Are ships not sailing at full capacity?

[CamelliaCity]

We have the HolyLand cruise booked for October 23, 2009. Booked the first day it came out. Prices keep dropping and up until last week the BA aft next to us (Deck 7) was still available and that's unheard of.

 

I ask our TA every week if she's sure this ship will sail and she keeps telling me yes, yes, yes! There has to be a ton of cabins sold before October.

[scmexico]

We are Platinum Captains Circle members and when researching cruises to book I can never find better pricing than on the princess website. Usually some TA has better pricing on some cruises. Is anyone else experiencing this? I am planning on a Europe cruise in late summer or the fall.

[Traveling52]

We have friends that are going with us that took a balcony and have there fare reduced 3 times since February. About $200 each time. Which is great, because Princess will lower their fare as it goes down.The travel industry is really hurting, We are not the only Country with a bad economy right now. My sister is a travel agent in NC and it is really a struggle, with the economy. If we were not getting such a deal because we have a friend that works for Princess, we could not be traveling right now.

[CandCrew]

The cost of air fare and having to stay in a hotel pre cruise all add to the expense. Also, you cannot go to Alaska and not take tours! Alaska is one of the most expensive states on par with Hawaii.

 

Many people are lucky to be cruising at all and will tend to book the cheaper sailings closer to home that don't involve air fare or hotel stays. Caribbean sailings tend to be cheaper and there is much you can do ashore without taking shore excursions.

 

Unfortunately, the lack of money to go on vacations will be a fact of life for the foreseeable future for many people.

 

 

MARAPRINCE

 

The price of Alaska cruises from now until Sept are fairly cheap BUT I have to agree with Maraprince. The cruise fare is only part of the equation. I don't have my paperwork in front of me but I know that we're booked on Princess Air and to get from Kansas City to Fairbanks and from Vancouver back to KC the airfare for each of us is close to $1000. That's 2x's the cost of an inside cabin on our 7/25 Diamond Prince cruise from Whittier to Vancouver :eek:. Add in our excursions ($950 for 3) and the cheap cruise gets $$$. (We could do a longer Caribbean cruise RT from San Juan for about 1/2 of what is being paid for Alaska.) Right now I think all categories of staterooms are available on our cruise except certain categories of mini-suites and suites. Granted the guarantee rooms haven't probably been assigned but still. You'd think that with a little more than 3 mos to go, the cruise would be more full--guess we'll see what happens when final payments are due in about 10 days ??? (is it 90 days prior or 75 days).

[jake165]

On the Star's repo from San Francisco to Valparaiso last Nov, there was an abundance of empty cabins in all categories. Cheers Jake

[taxatty]

We are Platinum Captains Circle members and when researching cruises to book I can never find better pricing than on the princess website. Usually some TA has better pricing on some cruises. Is anyone else experiencing this? I am planning on a Europe cruise in late summer or the fall.

Some TAs can always do better through group pricing, reducing their commissions, etc. My TA (can't tell you who, but it's one many people here use ) is 5 for 5 for us so far in beating Princess' web site prices, including for our upcoming June cruise. That TA is also still quoting lower prices on other Princess cruises later this year.

 

Les

[kendon]

I've been watching the Alaska cruises and notice that the inside passage seems to be a better seller as the flights are round trip/Seattle and generally are more affordable that the one way flights to other parts of Alaska.

[Traveling52]

We are Platinum Captains Circle members and when researching cruises to book I can never find better pricing than on the princess website. Usually some TA has better pricing on some cruises. Is anyone else experiencing this? I am planning on a Europe cruise in late summer or the fall.

 

If you are logging in, it recognizes you as a Platinum member and you get the best price for a Platinum member. If you just check the site and don't use your log in you should get a different price. I kept telling our friends they could go to Alaska with us for $899. She was getting $1199 on the Princess site. At first I thought she was kidding. Then I finally called my TA and she checked, sure enough they had never been on Princess their price was $300 per person higher than ours. I could not even get them our price if I tried to book it for them.

[kendon]

If you are logging in, it recognizes you as a Platinum member and you get the best price for a Platinum member. If you just check the site and don't use your log in you should get a different price. I kept telling our friends they could go to Alaska with us for $899. She was getting $1199 on the Princess site. At first I thought she was kidding. Then I finally called my TA and she checked, sure enough they had never been on Princess their price was $300 per person higher than ours. I could not even get them our price if I tried to book it for them.

 

Not always. The cruise I'm looking at for this November on the Princess site is showing the same price for both Platinum and otherwise.

[Colo Cruiser]

Most of the time when I sign in the price never changes. :rolleyes:

[StarTrkGeek]

The price of Alaska cruises from now until Sept are fairly cheap BUT I have to agree with Maraprince. The cruise fare is only part of the equation. I don't have my paperwork in front of me but I know that we're booked on Princess Air and to get from Kansas City to Fairbanks and from Vancouver back to KC the airfare for each of us is close to $1000. That's 2x's the cost of an inside cabin on our 7/25 Diamond Prince cruise from Whittier to Vancouver :eek:. Add in our excursions ($950 for 3) and the cheap cruise gets $$$. (We could do a longer Caribbean cruise RT from San Juan for about 1/2 of what is being paid for Alaska.) Right now I think all categories of staterooms are available on our cruise except certain categories of mini-suites and suites. Granted the guarantee rooms haven't probably been assigned but still. You'd think that with a little more than 3 mos to go, the cruise would be more full--guess we'll see what happens when final payments are due in about 10 days ??? (is it 90 days prior or 75 days).

I just checked with American Airlines website (http://www.aa.com/aa/reservation/multiCitySearchSubmit.do)

If you are willing to make 2-stops, you can do it for 673.56 USD + $89.20 tax (Total = $762.76).

 

Also Northwest Airlines (http://res.nwa.com/search/flight.nw?_flowExecutionKey=_c931789C6-3F7C-235F-3A1B-A237F6031F58_kA7FF3DDA-5685-DBC4-1F2D-82A384B1651E&AnalyticsResponse=com.orbitz.spring.interceptor.analytics.AnalyticsResponse%4014b50a9) has a 1-stop for $689.37 + $121.44 (tax) = $810.81

[jeffstew]

I guess I will have to tell my friends and neighbors, the President of Princess was just kidding, and even though they are asking their friends and families to cruise for next to nothing to help fill the ships, it is just a joke. We basically are paying a service charge to cruise, because of the lack of capacity. Sorry Pam. Living in Santa Claria, I see how Princess is affected.

 

Actually, you can look it up for yourself. For the 1st Quarter of 2009, Carnival Corporation (consolidated) net income was $260 Million. Last year, the 1st Quarter results were $236 million. Revenues are down overall, but the company cut expenses as well and showed a nice profit. I would have to say that those kinds of results are not a company who is "hurting". Granted, the results show only the parent company consolidated with all of its subsidiaries, but even a subsidiary with that kind of financial backing from the parent company is in pretty good shape. Here's the link to the financial information:

 

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-reportsother2

[ECCruise]

No, not typical. Cruises to Alaska haven't been selling well due to the law passed in Alaska a couple of years ago which added a per-person head tax of $50 and additional charges to the cruiseline for each sailing, all of which increase the cost of cruising to Alaska. This is the reason why RCCL, Princess, HAL and other cruiselines have reduced the number of ships or sailings in Alaska for 2010. By decreasing capacity, it's easier for them to fill the ships. Of course, this means millions of $$ less for Alaska tourism but hey, the law was voted in by the people so they can't whine or complain after the fact.

 

Alaska is selling at the lowest per diems in history, so I don't think the issue is a $50 head tax. Ships are being pulled because of overcapacity and the low yields that result, not a piddling tax.

[spongerob]

I guess I will have to tell my friends and neighbors, the President of Princess was just kidding, and even though they are asking their friends and families to cruise for next to nothing to help fill the ships, it is just a joke. We basically are paying a service charge to cruise, because of the lack of capacity. Sorry Pam. Living in Santa Claria, I see how Princess is affected.

Don't confuse rumor with fact. You weren't there, you didn't hear it, you're only repeating what someone else says that they heard. Not the same thing at all. There are standards, even on the internet.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic. :)

[CandCrew]

StarTrkGeek--Thanks for taking the time to look for us. I was just using us an example. Our trip is actually a 10th anniversary gift for DH from his employer. They have set all this up and I don't feel "right" about telling them how to potentially purchase everything, even if it would save them hundreds of dollars. Part of the reason our fares are so high is that we have to look for open jaw flights since we are starting our cruisetour in Fairbanks and ending the cruise in Vancouver.

[Traveling52]

Hey, I not complaining because they are having economic issues. I am traveling for basically nothing because of it. Trust me almost everyone in Santa Clarita has someone that works for Princess, they are one of our biggest employers. I don't think they would get together and make up the same story. iI have at least had 10+ people that work for Princess tell me the same thing. I work out with one of the Passenger Relations people. Have 4 reservation people that live on my street, not counting the families whos kids go to school with my grandkids . They are all grateful they kept their jobs and enjoying the feebees.

[Pam in CA]

[quote name='Traveling52']I guess I will have to tell my friends and neighbors, the President of Princess was just kidding, and even though they are asking their friends and families to cruise for next to nothing to help fill the ships, it is just a joke. We basically are paying a service charge to cruise, because of the lack of capacity. Sorry Pam. Living in Santa Claria, I see how Princess is affected.[/quote]So, what you're saying is that Alan Buckelew has sent a memo to all employees to take two weeks, three weeks, a month off to go cruising? Pick your itinerary and your cabin, and go for it? Sorry, I find that hard to believe so specifics are in order. It's a fact that the Alaska cruises aren't selling very well so if your comment applies only to Alaska cruises, then that doesn't have anything to do with the state of the industry. That's just one market. So, please provide specifics.

[quote name='ECCruise']Alaska is selling at the lowest per diems in history, so I don't think the issue is a $50 head tax. Ships are being pulled because of overcapacity and the low yields that result, not a piddling tax.[/quote]It's not the $50 head tax although for families who ordinarily cruise to Alaska, that can add up to a significant amount. It's more the other fees being levied on the cruiseline not to mention the environmental requirements to be implemented in 2010 for which the technology hasn't been invented yet. (Alaskans failed to take that into consideration.) Yes, there's overcapacity for 2009, and with the additional costs to the cruiselines, they're taking their business elsewhere for 2010, which will reduce capacity significantly so pricing will probably be much higher next year.

[Cruisin' Chick]

[quote name='Maraprince']The cost of air fare and having to stay in a hotel pre cruise all add to the expense. Also, you cannot go to Alaska and not take tours! Alaska is one of the most expensive states on par with Hawaii.

Many people are lucky to be cruising at all and will tend to book the cheaper sailings closer to home that don't involve air fare or hotel stays. Caribbean sailings tend to be cheaper and there is much you can do ashore without taking shore excursions.

Unfortunately, the lack of money to go on vacations will be a fact of life for the foreseeable future for many people.


MARAPRINCE[/quote]

[quote name='kendon']I've been watching the Alaska cruises and notice that the inside passage seems to be a better seller as the flights are round trip/Seattle and generally are more affordable that the one way flights to other parts of Alaska.[/quote]

[quote name='Traveling52']Hey, I not complaining because they are having economic issues. I am traveling for basically nothing because of it. Trust me almost everyone in Santa Clarita has someone that works for Princess, they are one of our biggest employers. I don't think they would get together and make up the same story. iI have at least had 10+ people that work for Princess tell me the same thing. I work out with one of the Passenger Relations people. Have 4 reservation people that live on my street, not counting the families whos kids go to school with my grandkids . They are all grateful they kept their jobs and enjoying the feebees.[/quote]

We did the round trip out of Seattle, and not the one-way, basically because we weren't going to do a cruisetour, and because we can go to and from Seattle and not bother with a costier flight (we ended up going by train, which we were able to tie in with the Seattle cruise). And it really isn't necessary to do excursions in either port, or even at all. We did take a ship's excursion in Skagway because the history of that area I found interesting in my pre-cruise research. And we booked an indy excursion on the spot in Ketchikan. But we did our own tour in Juneau and Victoria. And on some cruises, that's what we've done in all the ports...just read up ahead of time and walk around.

Our first cruise with Princess was one of those employee discounts. Someone who worked for my hubby at the time knew we liked to go on cruises, and he said his gf who worked at Princess can get us the discount. So the three of us went on a 7-day M.R. cruise for under $800 total (plus taxes). Again, $800 for the three of us...not each person.

[cruisecrasy]

[quote name='Traveling52']Hey, I not complaining because they are having economic issues. I am traveling for basically nothing because of it. Trust me almost everyone in Santa Clarita has someone that works for Princess, they are one of our biggest employers. I don't think they would get together and make up the same story. iI have at least had 10+ people that work for Princess tell me the same thing. I work out with one of the Passenger Relations people. Have 4 reservation people that live on my street, not counting the families whos kids go to school with my grandkids . They are all grateful they kept their jobs and enjoying the feebees.[/QUOTE]

Try for example saying something is 'white' and many CCers on here will say:

what tone of white, how many folks saw it, how cld u see it, its rumour, what experience do u have identifying colors - get my drift? :)

Oh by the way, I have a friend whos close relative works for Princess and she agrees and because this is nothing if not logical at the very least, so do I!!

Have happy cruisin'!

[cruisecrasy]

[quote name='Pam in CA']So, what you're saying is that Alan Buckelew has sent a memo to all employees to take two weeks, three weeks, a month off to go cruising? Pick your itinerary and your cabin, and go for it? Sorry, I find that hard to believe so specifics are in order. It's a fact that the Alaska cruises aren't selling very well so if your comment applies only to Alaska cruises, then that doesn't have anything to do with the state of the industry. That's just one market. So, please provide specifics.

It's not the $50 head tax although for families who ordinarily cruise to Alaska, that can add up to a significant amount. It's more the other fees being levied on the cruiseline not to mention the environmental requirements to be implemented in 2010 for which the technology hasn't been invented yet. (Alaskans failed to take that into consideration.) Yes, there's overcapacity for 2009, and with the additional costs to the cruiselines, they're taking their business elsewhere for 2010, which will reduce capacity significantly so pricing will probably be much higher next year.[/QUOTE]

The prices will only be higher if the economy has improved and/or there are more cruisers or if worse or still flat - all bets are off! Might even see more ships moved out of Alaska.. :(

Got to hurt the Alaskan economy!!

[fairstars]

Hello Everyone,

It depends on the itinery, as others have said it appears that Alaska is not as popular as it was, we are booked on the Diamond for a September cruise of 22 nights, Vancouver to Beijing, and there are still plenty of cabins available especially for the first 7 nights inside passage. However we wished to add a 16 night Beijing to Bangkok and there were very limited cabins available for the last 6 months. We were lucky enough to notice a PS stern suite come up and booked it, (our first full suite). So as I said it realy depends on the itinery how quickly they fill up, but there will always be last minute offers for any remaining cabins.

Regards
Chris

[Traveling52]

[quote name='cruisecrasy']Try for example saying something is 'white' and many CCers on here will say:

what tone of white, how many folks saw it, how cld u see it, its rumour, what experience do u have identifying colors - get my drift? :)

Oh by the way, I have a friend whos close relative works for Princess and she agrees and because this is nothing if not logical at the very least, so do I!!

Have happy cruisin'![/quote]

It seems people like to shoot the messenger.

You can follow Carnival/Princess stock and see they are really hurting like everyone else. I feel bad for our friends and neighbors that work for Princess, because they are worried they might lose their jobs. Although because of the prices and family and friends traveling, more people are on the ship, but Princess is still making less money. We have a friend that works in photography for Princess and he said their photo business is really down. Discresinary spending has really dropped.

I know some of these people really love their cruise lines and are so protective, you would think it was a family member.

[StarTrkGeek]

[quote name='Traveling52']It seems people like to shoot the messenger.

You can follow Carnival/Princess stock and see they are really hurting like everyone else. I feel bad for our friends and neighbors that work for Princess, because they are worried they might lose their jobs. Although because of the prices and family and friends traveling, more people are on the ship, but Princess is still making less money. We have a friend that works in photography for Princess and he said their photo business is really down. Discresinary spending has really dropped.

I know some of these people really love their cruise lines and are so protective, you would think it was a family member.[/quote]
Carnival Corporation (the parent of Princess) stock peaked at $52 per share in October 2007. It hit a low of $15 per share in November 2008 -- a 71% drop!!! As of yesterday, the stock closed at $25.51 -- still 50.9% below its peak.

Also, Standard & Poor's believes that the Carnival Corporation is not doing very well. The following story was posted on MarketWatch on March 26, 2009:

"[B][SIZE=2]S&P Downgrades Carnival Corp. on Forecast Revenue[/SIZE][/B]
Standard & Poor's said Thursday it lowered its long-term corporate credit rating on Carnival Corp. to BBB+ from A- on a lower revenue outlook. S&P also cut Carnival's issue-level ratings on long-term debt by one notch. The outlook is negative. "We have revised our expectations for 2009 and 2010, and now project net revenue yields to decline in the high-teens percentage area in 2009, which, despite scheduled capacity increases in fiscal 2009 of about 5%, we estimate would result in [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] declines in the mid- to high-teens percentage range," said Ben Bubeck, an S&P credit analyst, in a statement."

However, Royal Caribbean Corp (parent of Celebrity and Azamara) has done worse. Their stock peaked at $45 per share in June 2007 and hit a low of $5.50 per share in March 2009. That's a 87.8% drop!!! Yesterday, it closed at $11.15 per share -- a 75.2% drop from its peak.

[nschurr]

[quote name='Traveling52']If you are logging in, it recognizes you as a Platinum member and you get the best price for a Platinum member. If you just check the site and don't use your log in you should get a different price. I kept telling our friends they could go to Alaska with us for $899. She was getting $1199 on the Princess site. At first I thought she was kidding. Then I finally called my TA and she checked, sure enough they had never been on Princess their price was $300 per person higher than ours. I could not even get them our price if I tried to book it for them.[/quote]

A good TA could manipulate the system to get your friends the same price you paid and it's legal.

[Maraprince]

When I did my Alaska cruise with Princess it was 2 back to backs sailings since this worked out cheaper than doing a land extension and only one sailing. Coming from the East Coast, a 7-day sailing doesn't turn out to be the best bargain due to the air fare and pre hotel stay.

Also, last year on RCL I had Canadians who drove down to Bayonne to catch the ship so they could avoid the air fare which would have costed them more than the cruise itself!

Depending on where you live, air fare plus hotel can add considerably to the total cost of an Alakan sailing. What may be cheap for one, it expensive to someone else especially if you are paying for more than one person.


MARAPRINCE