Voyage cancelled-not enough pax - Ever Happen?

[Maryandi]

I hope this has never happened. Some of the specialty or off season cruises might not have alot of people. What do you think ?

 

Mar

[gizmo]

I have never heard of this happening and doubt it ever will. :cool:

[Randyk47]

I think it is highly unlikely, at least with the major lines like HAL, Celebrity, etc. While I've personally never heard of it I could imagine a small line....like one having only a ship or two....could get themselves in a position where they were sailing "hand to mouth" and didn't have the reserve funds to run a partially booked ship. Of course, reality is that the majority of ships for the majority of lines are running the highest occupancy rates they've had in years so the chances of a significantly under booked cruise are pretty slim.

[biensur]

I remember after 9/11 the Golden Princess was doing a transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale to the Med. The Gulf War had started only 8 weeks prior and the battleships were also in the Med. I bit of a deterent.

 

The Golden can carry as many as 2800, she went out with just over 900 aboard, some of whom were friends of mine. They took off about 1/2 the crew before she sailed and closed one of the dining rooms, but off she went and my friends said it was one of the best cruises they ever had. They had the run of the ship!!

[biensur]

Just type a response and it disappeared, so if this ends up being a dulpicate, I am sorry!

 

I remember after 9/11 the Golden Princess was scheduled to do a transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale to the Med. It was to leave just a few weeks after the Guld War started, and with battleships in the Med, it wasn't shall we say, a popular cruise.

 

She left as scheduled with about 900 aboard, when she usually goes out with 2800 pax. They took off 1/2 the crew before she sailed, closed a diningroom, reduced the provisions and off she went.

 

My friends sailed on this cruise and said it was one of the best they had ever sailed. They had the run of the ship!!!

 

You can always tell if bookings are low, because the specials come out everywhere. The ships don't really make money off the cruise fare, but mainly from the bars and tours. The idea is get them onboard and the hotel side of the operation will bring in the revenue.

[Roz]

Rather than cancel a voyage, the cruise line will lower the fares in line with what the market will bear at that time. Sometimes you'll see a "fire sale" if a ship isn't booking its cabins.

 

As someone already stated, their goal is to fill the cabins, even at a low price, and generate onboard revenue thru bingo, the casino, art auctions, spa, etc.

 

Roz

[Randyk47]

Good points Roz! I wonder if somebody here knows how much of a cruise is fixed costs and how much is directly related to the number of passengers on board. I'm assuming that a ship cost something to "run" on a daily basis whether there are passengers on the ship or not. I'd also think, considering the make up of most crews, they simply just can't have part of the crew "stay home" without pay as they have no home at most ports.

[HALGirl]

About 7 years ago we were deposited for a HAL cruise and for some reason the cruise was actually canceled. HAL offered to transfer the deposit to another cruise. We picked out another 12 day cruise. Then our TA received a call that the cruise was being changed from 12 days to 16 days and that if we could take the 16 day cruise it would be the same price as the 12 day. Naturally we jumped at the chance and it turned out to be wonderful.

[RuthC]

About 7 years ago we were deposited for a HAL cruise and for some reason the cruise was actually canceled.

Was your cruise truly "cancelled"? Or was the ship chartered?

I suspect that it's the latter.

[SDHALFAN]

I remember a few years ago when the Prinsendam was new to the HAL fleet that she sailed often with only about half the complement of passengers aboard. We sailed on her from Sydney to Auckland (Holiday cruise 2002/2003) and the ship was only "half-full". The ship certainly did sail and we did not get any break on the price of our cabin or any upgrade but we did get a heck of a deal on our airfare from Los Angeles/Sydney - Auckland/Los Angeles, using HAL's cruise/fly program.

 

I hope that you are all sitting down because we only paid $250.00 (US) per person for the round trip. Of course we were in coach and packed in like sardines and it was not a comfortable flight either way but I bet that we would have been in the same situation even if we had paid the original $1,000.00 each (or more) airfare.

 

Large cruiselines (all those under the Carnival or Royal Caribbean banners) are likely to "bite the bullet" and accomodate their passengers. They will find a way to make up the losses later - maybe through the loyalty of their repeat passengers?

 

I have to agree with Ruth that in HALgirl's case the ship had actually been chartered (wow, just think of the money HAL made on that cruise), and I'm so happy that HALgirl actually made out on that deal. I wouldn't be too unhappy to get a 16 day cruise for the price of a 12 day - hey HAL, are you listening?

 

Valerie:D

[Krazy Kruizers]

I have never heard of a cruise being completely cancelled. We have been on a couple of cruises when the ship was only half full.

 

We have had tours cancelled because not enough people signed up for them.

[Druke I]

Some cruises have been cancelled for an emergency drydock - but I haven't heard of any being cancelled for being "slow-sellers".

 

Way back in 5-89, we sailed on Sea Princess (originally Kungsholm, later Vctoria, now Mona Lisa), from Osaka Japan to Vancouver BC, via Honolulu.

 

Ship was 1/2 full - got a great on-board upgrade to a mini, and dining room went to one seating. Trip was wonderful, service outstanding. Ship did fill up in Honolulu, with mainly Canadians, who got a great deal. Ship went back to normal 2 serating dinner Honolulu on, but we kept the mini!

[TedC]

We booked a Pacific Princess cruise from Mombassa to Mumbai, along with pre- and post-cruise extensions in Kenya and India, for February, 2002.

 

It was canceled after 9/11 - we were greatly disappointed but understood the reasoning. Princess then sold the old Pacific Princess, which they had planned to do anyway. I think some other cruises in that part of the world may also have been canceled.

[kryos]

I hope this has never happened. Some of the specialty or off season cruises might not have alot of people. What do you think ?

I'd be shocked if they couldn't fill a ship enough to run the sailing. If push came to shove, the line would offer some great deal in the last weeks before the cruise to encourage lots of folks to sign up. Make the price cheap enough and entire families will come. It will be cheaper than their annual seashore vacation. Of course, I wouldn't want to be on a sailing that was filled in such a manner, because then you often tend to get the rowdy, "party crowd" onboard too ... and the cruise line makes up the loss in low fares with the bar tabs and casino charges.

 

Frankly, I've heard that a cruise line could make far more on onboard charges than they lose when they cut fares to the bone anyway.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Maryandi]

Thanks for all the response. I was worrying about the 2007 Med/Africa-56 day, Mar. 12-Prinsendam that I have booked.

 

I didn't want to invest alot of excitement and have it cxl'd. As world events evolve, I expect some ports to change - but - I'm really excited about the cruise.;)

[RuthC]

wowzo, those long cruises to exotic places tend to sell out well in advance of sailing date. Have no fear of cancellation due to lack of interest. Note how the segments of the South America 66-day cruise could barely be touched as the cabins were being reserved for full-trippers.

It would take a loss of the ship to cancel that cruise (IMHO).

[sailorbill]

Aboard the Westerdam on its 2004 westbound transatlantic, the cruise director held a question and answer session and was pretty forthright about the profitability of various HAL itineraries. He said that the most profitable cruises were the 7 day Caribbean cruises and averaged a profit of about one million dollars per cruise. And that the longer the cruise the less profitable. He said that the world cruises were actually money losers for HAL, but they are continuing for the prestige and the satisfaction of HAL's repeat cruisers. He also said that about one third of HAL's total revenue comes from the onboard profit centers and implied that much more than one third of profits come from on board revenue.

 

After thinking about it for a while, it makes sense that the short cruises are more profitable. In my case I was on board for 29 days doing a back to back. In that time 4 short cruises could have been run. While I bought my share of souveniers and gifts, I only did it once, whereas four sets of souveniers and gifts would likely have been sold on short cruises. On longer cruises there is a more relaxed atmosphere and less "gotta do it now" or "party hearty" atmosphere so the spending is spread out over a longer period. And that means less profit per week for HAL.

 

As far as cancelling a cruise, that is a very expensive proposition for any cruise line. I remember that HAL cancelled a 7 night Amsterdam(?) cruise a couple of years ago for norovirus disinfection. It meant refund of cruise price and prepaid items and a big discount on a future cruise for those booked. It also meant a week of expense for crew, docking fees, energy, finance interest, etc., with no revenue flowing into the coffers. Now while some of the expense was probably covered by insurance, it still meant an unwelcome bite in the bottom line. A cruise line will do almost anything to get butts in beds. In early spring 2003 I was booking a fall transatlantic and my TA was trying to entice me into a spring transatlantic on Princess. Either the Grand or Golden was doing a 9 day transit from Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona with no port stops and nobody was buying. The price was down to $33 per day double or $50 per day single. I had a conflict and didn't go. Now that remains my vote for the most desperate cruise. Of course, in a case of repositioning a cruise ship will sail even if totally empty.

 

Bill

[Maryandi]

Ruth, I'm now convinced and Sailorbill that was the most well written and clear explanation ! Thanks so much, I hope everyone reads it. I'm not going to worry about this subject anymore.

 

As always, this is the place to find it all out., Mar :)

[kryos]

Thanks for all the response. I was worrying about the 2007 Med/Africa-56 day, Mar. 12-Prinsendam that I have booked.

 

I didn't want to invest alot of excitement and have it cxl'd. As world events evolve, I expect some ports to change - but - I'm really excited about the cruise.;)

Oh, that's a cruise of a different sort. I can't imagine a voyage like that being cancelled. And, you won't get the party-hardy crowd on that one either. Too long and too expensive.

 

Sounds like an awesome cruise. I'm jealous. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

He said that the most profitable cruises were the 7 day Caribbean cruises and averaged a profit of about one million dollars per cruise. And that the longer the cruise the less profitable. He said that the world cruises were actually money losers for HAL, but they are continuing for the prestige and the satisfaction of HAL's repeat cruisers.

Bill

Surprising, and I wouldn't have guessed it after watching a lot of the folks aboard the Amsterdam 30-day Hawaii/South Pacific Explorer cruise. It seems like many of those folks had far more spendable income than your average 7-day family cruiser. They were booking up the spa, booking pricey shore excursions, and keeping the bars and casino busy ... some folks told me they had onboard bills of $3,000+ for the month ... not counting casino and bingo expenses (many folks don't put gambling charges on their onboard bills, but rather use cash). Believe me, I was in the minority as to the relatively low amount of my bill (not quite $1,500) simply because I am not much of a drinker and never gamble.

 

Would seem to me that the folks on a longer voyage would have more resources ... they would have to even to be sailing a longer itinerary ... and thus wouldn't be as concerned about the possibility of a mounting onboard bill. A family cruiser, on the other hand, who is living on a somewhat tight budget, would seem to be more prudent in regard to those onboard charges ... knowing that with a family of two adults and maybe two kids onboard, those charges can add up fast.

 

Like I said ... this is interesting. I never would have expected the per diem onboard charges to be lower on the longer cruises.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita