with heavy rains, fog, and snow.

There is no way that you can predict Alaska weather in advance.

I was looking at a Caribbean Cruise on the September 20th, I found something very odd.

 

Voyage B442A - 9 Days Grand Caribbean Sampler Caribbean Princess

 

Voyage B442 - 5 Days Western Caribbean Getaway Caribbean Princess

 

What I find interesting is that they have allocated more rooms to the 5day, and a $100 obc for it, whereas the 9day has less rooms to choose from and a $50 obc.

 

You would think they would want to sell more off the 9day before the 5day, as whoever books the 5day would disembark on Sept.25, and leave the ship for the last 4 days that many more staterooms empty and less passengers on the ship to spend. Not only that, but the rooms reserved for the 5day, cannot be booked for the 9day.

 

Weird huh?!

 

I called my Princess Planner, and the 1-800 number and they just said that its something marketing did. I would love to get some of that marketing is smoking. :p

 

Trying to figure out marketing is like trying to catch the elusive upgrade fairy

Not weird at all.

The Sales and marketing people have extensive historical data that guides their actions.

People who take a 5-day cruise spend as much or more than people who take a 9-day cruise. But a 5-day cruise costs far less to deliver. That gives the cruise line a much higher profit margin with substantially lower costs on a 5-day cruise.

It also allows them the option of upsells for the remainder of the 9 days.

That's another big revenue opportunity with nearly zero cost.

Figuring out cruise marketing is very easy if you understand the business.

Figuring out upgrades is even easier - but I am not going to give the secrets away.

For all practical and legal purposes, San Juan is a US Port.

US Customs is very inflexible in allowing unlicensed casinos to open in US Ports.

Since San Juan has a large number of casinos nearby the ship, they would also be very reluctant to have your ship cut into their profits.

Don't count on it being open.

Princess is the only company as far as I know that concentrates on Japanese markert during the summer and fall. The Diamond and Sapphire Princess's have been moved and refurbished for the Asia , China and Japanese markets.

There are s few local cruise lines but they are mostly short gambling cruises for the Chinese Market.

It is true that there are several local Japanese cruise lines that concentrate on Japan.

Orient Venus, Asuka, Peace Boat, and Nippon Maru are the best known companies.

But it is NOT true that they are short gambling cruises for the Chinese market.

Some of the ships I listed above do not even have casinos onboard.

They cater almost entirely to the Japanese Market. Food, entertainment, announcements, printed materials, tours, and other offerings are generally all Japanese. Orient Venus, Asuka, and Nippon Maru also do world cruises every year.

Asuka II is the original Crystal Harmony. The parent company of Asuka is NYK (Nippon Yusen Kaisha), the owners of Crystal Cruises.

Star Cruises in Singapore occasionally offers cruises to Japan for the Chinese Market.

Royal Caribbean and HAL also have ships sailing around Japan part of the year.

Ever wondered why tours from ports of call in Vietnam are quite expensive?

 

And why do some privately owned tour companies want your passport details etc before you arrive in country?

 

For example on our upcoming cruise on Sapphire Princess the ships excursion DIY Saigon is $99 whereas the DIY Bangkok is $39 per person - approximately the same distance and wages etc are higher than Vietnam so why.

 

One reason is because the various port "authorities" in Vietnam impose a per passenger fee to allow operators to come along side the ship to pickup and drop off. The fee can vary and it is impossible to find some proper basis for the charge.

 

Many suspect the charge as a means of extracting some money from those who can afford to pay and that probably the tours organised by the cruise line do not pay the fee. After all we have port fees and charges added to the cost of our cruise ticket so what gives?

 

In Phu My I have organised a private tour which will require us to walk 200 meters to the waiting van - outside the dock area and thus we have not be asked for the port charge.

 

Food for thought?

Ever wonder why Australian cruises are so expensive?

Australian ports charge much higher port fees than other countries.

Sydney, Australia has the distinction of charging the highest port fees in the world - with no particular justification.

Also food for thought?

On those luxury lines where you pay big money upfront to avoid paying as you go, you need to realize that you are paying for ALL goods and services - even if you do not use them.

Enforcing a formal night dress code on EVERY mass market cruise line is not nearly as easy as you might want to think.

The biggest hurdle is trying to get people who do not dress up and have no nice clothing to follow the dress code.

They cannot - even if they want to.

If you sail from a US Port today, the majority of pax have baseball caps, t-shirts, and faded denims.

Next hurdle is staffing.

Most mass market ships today concentrate their shrinking service manpower into the dining room for dinner service. Only minimum crew are left for buffet and room service.

On a cruise ship, we MUST feed you somewhere.

If you show up dressed poorly at the dining room on formal night, we can send you away.

You then have the choice to eat in the Buffet or call Room Service.

But those 2 venues have only minimal staff.

If we send more than a few passengers away from the Dining Room, the Buffet and Room Service will be overwhelmed with orders.

How do we handle that?

We send waiters from the Dining Room to help out.

Then the people in the Dining Room who did follow the dress code get to wait one hour between courses, because their regular waiter is helping out in Room Service.

And the Second Seating starts an hour late because the tables are not ready.

And nearly everyone misses the evening entertainment.

Yes, we should deny entrance to the Dining Room when so many people are poorly dressed.

But are you willing to live with the consequences??

I'm sure you have some easy solutions for those challenges?

Hire more staff, you say? There are no empty crew beds to put them in.

Get staff from other departments to help out? Those people are already working elsewhere, or their union contracts prevent us from utilising them in food services, or the new Maritime Labor Convention prevents us scheduling them for more working hours.