Msn travel highlights cruise industry

[Pilot70D]

Hello everyone. This is simply an FYI message. MSN has a featured article today titled "Inside Secrets Of The Cruise Industry". This is a an overview article so don't expect a lot of detailed analysis but there are several useful tidbits of information to found.

 

Those of us that are experienced cruisers will already know much of what is written about in this article. I did however glean several interesting facts. One thing that I found most interesting was the percentage of occupancy that cruise lines need per voyage to break even. That figure is 104%.

 

Anyway, for those that are interested I have included a link to this article. Happy reading and everyone have a great day out there.

 

http://travel.msn.com/Guides/article.aspx?cp-documentid=985376

 

:)

[dmk]

Thanks for posting the article:). It was interesting and informative.

[nps001]

Nice article! I wonder if the 104% occupancy to break even rule is an NCL statistic? I know many cruise lines routinely run over 100% for the entire quarter. However, I follow earnings news and even when cruise lines have reported occupancy of just over 100%, the line made money.

 

I only know this because I was so intrigued that they report occupancy over 100%. And I found out that any cabin with more than 2 people is considered over 100%.

[Pilot70D]

Nice article! I wonder if the 104% occupancy to break even rule is an NCL statistic? I know many cruise lines routinely run over 100% for the entire quarter. However, I follow earnings news and even when cruise lines have reported occupancy of just over 100%, the line made money.

 

I only know this because I was so intrigued that they report occupancy over 100%. And I found out that any cabin with more than 2 people is considered over 100%.

 

Yes, that's correct that the cruise line counts full occupancy as two persons per cabin and that they need the three or four per cabin to achieve the break even point at 104% occupancy rate. However, this 104% just gets them to the break even point. They rely on all of the other expenditures - drinks, spa treatments, bingo, art auctions, upscale dining, shopping, etc - to achieve true profitability.

 

I don't work in the travel industry but I would bet my bottom dollar that Celebrity (and all the other cruise lines too) have a folder or a dossier on you and all other passengers that have sailed with them over say the last ten years. In there is a profile of how much you spent and on what. I aslo suspect that the upgrade fairy is much more likely to visit those that are repeat cruisers AND that have spent a fair amount these extras. Those spending habits are what makes a particular cruise profitable or not.

;)