Why are cruise prices so low right now?!

[BlerkOne]

7 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

That is not at all true.  So called "Bubble tours" are simply meant  to comply with rules that may be imposed by a port, cruise line, or both.  Being vaccinated will often have nothing to do with it.  As an example, the Seabourn Odyssey cruises out of Barbados require 100% of passengers and crew to be vaccinated..and tested.  But they must use "Bubble Tours" at each port because of rules imposed by Barbados (the ship's current home port) and the islands.  

 

Hank

In the context of Carnival

 

Shore Visits and Excursions

• Unvaccinated guests cannot go ashore in the ports of call on their own. Guests may only debark in the ports of call if booked on a Carnival-sponsored bubble tour.
• Carnival-approved bubble tours are excursions that operate in a controlled environment. Guests will be escorted from the ship to their excursion and back to the ship immediately upon return from the shore excursion. No unscheduled stops are permitted (i.e., gift shops, bars, restaurants, etc.).
• In the event you choose not to purchase a bubble tour, bubble tours are sold out, or cancelled due to weather, unvaccinated guests will have to remain on board.
• Guests participating in a bubble tour, regardless of vaccination status, must follow all tour protocols and local guidance regarding testing/screening, mask wearing, physical distancing, etc. We cannot guarantee that additional restrictions will not be imposed by local authorities in the destinations we visit. For example, based on our agreement with San Juan, unvaccinated guests will have to remain on board during our visit there.
• Guests who do not comply with the controlled environment of a bubble tour will be removed from the tour.
• If your cruise visits a private port of call, such as Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays, unvaccinated guests may go ashore on their own or purchase any of our tours.

[IntrepidFromDC]

4 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

 

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I dont have these prices so I'm assuming more targeted offers, not ones anyone like me can book. I put in 1 pax, and the lowest I see for 5 days is 239. Nothing for 60 or 60 x 2. I'd be booking it. 

 

Carnival is driving away many people who think I dont want to pay more than the next guy, this isnt fair to me. Proves my point. why should I pay more than joe blow? Makes no sense. Because I'm already booked?

 

Here is what I see 

 

I understand your frustration.  And those Galveston deals they're offering are not even tempting to me because there's great deals with places we're much closer to (e.g., 2.5 hours to Port Canaveral vs. 5+ hours to Galveston).

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

In the context of Carnival

 

Shore Visits and Excursions

• Unvaccinated guests cannot go ashore in the ports of call on their own. Guests may only debark in the ports of call if booked on a Carnival-sponsored bubble tour.
• Carnival-approved bubble tours are excursions that operate in a controlled environment. Guests will be escorted from the ship to their excursion and back to the ship immediately upon return from the shore excursion. No unscheduled stops are permitted (i.e., gift shops, bars, restaurants, etc.).
• In the event you choose not to purchase a bubble tour, bubble tours are sold out, or cancelled due to weather, unvaccinated guests will have to remain on board.
• Guests participating in a bubble tour, regardless of vaccination status, must follow all tour protocols and local guidance regarding testing/screening, mask wearing, physical distancing, etc. We cannot guarantee that additional restrictions will not be imposed by local authorities in the destinations we visit. For example, based on our agreement with San Juan, unvaccinated guests will have to remain on board during our visit there.
• Guests who do not comply with the controlled environment of a bubble tour will be removed from the tour.
• If your cruise visits a private port of call, such as Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays, unvaccinated guests may go ashore on their own or purchase any of our tours.

You are talking about 1 cruise line.  But "Bubble Tours" are simply tours that are conducted in a way to keep the participants separated from other folks.  Whether folks on a bubble tour are vaccinated or unvaccinated really has nothing to do with the concept of the tour.  The fact that Carnival is using Bubble Tours as a way to allow them to cruise with unvaccinated folks is simply a policy of Carnival.  That is why I specifically mentioned Seabourn since their Odyssey cruises require vaccinated folks to take bubble tours.  And there are plenty of other examples such as the recent Celebrity Apex cruises which only allowed vaccinated (everyone aboard must be vaccinated) ashore in Mykonos if they took a cruise line "bubble" tour.   There are also cruises in Italy that can only use "bubble tours" regardless of whether the cruisers are vaccinated or unvaccinated.

 

Hank

 

 

[BlerkOne]

3 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

You are talking about 1 cruise line.  But "Bubble Tours" are simply tours that are conducted in a way to keep the participants separated from other folks.  Whether folks on a bubble tour are vaccinated or unvaccinated really has nothing to do with the concept of the tour.  The fact that Carnival is using Bubble Tours as a way to allow them to cruise with unvaccinated folks is simply a policy of Carnival.  That is why I specifically mentioned Seabourn since their Odyssey cruises require vaccinated folks to take bubble tours.  And there are plenty of other examples such as the recent Celebrity Apex cruises which only allowed vaccinated (everyone aboard must be vaccinated) ashore in Mykonos if they took a cruise line "bubble" tour.   There are also cruises in Italy that can only use "bubble tours" regardless of whether the cruisers are vaccinated or unvaccinated.

 

Hank

 

 

1 cruise line, Carnival, on a thread posted on the Carnival board, before it was magically transported to this section. But the OP was asking in the context of Carnival.

 

Obviously ports can require whatever they like.

[Hlitner]

18 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

1 cruise line, Carnival, on a thread posted on the Carnival board, before it was magically transported to this section. But the OP was asking in the context of Carnival.

 

Obviously ports can require whatever they like.

It is not just the ports.  Each cruise line is doing its own thing.  So, for example, when I mentioned the Apex having bubble tours on Mykonos this was not a requirement of Mykonos but was a decision made by Celebrity.  Our ship (Seabourn Ovation) had no restrictions on that same island.  

 

A few of us keep warning folks that if you want to cruise or do international travel you need to be very flexible and roll with the waves.  Policies routinely change and what exists when you book might be completely different by the time you actually cruise/travel.

 

Hank

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

It is not just the ports.  Each cruise line is doing its own thing.  So, for example, when I mentioned the Apex having bubble tours on Mykonos this was not a requirement of Mykonos but was a decision made by Celebrity.  Our ship (Seabourn Ovation) had no restrictions on that same island.  

 

A few of us keep warning folks that if you want to cruise or do international travel you need to be very flexible and roll with the waves.  Policies routinely change and what exists when you book might be completely different by the time you actually cruise/travel.

 

Hank

And they all can change at any time, for any reason or no reason at all, with or without notice.

[happy cruzer]

13 hours ago, bthomas67wagon said:

"Yes, definitely targeted" - What do you mean?

"ROI" - What is that?

 

Sorry, new to cruising and the lingo.

Welcome to cruise critic!  The low rates are targeted to gamblers sometimes to get a Return on Investment (i.e. the casino operator subsidizes the cruise cost to make money in the casino).

 

Low prices occur on cruises that are not selling well, always have done so.  Just happens more at times when people are not traveling for various reasons.  Have fun doing your research.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, happy cruzer said:

Welcome to cruise critic!  The low rates are targeted to gamblers sometimes to get a Return on Investment (i.e. the casino operator subsidizes the cruise cost to make money in the casino).

 

Low prices occur on cruises that are not selling well, always have done so.  Just happens more at times when people are not traveling for various reasons.  Have fun doing your research.

The law of supply and demand once again wins. The pent up demand met the reality of the ongoing pandemic and the the protocols on cruise ships that have turned off many when it comes to taking a cruise.

[firefly333]

6 hours ago, happy cruzer said:

Welcome to cruise critic!  The low rates are targeted to gamblers sometimes to get a Return on Investment (i.e. the casino operator subsidizes the cruise cost to make money in the casino).

 

Low prices occur on cruises that are not selling well, always have done so.  Just happens more at times when people are not traveling for various reasons.  Have fun doing your research.

Carnival is sending low prices that arent casino rates. My friend on vista last week got a 25 pp deal and off again next week. She lives 16 miles from Galveston. 

 

There are many offers going out to the unbooked. I'm very sorry I booked because I think then I'd also get some of these offers. It's a rewarding of the unbooked.  To get you to book. It's not a offer everyone can book, just those who get these random offers. Its turning off the rest of us. Rewarding those who arent booked and not those who have been loyal makes no sense. Of course those who get the offers are overjoyed. 

 

It's the wrong thing to do to those who do book ahead. They dont want to make these offers public because then those booked could price match, so it's a sneaky way to avoid price matching. I'm not the only one mad and walking away after my next cruise. 

[happy cruzer]

Yep, sounds like the are doing a bit of "marketing" that is very short sighted.  We'll see what the future holds.

[zekekelso]

On 9/23/2021 at 1:29 PM, BlerkOne said:

Bubble tours are for the unvaxxed.

Depends upon the line and location. MSC cruises in Europe seem to be bubble tours for everybody. 

[firefly333]

I saw a blog yesterday saying booking demand has been down the last approx 60 days. If this continues we might see some more deals on other lines. Hopefully stuff everyone can book, not cherry picking like carnival is doing and alienating customers. 

 

If people continue to not book .. keep price checking. More deals to come. This is the guy quoting that article saying demand is down.

 

Carnival says demand is higher .. if you off a 14 day panama canal cruise for $100 of course you can get bookings. Heck I'd jump on it myself. And they have many rebookings with lots of obc . .. not the same as demand for regular priced is up for 2nd half of 2022 as I heard it reported on a stock channel. Watch their words. 

 

[awhcruiser]

Not finding our April 2022 cruise very low.  Balconies are 800pp more than an inside.  

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, awhcruiser said:

Not finding our April 2022 cruise very low.  Balconies are 800pp more than an inside.  

I've  noticed the same thing. My reduced cruisefare stop at march 2022, from there they go up to regular. 

 

I'm hoping if bookings dont pick up they will extend the sales beyond next march.

[happy cruzer]

The deals seem to be for cruises leaving soon like inside of a month.  The lines probably are trying to hold prices up hoping the market recovers.

[ontheweb]

3 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

The deals seem to be for cruises leaving soon like inside of a month.  The lines probably are trying to hold prices up hoping the market recovers.

They are hoping that if the pandemic really does come to an end, or maybe a cure is found, there will be pent up demand. And that would be the end of low prices.

[lenquixote66]

On 10/1/2021 at 2:16 PM, ontheweb said:

They are hoping that if the pandemic really does come to an end, or maybe a cure is found, there will be pent up demand. And that would be the end of low prices.

Many restaurants occasionally feature a low price menu from 25 or 50 years ago.It would be wonderful if cruise lines followed suit.