Princess And The Great Recession Of 2008

[PrincessLuver]

Some financial experts are predicting that the travel industry is going to be impacted like it was during the 2008 Great Recession.

Do people remember how it was cruising Princess then and did they notice significant changes in Princess and how they weathered

the financial crisis?

Edited March 6, 2020 by PrincessLuver

[waterbabyfish]

We got some really good deals.

[akeasley]

Cruised in February 2008 and received a free upgrade to a suite with my mom. Hasn't happened since and I'm not thinking it'll happen again. 

[PrincessLuver]

1 hour ago, akeasley said:

Cruised in February 2008 and received a free upgrade to a suite with my mom. Hasn't happened since and I'm not thinking it'll happen again. 

 

Do you remember if their ships were sailing full then or only partially full??

[Griller]

1 minute ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

Do you remember if their ships were sailing full then or only partially full??

 

I can remember Cunard giving 8 category upgrades which took us from an outside to a Queens Grill suite at no extra charge

 

That hasn't happened since either.

 

As to full or not then its hard to say unless the ship is really really empty.

But I've seen whole decks closed off on Princess around that time so those sailings must have been unpopular.

[travelhound]

We have cruised multiple times a year since 1989 and I have never noticed a drop in people. They may have given more concessions on room rates to fill it up, but it wasn't lacking for people. 

 

Plus, the travel industry may have a slow down, but unlike 2008, the economy is sound. Blow away jobs number today, lower unemployment, etc.. In 2008, a lot of people lost jobs, homes, security.

[Buddy604]

I took 2 Princess cruises in 2009, after the market collapsed in late 2008 and both were pretty packed. No huge discounts either, but the drop in oil prices from $130/barrel to $50 did in the fuel surcharge around that time, as far as I can recall.
 

I was more interested in watching the stock price which I think only dropped into the 20s (RCL fell to $5!) and afterwards regretting not buying 100 shares for the shareholder OBC. Think I might do it now, if the price falls a bit more.

[travelhound]

Supply side constraints are a problem for some industries but I don't think it's all downhill from here. This is a 3-6 month story and the economy is not being rocked like 2008.

[hobo1937]

The 2008 recession continued into 2009. In October of 2009 Princess offered  SF-Sydney and Sydney-LA 30 day cruises, which could be done back to back. We did the 60 day sailing on the Star in an Oceanview cabin for 9K.  Haven't seen anything like that since then.  

[akeasley]

1 hour ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

Upgrade from mini, balc, OV, inside?

 

Upgrade from a balcony.

[akeasley]

56 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

Do you remember if their ships were sailing full then or only partially full??

No, I don't think it was a full cruise.