Sales must be bad

[antsp]

This summer cruises must be selling really slowly, princess have now split there 12 day med cruises into 6 days and selling them at 280usd. Never seen it this bad before

[PunkiC]

The economy is still bad and airfares are really high. I think that is discouraging a lot of folks from travel to Europe.

[Astro Flyer]

This summer cruises must be selling really slowly, princess have now split there 12 day med cruises into 6 days and selling them at 280usd. Never seen it this bad before

 

Crystal is doing the same thing by cutting the length of their European cruises to 5-8 days instead of their normal 11-12 day cruises.

[hansi]

This summer cruises must be selling really slowly, princess have now split there 12 day med cruises into 6 days and selling them at 280usd. Never seen it this bad before

 

Where did you see that?

[WeeCountyMan]

Some superb deals from Princess UK for British clients.

 

http://www.princess.com/

 

I suspect the above link will not quote prices in UK Sterling (as it does here) if opened elsewhere ?

[sunsetbeachgal]

The email I received last night from Princess had some unbelievable prices for the Med and Alaska...while I am tempted, we have done both fairly recently and when you add up airline costs, fees, tours, etc, well it adds up!

 

IMHO, Princess needs more itineraries in North America during the summer...Bermuda, Caribbean, etc. We did a Royal Caribbean cruise in May to the Caribbean and the ship was filled, and there were many repeat cruisers... Yes, I know folks will say Princess makes more with the ships in other parts of the world, but with all of the emails coming, maybe things have changed. Perhaps the worldwide economy is catching up.... And DH and I want to do a Bermuda cruise this summer...and looks like again we will be back on Royal Caribbean since Princess does not go there. I am two cruises from attaining Elite status...I would much rather sail Princess, but their options from late Spring through mid Fall are SO limited!!!

[dorisis]

We have stopped at bermuda several times whilst on TransAtlantic cruises, but next year we will be doing a Bermuda cruise out of Miami(one of our home ports).No Airfare to NY. That is a big plus for us. Flying is not a pleasure!!! It is not with Princess. They don't offer Bermuda out of Florida,

 

~Doris~

[PescadoAmarillo]

I just don't see things improving for the cruise lines. The mainstream cruise lines compete by bringing out newer (and bigger) ships introducing new features, and capacity keeps increasing, but they seem to not know what to do with their older ships. We've seen them re-deploy from Alaska to Europe and back for several summers now. I think the Mariner could have sailed around the world with all the miles it's traveled being redeployed for RC. And they're really getting innovative, home-porting ships in South America and now China.

[Loonbeam]

They could probably sell out more TAs for the sake of TAs based on demand.

 

That said, the price for our Med cruise on RC has not changed in a year (and if Princess had the 6 day option when we booked we would have gone with them).

 

In this case I think the issue may not have been price but Length. Simply not as many people can take 12 day cruises plus intercontinental air travel (with a safety margin, that's 15 days). If it was just price they would not have seen the need to add logistical issues by splitting the cruise.

[Happy2cruise]

IMHO, Princess needs more itineraries in North America during the summer...Bermuda, Caribbean, etc. We did a Royal Caribbean cruise in May to the Caribbean and the ship was filled, and there were many repeat cruisers... Yes, I know folks will say Princess makes more with the ships in other parts of the world, but with all of the emails coming, maybe things have changed. Perhaps the worldwide economy is catching up.... And DH and I want to do a Bermuda cruise this summer...and looks like again we will be back on Royal Caribbean since Princess does not go there. I am two cruises from attaining Elite status...I would much rather sail Princess, but their options from late Spring through mid Fall are SO limited!!!

 

Have to agree. We are very loyal Princess cruisers having sailed with them 24 times but we want to do 2 cruises that Princess does not do. So for a Bermuda cruise and Bahamas cruise to Nassau and Key West we are going on Celebrity. Really wish Princess would of offered these routes but sometimes a change is good I guess.

[luvtheships]

They could probably sell out more TAs for the sake of TAs based on demand.

 

That said, the price for our Med cruise on RC has not changed in a year (and if Princess had the 6 day option when we booked we would have gone with them).

 

In this case I think the issue may not have been price but Length. Simply not as many people can take 12 day cruises plus intercontinental air travel (with a safety margin, that's 15 days). If it was just price they would not have seen the need to add logistical issues by splitting the cruise.

I for one would love to do a TA...they should do them on a weekly basis.

 

FWIW....I would do more cruises if they would just slash the prices earlier....they can up the onboard charges for all I care...double the drink prices....charge for everything..I don't care...but I would really like a lower initial cost...because I can control myself onboard with spending.

[Infi]

I noticed this too about a week ago while checking prices for our upcoming cruise. The 12 day cruise before ours was also being sold as a 6 day option from Athens to Venice. The one after ours is being sold as another 6 day segment from Rome to Athens. Strangely, our sailing on 6/17 has not been segmented. Looks like Princess is trying to entice Europeans with these shorter jaunts and fill up the ship as much as they can.

 

As odd as it is to see Princess do this, I can't say I'm very surprised after watching this cruise. The price for our cruise was incredibly discounted to being with and featured on a few of the Princess mailers this spring. It has dropped like a stone after final payment, bottoming out at $499 for an inside, $999 for a balcony. That's a steal for 12 days. And, according to Princess, they still have a ton of cabins available. Even with 9 days left to go and these new 6 day cruises, I still doubt our ship will sail full.

[Loonbeam]

There's actually a couple of reasons you won't see repeated TAs - They are very fuel consuming, no port excursion revenue for many days and they are very hard on the crew (no days off in port for a long time since they can't leave turnaround day). I think its a great idea attractiveness wise but not logistics.

 

And as far as low prices/controlled onboard spending, that's exactly what they DON'T want!

 

I for one would love to do a TA...they should do them on a weekly basis.

 

FWIW....I would do more cruises if they would just slash the prices earlier....they can up the onboard charges for all I care...double the drink prices....charge for everything..I don't care...but I would really like a lower initial cost...because I can control myself onboard with spending.

[Woobstr112G]

I would never book a six day cruise because I like cruising so much and I love being on the ship and at sea. With a six day cruise, you'd only have 3 days to relax.

Airfare costs definiteely can add $$$$ to a cruise and therefore limit your choices. Right now I'm able to work overtime at work to save up for our airfares to Europe. When I retire in 2016 I might have to adjust my travelling itineraries. I am also lucky to live about 70 or so miles north of the port of San Pedro. Last year we did the 14 day r/t to Hawaii. We are also doing it again next year. It soooo nice not to have to worry about costs, luggage weight, etc.

Bob

[TheBestIsYetToCome]

The email I received last night from Princess had some unbelievable prices for the Med and Alaska...while I am tempted, we have done both fairly recently and when you add up airline costs, fees, tours, etc, well it adds up!

 

IMHO, Princess needs more itineraries in North America during the summer...Bermuda, Caribbean, etc. We did a Royal Caribbean cruise in May to the Caribbean and the ship was filled, and there were many repeat cruisers... Yes, I know folks will say Princess makes more with the ships in other parts of the world, but with all of the emails coming, maybe things have changed. Perhaps the worldwide economy is catching up.... And DH and I want to do a Bermuda cruise this summer...and looks like again we will be back on Royal Caribbean since Princess does not go there. I am two cruises from attaining Elite status...I would much rather sail Princess, but their options from late Spring through mid Fall are SO limited!!!

 

Definitely. We've done four cruises in Europe in the last three years, but I'm tired of it, and I'm ready for our next few cruises to be in the Caribbean. We're elite and 100% loyal to Princess right now...but we're are starting to look at shifting some of our cruise business elsewhere so we can get to the Caribbean during the summer.

 

Also want to go on record saying we have zero interest in being on shorter (4/5 day) itineraries to the Caribbean -- Princess or anybody else.

[geoherb]

We booked our cruise tour to Alaska after the final payment date. The price is holding steady at what we paid for it. The Princess website is not showing any specific cabins in our category. We're still waiting for our guarantee assignment. There are plenty of cabins in the category above ours showing up. We're happy just to be able to take another cruise, so we won't mind not getting an upgrade--although we'd be thrilled also to get a balcony or a mini.

[PunkiC]

The loads on the Alaska cruises are really strange this year. One week will be sold out in several categories, and the next priced dirt cheap.

 

We got a smoking deal on a balcony on a Scandinavian cruise where the inside and oceanview cabins were totally sold out. I notice that they must have upgraded some foks, because some lower-priced cabins have opened up in the last couple of days.

 

Very strange booking patterns. It must be driving them crazy.

[patterson3]

There's actually a couple of reasons you won't see repeated TAs - They are very fuel consuming, no port excursion revenue for many days and they are very hard on the crew (no days off in port for a long time since they can't leave turnaround day). I think its a great idea attractiveness wise but not logistics.

 

And as far as low prices/controlled onboard spending, that's exactly what they DON'T want!

 

You make a good point about fuel consumption but I would think that the money they make by having all their guests onboard (through beverages and gambling) would more then offset the revenues lost on shore excursions.

[Matcodixon]

I do suspect that the sales of Med cruises has had an effect on the pricing. This has certainly been to my benefit so far. I would have never predicted that my original BG GTY booking in January would turn into a mini suite and a price reduction of $1300. This certainly must have to do with supply and demand but this makes me a happy, happy person.

 

If, for some reason, our cruise ends up sailing at less than 100% capacity, I will also not shed any tears. Less crowds and better service can only be the result.

[Pam in CA]

We have stopped at bermuda several times whilst on TransAtlantic cruises, but next year we will be doing a Bermuda cruise out of Miami(one of our home ports). No Airfare to NY. That is a big plus for us. Flying is not a pleasure!!! It is not with Princess. They don't offer Bermuda out of Florida,

FYI, Princess doesn't sail out of Miami.

[Times Prince]

This summer cruises must be selling really slowly, princess have now split there 12 day med cruises into 6 days and selling them at 280usd. Never seen it this bad before

Looking at the web site the 6 day cruise itineraries are pretty equivalent to the 7 day Greek Isles Interlude which is pretty much sold out. It sounds like they are providing more short cruises for a European market, as they are proving to be popular.

 

just my observation - I could be wrong...

[Loonbeam]

Just a side note - this prompted me to check. $350 pp price drop! Woot!

 

They could probably sell out more TAs for the sake of TAs based on demand.

 

That said, the price for our Med cruise on RC has not changed in a year (and if Princess had the 6 day option when we booked we would have gone with them).

 

In this case I think the issue may not have been price but Length. Simply not as many people can take 12 day cruises plus intercontinental air travel (with a safety margin, that's 15 days). If it was just price they would not have seen the need to add logistical issues by splitting the cruise.

[luvtheships]

There's actually a couple of reasons you won't see repeated TAs - They are very fuel consuming, no port excursion revenue for many days and they are very hard on the crew (no days off in port for a long time since they can't leave turnaround day). I think its a great idea attractiveness wise but not logistics.

 

And as far as low prices/controlled onboard spending, that's exactly what they DON'T want!

Cunard does TA's from NYC to London on a fairly regular basis...and while they may not care for my controlled onboard spending...those who would see a TA as a CTN..would drink and gamble up a storm...while the rest of us could get off in London and tour the sites...maybe a 2 day turnaround..and then get back on....

 

 

This is just my thought/suggestion...it is really not meant as a discussion springboard comment.

[t60]

Princess have reduced their prices, as they can´t get passengers to cross the Atlantic for Southampton departures A) beacuse of Jubilee, Because of olympics, all the airfares and Hotel prices have increased astronomically

Sandy in Spain

[kestrel]

I think shorter cruises are more convenient and flexible for those of us who have not retired yet. I can take two weeks off, but the 12-day or 14-day cruises may not fit right into my two-week schedule. Moreover, many of us are repeat cruisers who do not want to sail on identical itineraries. I agree that 5-day or 6-day cruises are too short. However, I like the idea to be able to "mix and match" to make a longer cruise out of 2 or 3 short ones :D