mcrcruiser

cruisermom that is a lot of new inventory . We are amazed that you were able tp post all those ships entering into  the cruise business since 2021 .  More amazing  is filling   that new inventory with passengers .Now the question could be do the cruise lines have too much capacity  .Only time will tell all  

Thanks for all your replies . Planing future travels   takes a llot of planing   & your replies  shed light  on  booking future cruises 

3 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

It's called the law of supply and demand. As long as cruise ships are sailing full like they seem to be now, the fares will not go down.

 

If you are predicting a recession, that would probably lower fares as there would be less demand. But there have been predictions of a recession for quite a while now, but instead the economy keeps growing. 

We can agree that while ships are sailing full pricing will remain high  . About a potential recession that card is still in the deck imo . Federal government spending is at a all time high but ,it can't keep growing with out very severe consequences ;which most people will agree . Then the other side of the coin is  consumer spending . Can consumer spending be as  robust as it has been  or will it  slow down ?  Is a recession possible , imo yes it is possible this year .We see crypto & gold prices reaching all time highs  ,so we got to ask ourselves ,why ? .Thus ,should a recession happen ,by all means cruise prices will go down as the cruise line costs  will also go down ,imo

Yes we would agree that the longer itineraries are people with deep pockets  thaqt taqke those cruises . Perhaps like you indicate ,the shorter ,Caribbean  cruises  or Mexico  could drop in price . Thanks for your input 

 Seems to us that high government spending is keeping the economy afloat but , that too must slow down or stop i. Credit card debt has reached a all tome high of a Trillion dollars . Will consumers pull back on spending ? . Then what will happen to the stock market ;as consumer spending represents 2/3 of the National economy ?  Since cruises still are considered a luxury  can  consumer demand still  keep  cruise bookings moving higher  while  consumers face harder times ?  Thus could we see  cruise prices actually drop from these lofty high levels ?

 It will be interesting what other people think 

We see a ship sold out for handicap balcony cabins . Can we ask HAL to contact us if one opens up ?

 TIA

We never buy the HIA because we rarely drink & if we do it is a glass of wine at dinner .  Wonder if  you can buy a glass of wine at the Happy Hour 4 to 5 PM & bring it into the dining room  for easrly dinner ? 

When we sailed RCCL we get free drink tickets  ,like 4 each per day  because we are Diamond with RCCL   .We could even order using our tickets in the MDR a  glass of wine 

2 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

I'm sorry, sir/madame, this is a Wendy's.

LOL

March 8 ,2024  Carnival Stock making a very nice gain in early trading  . It pays ypo own more than just the 100 shares for the  stock holder on board credits . Buying more shares gives the opportunity for major profits  imo . The corporation is adding new ships to the Carnival & Princess fleets this year  as cruise booking hit a new high 

March 8,2024 CCL stock on a  strong upward movement in early trading 😁

Wonderful photos . Keep them coming ,They are amazing 😁

17 hours ago, julia said:

Although I have nothing to corroborate this, I am absolutely certain the laundry by the bag on this same cruise last year was $20/bag.  We had the unlimited for $210 (with one day/same day turnaround), and could have sent out perhaps four or five bags and saved some coin.

Yes you are 1000% correct . When we sail we use laundry by the bag .   We also pack wash & wear quick dry clothes  which lmits the amount of wash we need to send out  . Take a shower & wash a few  items . also carry less luggage a win -win

It was so much simpler years ago . Take your bottle of wine to the dining room & there pay corkage . If you were to drink it in your cabin then no corkage fee .  imo this was the simplest method .  now it has gotten too complicated  imo 

20 minutes ago, julia said:

Although I have nothing to corroborate this, I am absolutely certain the laundry by the bag on this same cruise last year was $20/bag.  We had the unlimited for $210 (with one day/same day turnaround), and could have sent out perhaps four or five bags and saved some coin.

Yes you are 1000% correct . When we sail we use laundry by the bag .   We also pack wash & wear quick dry clothes  which lmits the amount of wash we need to send out  . Take a shower & wash a few  items . also carry less luggage a win -win

You may also ask id a Chase lounge is available from your room steward .  at times that has worked as well 

Wow describes it all .The photos are amazing  .Thanks for posting all of them 

January 2026  Holland will not have Koningsdam doing Hawaii or Mexico cruises .They will ve using Nieuw Amsterdam ,a smaller ship . Just checking the 18 day Early Booking Hawaii cruise prices have really soared , additionally ,if any one requires a handicap cabin ,this shi calls standard size cabins  handicap , so we tried booking a outside state room   to upgrade to a deck 6 way up front handicap which are the few that woud be real handicap state rooms . I was willing to pay the outside price with the early booking Have It All , The resolution dept would not budge . Imo ,people who are handicapped can not use a standard size stateroom which does not have roll in showers .  

Check it out on deck plans 

Seems that the the $16s price range will soon  be left behind as cruise bookings keep increasing  .What are your thoughts ?

For those who do not know ,owning 100 shares of CCL will get you extra on board credits as follows 

Cruise length :

 1 to 7 days = $50  on board credit

  7 to 13 days = $100  on board creit 

  14 days & more = $250 on board credit 

  The request is now through Stockperks /Carnival .you need your booking number ,Ship name & Sail daye to get the on board credit applied to your sailing 

35 minutes ago, whogo said:

Circumnavigations of Australia from Sydney must be popular, I found a bunch of them. Scope out Holland America's competition:

 

Queen Elizabeth for 30 nights starting 10/18/24

Oceania's Regatta on December 22, 2024 for 34 nights

 

31 nights on Viking Venus starting 1.20.25

 

31 nights Viking Orion on December 30, 2025 and February 27, 2026

 

 

yes this cruise is amazing . We sent the information to our friends in Calgary Canada . Wish we could do this cruise but health issues prevent it for us 

20 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Of course you are unlikely to find that voyage starting and ending in San Diego. I think you may find a "Grand Voyage" that does.

I believe that @richwmn is on that voyage right now and posting on a thread about it. Also likely to be found with very little effort.

This is not for us but a friend who lives in Calgary  . I could do this cruise but my wife can not fly is the problem  We have done a Trans Pacific to Sydney from San Diego in 2015 & then flew back to SD .Now my DW has a kneee problem & she can not get a knee replacement . 

Cliff

About a year or 2 ago we saw a HAL cruise circumnavigating  the continent of Australia . does HAL do that kind of cruise often  & is it available now ?  What ship would they be using ?

TIA

11 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Approximate numbers (I only looked at one ship per class but numbers shouldn't differ significantly within class.)

 

Celebrity S class: ~10% inside (2800 pax)

Celebrity M class: 17.5% (2200 pax)

Princess Royal class: ~19% inside (3560 pax)

Princess Grand class: 28% inside (3000 pax)

HAL Pinnacle class: ~20% inside (2650 pax)

HAL Vista class: 16.4% inside (2360 pax)

 

With the exception of the low number of insides on Celebrity S class and the high number on Princess' Grand class, the numbers don't seem significantly different...

 

I think it's more likely that as ships have gotten larger and larger, lines are adding a significantly higher number of cabins per ship without proportionally increasing the public spaces.

 

I do think @Hlitner has something of a point. HAL passengers seem to have a tendency to park themselves in one location for the day (a sea day), and not really move around the ship as there is little programming to entice them.

 

 

We agree with your position .Thus ,if enough people complain to HAL in their cruise reports then perhaps HAL management would make some entertainment changes to attracy people to those venues 

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

We had them in the Lido at lunch on the K'Dam last November, not impressed mostly veggie and cooked fish very limited raw fish sushi there. I do not consider a California Roll with all vegies to be sushi. I believe it was in the distant lands Asian section of the Lido.

Thanks it is worth a try . If not good we won't go back  for more

7 minutes ago, packedandready said:

This will be our first cruise with HAL. Would like a tile as a newbie. Does everyone get one, or just certain levels? Will be in a Neptune Suite, if that matters.

 You should get a tile .If not ask your room steward for one 

Free laundry starts at 4 star Mariner level . 200 cruise days ro get there