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Ideas to restart people cruising over coming months


dockman
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There are very likely to be some fantastic cruise deals to come.

 

I would hope the cruise lines will think out of the box a bit when it comes time to promote future cruises.

 

1.  How about single supplements of 125% on a wide variety of cruises instead of 200%?  Lots of singles would probably jump at the opportunity.

 

2.  How about running alaska cruises from San Diego or San Pedro to alaska and back via ensenada to get around PSA act.  If alaska ports and some west coast ports remain open it could combine alaska with a coastal voyage into two week itineraries...since canada ports are blocked til july 1 this could hopefully provide some much needed $$ to alaska, west coast and cruise ships who otherwise sit idle in may and June or perhaps beyond....example san diego to san pedro to portland to alaska 7 days  to san francisco to ensenada to san diego type itinerary

 

3.  Offer extra special senior discounts.  Retired seniors have the time and most the money to go on longer cruises.

 

4.  Try and schedule as many cruises as possible that pax can drive to and from ports instead of flying.  Consider offering free/discounted parking at ports or even free bus transfers from select cities.

 

5.  Consider offering at least one basic shore excursion per port that is not marked up 300%.  A simple 3 hour half day bus tour does NOT have to cost $100.

 

6.  Increase special offers for interline, travel agent rates, military rates etc.  These highly discounted rates are normally more last minute filler business and the rates are not published to the general public.

 

I am sure there are many many more possible promos...not all will work but please do something other than drink packages and free internet.....the key is to get people cruising again and to fill every cabin possible.

 

Your ideas?

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17 minutes ago, Spire2000 said:

The answer is a whole lot simpler:

 

Make prices cheaper for the first little while. People won't be able to help themselves.

that is a good part of the ideas i mentioned...but also target a few specific groups....and figure out an alaska plan.....yes just cutting prices is no doubt going to happen but not much "thinking outside the box"...be bold.

Edited by dockman
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14 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I am hoping the Jones Act is revoked as part of the travel industry relief package.  I will write my congressman 

Jones Act is for cargo, but neither it nor the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) are likely to go away any time soon.

 

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Just now, richwmn said:

Jones Act is for cargo, but neither it nor the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) are likely to go away any time soon.

 

Whatever. It might.  It was established in 1920 and there will be a relief package in Congress. I think it is a worthy consideration at least as a temporary measure.  The Wright amendment was lifted and it was based on the same protectionism type policies.   I don’t know if this crisis is disappearing anytime soon and may be here for a year or two if history teaches us anything.   If Canada doesn’t want Cruise ships then the US should welcome them

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4 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Whatever. It might.  It was established in 1920 and there will be a relief package in Congress. I think it is a worthy consideration at least as a temporary measure.  The Wright amendment was lifted and it was based on the same protectionism type policies.   I don’t know if this crisis is disappearing anytime soon and may be here for a year or two if history teaches us anything.   If Canada doesn’t want Cruise ships then the US should welcome them

Anytime it has come up for discussions it has been to tighten it, not do away with it.  

 

The Cruise Lines, when the question has come up, have not pushed for changes 

 

Neither Canada nor the US will open the door for cruise ships until the virus is a non-issue.  

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Just now, npcl said:

Anytime it has come up for discussions it has been to tighten it, not do away with it.  

 

The Cruise Lines, when the question has come up, have not pushed for changes 

 

Neither Canada nor the US will open the door for cruise ships until the virus is a non-issue.  

Then there may be no cruising 

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4 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Then there may be no cruising 

There was cruising before with the PVSA, even during the great Recession, and after 9/11. There will be cruising afterwards with the PVSA.

 

I am sure there will be incentives to resume cruising, no doubt. I would think they will be along the lines of lower fares and perks. I don't see a lot of work re-inventing the wheel.

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6 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Then there may be no cruising 

Not sure where you get that from. The only place right now that is a problem is Alaska while Canada prohibits cruise ships. Caribbean, Mexican Rivera, Europe, Hawaii, to name a few

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16 minutes ago, npcl said:

Anytime it has come up for discussions it has been to tighten it, not do away with it.  

 

The Cruise Lines, when the question has come up, have not pushed for changes 

 

Neither Canada nor the US will open the door for cruise ships until the virus is a non-issue.  

John McCain introduced several bills to change Jones Act before he died...not sure if those bills included modifications to PSA or not.

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50 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I am hoping the Jones Act is revoked as part of the travel industry relief package.  I will write my congressman 

The Jones Act applies to cargo.  Not passenger vessels.

 

I doubt that even this pandemic will enable the revocation of the Passenger Vessel Services Act, however.

 

 

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Nice list and good things to start thinking about.......

 

For us, it's all about price......If I can book a balcony on HAL for $100/day/per person (cruise fare) we are onboard.......Forget all the glitter and distractions of drinking packages, Club Orange, OBC, pre-paid tips, gift cards, free shore excursion, free massage...LOL...whatever....just give me a $100/day balcony and I'm onboard.

 

 

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If they sailed from NY,  I would be there in the proverbial minute. I live just outside the city and can easily book last minute.  I never understood why they left NY.  The other cruise lines seem to be packed, according to friends and family who have sailed from NYC during the summer months. 

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1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

Whatever. It might.  It was established in 1920 and there will be a relief package in Congress. I think it is a worthy consideration at least as a temporary measure.  The Wright amendment was lifted and it was based on the same protectionism type policies.   I don’t know if this crisis is disappearing anytime soon and may be here for a year or two if history teaches us anything.   If Canada doesn’t want Cruise ships then the US should welcome them

 

So you think the PVSA should be lifted just to save the Alaska cruising season?  

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1 hour ago, Shmoo here said:

That should be the PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act).  Enacted in 1886 and has survived past pandemics/depressions.  I doubt this will change anything in that respect.

The Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 (sometimes abbreviated to PVSA, Passenger Services Act, or PSA) is a protectionist piece of United States legislation which came into force in 1886 relating to cabotage.

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I could see  a waiver of PVSA for scheduled cruises impacted by the current port closures. But a repeal, No! Yes, it would allow HAL to cruise Seattle to Alaska bypassing Victoria, but it would also allow any foreign flagged vessel access to the US market with minimal regulation. We would be swamped with older ships doing cruises to nowhere/booze cruises/gambling junkets from any coastal city. I imagine they could even compete with US firms running passenger ferries. No thanks.

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As a Canadian I am disappointed at the underlying thinking here. Seattle is a hotspot. Schools are closed in the San Diego area. San Francisco is serious. NY is very worried. 

So why is the problem Canada closing its ports?  We know from the Diamond Princess what happens if you put a positive into a cruise ship. Also the Med and Caribbean are certainly not as open to cruise ships as suggested. Not sure if we know if Alaska wants them either at the moment. 

 

Patience is required here. It will pass but not soon. 

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Both Australia and NZ have closed their borders to cruise ships.  Everyone now arriving by air from overseas has to self isolate for a fortnight.  Our PM daily announces more restrictions to try to stop this nasty virus getting out of control.  Today he announced the restrictions will last six months!  Latest announcement included "Do Not Travel" (the highest level).  Aussies living overseas requested to return home, while they can. Airlines are reducing flight capacity - Virgin cancelling all international flights from 30/3 to 14/6 and reducing domestic capacity by 50%.  Qantas making route changes to North America and greatly reducing international and domestic capacity. 

I just cancelled accommodation and flights to Melbourne next week, when I intended to visit the Melbourne Garden Show, which has been cancelled.  Every day brings more cancellations - sport, theatre, museums, art galleries, etc.  External crowds reduced to 500, internal to 100.  People are starting to practice keeping a distance and thinking about what they would do in self isolation.  These are serious times and Governments are working hard to keep people safe, especially the elderly.

I doubt anyone will be planning cruises within the coming months.  Maybe for 2021?

 

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