RSVP/PlanetOut Financial Situation - Travel Ins?

[Wyldboy72]

There have been several reports in the gay press lately about the bad financial situation of Planetout, parent company of RSVP. Since I'm booked on an RSVP cruise, I'm a little concerned about the company going out of business.

 

I have not purchased travel insurance. Do any of the regular cruisers here buy it? Any recommendations?

 

Thanks

[dendren]

There have been several reports in the gay press lately about the bad financial situation of Planetout, parent company of RSVP. Since I'm booked on an RSVP cruise, I'm a little concerned about the company going out of business.

 

I have not purchased travel insurance. Do any of the regular cruisers here buy it? Any recommendations?

 

Thanks

 

I always buy travel insurance for large cost vacations like cruises, just too many things can go wrong when you are throwing down 2 - 3,000 for a trip. It's only a couple hundred dollars at most.

 

For RSVP I've used a company called Travelex. The only thing that you would want to look at carefully is what is covered. A lot of insurance companies cover just about everything *if* you buy the insurance within a couple of weeks of booking your trip. However, once that initial period is past, they often dramatically curb what they will cover (such as pre-existing conditions or companies going out of business).

 

That said... I don't *think* RSVP is going out of business anytime soon. Especially if you are booked on the Alaska cruise in September, it's only a few months away. I'm just a little more concerned about the Feb 2008 cruise since they still haven't announced it, or any other 2008 trips to the general public.

[Markandrews]

The RSVP 2008 Feb cruise onboard Zuiderdam has been announced and is being sold.

 

 

Check out http://www.insuremytrip.com. There is a lot of ways to tailor plans just for you. The customer service has been great too.

[dendren]

The RSVP 2008 Feb cruise onboard Zuiderdam has been announced and is being sold.

 

you're right... I just meant hasn't been officially announced to general public or posted on website. So far they've mostly been selling to alumni and I have only seen it on a couple of TA websites (most of which I suspect got the info from when it was announced on the cruise last Feb). I *think* they opened up to all who want to book as of 3/31 but there is still very little actual info out there on this cruise.

[Boytjie]

I'm just a little more concerned about the Feb 2008 cruise since they still haven't announced it, or any other 2008 trips to the general public.

 

I don't see any 2008 cruises on the Atlantis site either. I don't know if it means anything.

[jjtsfca]

Atlantis is doing at least three major cruises in early 2008. Megaship Caribbean in January, small ship South America in Feb (I think) and large ship Caribbean in March. They are taking alumni reservations on all three I would expect. They have not been publicly announced yet.

[Typhoon1]

Don't Leave Home without it. What if you have a gallbladder attack the day of the cruise?

[RMS Olympic]

On the RSVP web site there is a ask RSVP question area....I tried to post a question...it did not go through. Has anyone had any luck in finding out the current status of things and who is running the show?

[aaerobear]

I posted a question and was answered in a couple days (from Minneapolis, as always)

[amusea]

Atlantis is doing at least three major cruises in early 2008. Megaship Caribbean in January, small ship South America in Feb (I think) and large ship Caribbean in March. They are taking alumni reservations on all three I would expect. They have not been publicly announced yet.

 

Atlantis Feb. cruise starting in Rio for Carnaval is on Celebrity Infinity - squarely in the large category.

[jjtsfca]

Atlantis Feb. cruise starting in Rio for Carnaval is on Celebrity Infinity - squarely in the large category.

 

 

You are correct. They have upgraded ship size from when it was first offered, which is great.

[RMS Olympic]

I just got an alumni e-mail from Atlantis .....notification of their new web site...upgraded as well as the listing of their first 3 cruises for 2008.

You would think that Planet Out who has so much in the way of publishing, advertising assets and experience would at least insure RSVP was shining in that area. From an investment perspective......silence and stagnancy at RSVP does not grow the business......

I find myself thinking thoughts about RSVP that probably have no validity, but time will tell.

[MattInFLL]

Well so far, those of us booked for next year only have put down deposits, and most credit card companies will cover you if there's a problem... for those worried about more immediate bookings, don't. Those trips have been paid for. You don't think the cruise line waits until the last minute to be paid, do you? They don't.

 

RSVP is clearly not going to see profit on the QM2, but the Baltics cruise this summer sold out before it was publicly announced (you can't even find it listed anywhere) and Alaska and the Med seem to just need some topping off. I am not yet worried.

 

By the way, does anyone have a link to these "reports" - would love to read some of them. Sure they're not just being planted by Atlantis to cause fear? :)

[Joe and Ivan]

By the way, does anyone have a link to these "reports" - would love to read some of them. Sure they're not just being planted by Atlantis to cause fear? :)

 

The link at Yahoo! Finance is

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=LGBT

 

You can click under the chart for different tracking periods: 1d 5d 3m etc.

 

You can also click on "Key Statistics" at the left to get more detailed information.

 

Ivan

[Wyldboy72]

It's not rumors being spread by Atlantis. RSVP's parent company, PlanetOut, is in financial trouble. The stock price has plummeted 75% this year to around $2/share. First quarter results are expected to be below projections. The shortfall is being "blamed" on slow ad sales for the magazines and the travel agency (RSVP). The company is supposed to make an announcement on May 9.

[jjtsfca]

RSVP is clearly not going to see profit on the QM2, but the Baltics cruise this summer sold out before it was publicly announced (you can't even find it listed anywhere) and Alaska and the Med seem to just need some topping off. I am not yet worried.

 

By the way, does anyone have a link to these "reports" - would love to read some of them. Sure they're not just being planted by Atlantis to cause fear? :)

 

Baltic gay charter 2007 is on Atlantis, and will be repeated next summer. I don't think RSVP is in trouble, but I do expect they'll take a bath on QM2. I hope they remain viable - they're a fine operator, and I'm all for competition for the gay dollar.

 

As to RSVP rumors originating at a competitor, it seems unlikely. Everyone in Atlantis management, in my limited exposure, has been quite respectful of RSVP as a competitor.

[dendren]

It's not rumors being spread by Atlantis. RSVP's parent company, PlanetOut, is in financial trouble. The stock price has plummeted 75% this year to around $2/share. First quarter results are expected to be below projections. The shortfall is being "blamed" on slow ad sales for the magazines and the travel agency (RSVP). The company is supposed to make an announcement on May 9.

 

This is VERY interesting... I was invited to a RSVP advisory committee meeting on May 9th in SF... same day they are supposed to be making some sort of announcement. I'm extremely curious as to what is up. I'll be on vacation in New Mexico (celebrating my 15th anniversary woo-hoo!!!) so won't be able to go to the meeting :( My curiousity is very peaked now, the timing can't possibly be a coincidence.

[RMS Olympic]

I sure hope my fears are unfounded.....

Contractually I figure Planet Out has to complete the Rome trip so my vacation should not be in joepardy....although I dont know what would happen if RSVP shut down operations. I guess the cruise would continue as a normal HAL cruise with all the paid passengers already booked.

Guess the same for the Alaska trip......

But the 2008 charter on the Zuiderdam......I wonder. Charter contracts lock operators in, but that far out...I wonder.

Hey Matt......any comments on how things work with these contracts?

My suspicions are that RSVP will be put up for sale......but have no idea who would buy it. Unless there is just going to be a new management team brought in. The advisory board that Dendren got an invite to.....could be a brainstorming meeting....decide what course to embark apon. What the business needs to keep, what it should lose, what niche to go after etc.

I hope things can be turned around....even if it means a scale down until operating cash can be built up. If things go bad...then Atlantis will have a windfall in the way of bookings.

I am curious as to whether most RSVP Alumni have cares or concerns over the company, or am I just being a a worry wort? Maybe if I saw some updating of the web site I might feel there are signs of business going on.

I'll close by asking the rest of you what you would tell an advisory board as to where to steer the company.....specialize? Diversify vacation products? More land based holidays? Go more coed? Only small ships? Different cruise lines? Less money spent on entertainment to reduce pricing? Go more upscale to chase the boomer dollar? Go after Austalasia and European markets like the cruise lines are doing?

In the meantime, I will hope things are much better than my imagination.

Cant wait for the Rome trip...only three months away.....and a few more pounds to lose.

Tom

[gigand]

Hi Tom,

 

I would say that RSVP should go with what worked for them in the past including 2,000 capacity ships. When they are ready to try something new do it with ease and baby steps. I would not try to many new ideas in one year. I would choose different ports for the caribbean cruise. Places that are a little more unique where they have'nt been in awhile.

 

Jim & Terry

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll close by asking the rest of you what you would tell an advisory board as to where to steer the company.....specialize? Diversify vacation products? More land based holidays? Go more coed? Only small ships? Different cruise lines? Less money spent on entertainment to reduce pricing? Go more upscale to chase the boomer dollar? Go after Austalasia and European markets like the cruise lines are doing?

[ZIPPER]

RSVP's parent company PlanetOut has set May 9th as the date for their first quarter earnings release. I follow the company, but decided to avoid purchasing its stock for a multitude of reasons. It will be interesting to hear their comments regarding the marketing of the RSVP cruises. In their last call there were two items of note. First, they mentioned the need to upgrade the technology at Gay.com and Planetout.com to be more competitive. Second, they expressed the need to get ahead of the curve in marketing their cruises. As I recall, they said that the critical windows for selling cruises were 18, 12, and 3 months out. Since PlanetOut had recently acquired RSVP they had missed some early opportunites to sell the recent Mexico and Caribbean cruises, but they would make use of these early selling opportunites going forward. However, having just checked their website, RSVP still lists two Caribbean Cruises that are long past, and the latest cruise, which is to Alaska, is just four months out. So much for web site maintenance, so much for making use of early marketing opportunites.

 

Planet Out has a great concept for being a multi-industry gay company, the cross-branding opportunities are incredible. But I'm increasingly convinced that they need new management. We'll see what the actual results are next Wednesday.

 

Personally, I prefer the Atlantis product. I think that some of their recent capacity issues stem from a mismatch between supply and demand. They seem to have two markets, a high-end market that responds to innovative products like the Baltic Cruise, and a lower-end party boat market. It's in the mid-market such as Hawaii and Deep Caribbean that they seem to encounter selling pressure. In my opinion, it made a lot of sense to change the March Caribbean cruise from a southern to an eastern Caribbean itinerary. I think Atlantis is much more of a long-term survivor, the ever intense Rich Campbell is after all a particularly savy businessman.

 

At the same time, looking at the internet traffic chart for Atlantis (RSVP isn't big enough to register) there's been a traffic drop off in 2007 compared to the hot market in 2005 and early 2006. I think that the gay cruise companies, like all luxary travel products ,face potential problems due to the slowdown in housing and higher credit card minimums. Having been on five Atlantis vacations, I can say that there are a lot of high income professionals there, there are also a lot of guys with "subprime mortgage" or "penalty pricing" written all over them. As a friend of mine said after winning the beer chuggin contest, "there aren't 20 guys here with whom you can have an intelligent conversation."

 

Anyway, with that in mind, I look forward to my probably Atlantis PV trip in November.

 

Gregg

Phoenix

[ZIPPER]

Whoops, this was a duplicate!

[dendren]

I sure hope my fears are unfounded.....

Contractually I figure Planet Out has to complete the Rome trip so my vacation should not be in joepardy....although I dont know what would happen if RSVP shut down operations. I guess the cruise would continue as a normal HAL cruise with all the paid passengers already booked.

Guess the same for the Alaska trip......

But the 2008 charter on the Zuiderdam......I wonder. Charter contracts lock operators in, but that far out...I wonder.

Hey Matt......any comments on how things work with these contracts?

My suspicions are that RSVP will be put up for sale......but have no idea who would buy it. Unless there is just going to be a new management team brought in. The advisory board that Dendren got an invite to.....could be a brainstorming meeting....decide what course to embark apon. What the business needs to keep, what it should lose, what niche to go after etc.

I hope things can be turned around....even if it means a scale down until operating cash can be built up. If things go bad...then Atlantis will have a windfall in the way of bookings.

I am curious as to whether most RSVP Alumni have cares or concerns over the company, or am I just being a a worry wort? Maybe if I saw some updating of the web site I might feel there are signs of business going on.

I'll close by asking the rest of you what you would tell an advisory board as to where to steer the company.....specialize? Diversify vacation products? More land based holidays? Go more coed? Only small ships? Different cruise lines? Less money spent on entertainment to reduce pricing? Go more upscale to chase the boomer dollar? Go after Austalasia and European markets like the cruise lines are doing?

In the meantime, I will hope things are much better than my imagination.

Cant wait for the Rome trip...only three months away.....and a few more pounds to lose.

Tom

 

Tom, I think you are overworrying yourself needlessly. I don't think RSVP is going anywhere at this point. The fact that they are having their advisory committee meeting on the 9th indicates to me they are going to continue and want input on *something*, just not sure with what. The first one I participated it was VERY ad-centric, and I'm already seeing a quite a change in their advertising (great new multi page ad in the latest Out Traveler).

 

Also, I don't think there is any thought of them trying to get out of the Zuiderdam trip (purely conjecture but now that I've *finally* seen some official ads out there listed I think it's definitely on). After that, who knows but I think they will still be around a while. No doubt, they are in trouble financially, but I don't think they are going under by any means.

[RMS Olympic]

Dendren...thanks for the comments. I like to book very early for every trip, always planning..and I guess I have let my concern get away from me. I also have such great memories of old RSVP trips...and want to make new ones.

Gregg from Phoenix....points well made.

Mr Cambell seems to be out of the gate each year with the first cruise... post holiday season (and on the biggest newest)...which I guess attracks the lions share of the gay cruise public. Having been on many Atlantis trips I can agree with the point that there is the young party price conscious cruisers, and then the high end clients. Having done both I can see why those ships and itineraries sell well. Agree that the middle of the road product seems to be the hard sell...and in my opinion that is exactly where RSVP has positioned itself.

I am curious as to what group RSVP will go after, or possibly have two types of vacations. I do not see RSVP going after the circuit boys, however when you look at the magazines Planet out owns and or advertises in.....I could be very wrong.

Oh well, I will continue to feed my addiction......sailing on ships and look to Atlantis, RSVP or maybe some other charter company. At the moment I am sniffing around an outfit called Zoom, who advertises cruises on SeaDream.

Lets see....RSVP Rome cruise in August, Regent Paul Gauguin in early December, RSVP in Feb 2008 and a crossing on Crystal in Nov 2008. Thank heavens 2009 schedules are not out or else I'd be gettin my shorts all wound up on where to go. The man up stairs seems to take care of me and provides me the ability to do feed this addiction....why I dont know....hope this continues into early retirement next year.

Cioa for now.

Tom

[ZIPPER]

I would not hesitate to book a trip with RSVP, and I'm a guy that doesn't use travel insurance. They'll probably take a hit from the Queen Mary cruise and from their technology upgrade, but I can't imagine that they would actually cease operating. The bottom line is that the combination of gay.com, RSVP, Advocate Magazine and multiple other gay businesses is a powerful combination that can't be matched, and its greatest source of value is with it's brands. Even if the present company were to run out of cash I can't imagine that there wouldn't be multiple players waiting to pick it up. The last thing anyone would want to so is damage the RSVP brand by not following through with a cruise.

 

I'm watching their stock like a hawk, at $2.55 a share it could end up being the buy of a lifetime once they get past their current problems. These are the times that make the stock market ever so risky and ever so exciting!

 

Have a great time!!!

Gregg

[Typhoon1]

Maybe Atlantis might interested in buying RSVP.:confused: :confused: