Will the Feb RSVP 2010 cruise be the end of RSVP?

[leatherglenn]

I've have noticed that RSVP has no cruises or land-based vacations planned after their Feb 2010 cruise. Yet, Atlantis has many, many cruises and land-based vacations well into mid-summer 2010. Atlantis also has an active alumni social networking site, but RSVP has nothing. This makes me wonder whether Atlantis will just retire RSVP and concentrate only on Atlantis-branded events. One advantage to them is that they would have more varied entertainment to use on Atlantis. I've gone on both Atlantis and RSVP and have enjoyed both, and do see some advantage to Atlantis in using some of the RSVP entertainment for some of their cruises.

[Boytjie]

Don't even say that!! :eek:

 

I don't care about Atlantis get variety on their cruises... they are fairly different products and slapping Amy and Freddie on an Atlantis ship won;t change much IMO.

 

I hope that RSVP would stay alive. I think RSVP was rather slow in announcing the few cruises they had for 2009. In my opinion Atlantis over extended themselves this year.

[RMS Olympic]

I sure hope that RSVP continues.

I do find it strange that nothing has been announced, not even on the Alaska trip that just ended.

Considering contracts are normally signed (for a full ship charter) way in advance......

Rich Cambell is first a businessman. It would seem prudent that if he cannot fill his Atlantis charters...to shift RSVP passengers that way. Consolidation is the name of the game.

If the 2010 RSVP Eurodam cruise is the last......our sailing will have a very different atmosphere.

Perhaps RSVP will move to smaller venues.......but my gutt tells me the economy will dictate change regardless of what we old alumni think. Atlantis is bringing in cash, and seems to have a bigger following. It was a very smart move to diversify the Atlantis offerings...no longer just the Caribbean cruises...but now the far off exotics. Look at the Australia cruise....sold out almost immediately.

I'm not sure RSVP can stand alone.....I hope it does.

[GUY H]

This message board is followed closely by both Charlie Rounds and Rich Cambell maybe one of them could step forward and comment on this subject for once and for all and put an end to this recurring rumor? The cruise industry is in a awkward place at this moment. Mega ships are about to be launched shortly in a bad economy where the traveler is cutting back......perhaps RSVP is playing it close to the vest in order to get the best deal on future charters in order to fill a ship at the most reasonable price.

[Oslo Dutch]

Somehow I've got the impression RSVP is being put in the fridge for a while, and Atlantis will go on as normal. It must have been pretty difficult to fill the Mexican and Alaska cruise this year so maybe just wait and see until the economy improves again.

 

I just don't understand why RSVP doesn't do more marketing in Europe as it still seems to be such a North American product. Considering the amount of holidays we have here and how generally unknown the cruise product is they can get a lot of business here

[dendren]

I suspect RSVP isn't going away, but expect a fairly dramatic scale back. My understanding is April's Mexican Riviera cruise didn't sell well at all and the recent Alaska cruise was a difficult sell. However, the annual February Caribbean still is going strong. I wouldn't be surprised to see RSVP go to 1 (the Feb cruise) and *maybe* a 2nd smaller cruise (possibly the Europe riverboat type cruises) a year for a while.

[robtx100]

My partner and I are considering our first all gay cruise next year after 14 mainstream cruises. I had to hunt around a little, but I did find this Med cruise for 2010 from RSVP.

http://www.rsvpcruises.com/RSVP-Vacations/PDF/2010%20Mediterranean%20Cruises.pdf

[RMS Olympic]

These two cruises are chartered by Atlantis...not RSVP.

[GUY H]

These two cruises are chartered by Atlantis...not RSVP.

 

not according to there web site these cruises aren't there,,,,these must be brand knew and both look like great trips.

[dendren]

not according to there web site these cruises aren't there,,,,these must be brand knew and both look like great trips.

 

very interesting... I had been told this was an Atlantis cruise also. I wonder if they are maximizing and pitching as a dual Atlantis/RSVP sailing.

[rnmikey]

On the Alaskan cruise Charlie explained that because of current economic conditions 2010 will be greatly scaled back. Apparently RSVP is expecting to come back strong in 2011. Of course I'm sure it will depend on economy. Plans (at least tentatively) include returning to land tours that they used to do back in the olden days. There is also plans to do a two week back to back cruise so we'll have the opportunity to go on either a 7 or 14 day cruise. Did not get the impression RSVP was going by the wayside. Actually he pointed out how RSVP & Atlantis were and will remain very distinctive from each other. Guess we'll find out on the Eurodam in Feb.

[HotlantaCruiser]

I would assume that Rich is concentrating on salvaging Atlantis, and not worrying about RSVP.

 

Don't forget Rich picked up RSVP for a song (dare I say nothing, beyond the obligation to sail the cruises that were chartered at the the time Planet Out went bye-bye). That's not his product, nor his history, and if it's not making money, I'm sure he couldn't care less. Not putting words into his mouth, or spilling any inside information (as I have none). However, seeing RSVP's recent troubles, failure to sell their ships appropriately, and noticing the struggles Atlantis has had in filling their charters, I'm making educated guesses. Rich had his hands FULL juggling the 2009 cruises for Atlantis, and is in my mind, overextended for 2010 with just the Atlantis offerings. I can't see him adding anything else to the 2010 RSVP calendar unless the market changes rapidly.

 

again, others with true inside knowledge feel free to correct where I am wrong.

[Boytjie]

I would assume that Rich is concentrating on salvaging Atlantis, and not worrying about RSVP.

 

Don't forget Rich picked up RSVP for a song (dare I say nothing, beyond the obligation to sail the cruises that were chartered at the the time Planet Out went bye-bye). That's not his product, nor his history, and if it's not making money, I'm sure he couldn't care less. Not putting words into his mouth, or spilling any inside information (as I have none). However, seeing RSVP's recent troubles, failure to sell their ships appropriately, and noticing the struggles Atlantis has had in filling their charters, I'm making educated guesses. Rich had his hands FULL juggling the 2009 cruises for Atlantis, and is in my mind, overextended for 2010 with just the Atlantis offerings. I can't see him adding anything else to the 2010 RSVP calendar unless the market changes rapidly.

 

again, others with true inside knowledge feel free to correct where I am wrong.

 

Rich doesn't have to do anything for RSVP, he has Charlie to take care of that. ;)

[HotlantaCruiser]

I love good snark

 

:D

[pidaho1971]

The ill-fated 2009 Mexican Riviera cruise was my (and my s/o's) first gay cruise, and we had such an amazing time that we booked for the Eurodam. We specifically chose RSVP over Atlantis, as the word on the street was that the crowds and events would probably be a better fit for us.

 

As to why that cruise didn't sell any better than it did.... By late April, the season of traveling to tropical climates is winding down. In fact, this was the last cruise to Mexico before the ship was repositioned to Alaska. Also, there were a lot of people who were less-than-thrilled about it being on NCL.

[RMS Olympic]

Marketing takes money and the marketing of RSVP seems almost non existant anymore. Just look at this Gay and Lesbian board here on Cruise Critic...what pops up...Atlantis.

Also the economy seems to be making a shift. Bookings for Aquafest seem to be up....Cruising with Pride as well. So without a hard sell...not sure how RSVP can attract new passengers that maybe shopping based on the bottom line $$$$$$. Depending on past passengers for the same old same old routes or ships might be working against bookings in general.

As for Atlantis.......they have diversified their product very nicely. There are the Caribbean cruises for the party/ circuit crowd...and the exotic for the older crowd with more disposable income. I have found these exotic cruises to be very similar in atmosphere to RSVP and have enjoyed them.

So I hope RSVP can continue...whether it is landbased, small ship or big....so I can continue to see those friends I have made on previous cruises.

[sfgoguy]

I'd like to see RSVP pick up that aspect of the gay travel dollar (Euro? Etc.?) associated with smaller, more personalized travel. I don't know how well their recent European River Cruises sold, but that really is a niche they could market that Atlantis doesn't/won't.

 

I seriously considered one of RSVP's August River Cruises and would do so, again, in the future. (Atlantis's spring '09 Tahiti cruise came along suddenly and I couldn't resist.)

 

Likewise, I'd be very amenable to a Windstar-type cruise in an exotic locale: Turquoise Coast of Turkey, for example.

 

I'm devoted to Atlantis's more exotic offerings (you can tell from my signature here) and likely will continue those. But, I'd give RSVP a nod if they offered something unique...and more "intimate."

 

There's room for everyone in the gay travel market - if the product is unique and well-priced for the value received.

 

Happy crusing guys.

[DenvCruiser]

A group of us were on the second week of the European river boat cruises, the cruise that sailed the Danube. That cruise was sold out. The first week, which had two nights in Paris and then sailed the Mozel and Rhein, was only half sold.

 

Our cruise was lots of fun, very different than being on a cruise ship. It felt more like a land vacation than a cruise, but that was not a bad thing. You just walked off and on the boat, were usually close to the center of town, and were treated wonderfully by the staff. The food was tasty. I loved the fresh fish and the wiener schnitzel.

 

We were in Vienna for two days. Paul Williams did a pub crawl in Vienna one night. A lot of the guys went to the bars and other gay places. :)

 

I hope RSVP does another river boat cruise next year and again uses AMA Waterways.

 

I keep looking at the RSVP website daily and hope to see some new cruise for next year. If they don't post something soon, I will start to consider either one of Pied Piper's two summer Med cruises.

 

Greg

[sfgoguy]

I keep looking at the RSVP website daily and hope to see some new cruise for next year. If they don't post something soon, I will start to consider either one of Pied Piper's two summer Med cruises.

 

Greg

 

Atlantis's August '10 Med cruises: one from Venice to Athens with ports including Istanbul, Santorini, Mykonos and Dubrovnik; the other from Athens to Barcelona with a stop on Ibiza among others. It'll be a good group of guys, I assure you. ;)