While for the last year or so cruise lines had been reacting to a sagging economy with discount fares, special promotions and discounts, some solid moves are being made to go in a different direction for the future.
It all began with an extremely strong period of booking the first couple months of this year.
In what is called "wave season" in the cruise business, the first part of each year when bookings are traditionally at a high pace, cruise lines reported higher than normal booking patterns. Right on the heels of that time low-price leader Carnival Cruise Lines announced they would be raising pricing March 22 on Summer 2010 sailings, followed quickly by a similar announcement by Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Those announcements in response to an unprecedented booking volume were to be anticipated and not all that surprising. The lines had cut prices drastically in the preceding 18 months to fill up scheduled sailings. We wrote late last month that it was basically a fair move by the cruise lines that should help make for a healthy cruise industry in the future. They gave us some sweet deals when the economy was at it's worst. Now that the economy is improving, as witnessed by that high booking volume, they need to get back on track.
Cruise lines are making other moves too that are solid indicators of the direction they are going.
Carnival Cruise Lines quietly announced to travel agents recently, a change to solidify bookings that concerns their cancellation policy. For new bookings made on or after April 5, 2010, the cruise line is adding a 75% cancellation penalty window for bookings made 29 to 15 days prior to sailing and changing the period for 100% cancellation penalty from 7 days prior to sailing to 14 days prior to sailing. The policy, aimed at discouraging close-in cancellations, is right in line with the theory behind Carnival's Early Saver Fare, one that gives guests the lowest price, guaranteed by the cruise line, but has some strict restrictions and modifies consequences of cancellation from the day a booking is made.
In another move by almost all major cruise lines, redeployment of ships to Europe is another indicator of changes to come.
You don't have to look too far to find an announcement of a line's largest ever deployment to Europe in 2011. Just this week, Royal Caribbean International became the most recent line to make the change. Cruise Business Review details the move to the more-profitable European market which should also help solidify bookings.
This too, is no surprise as cruise lines began retreating from the less-profitable
Alaska cruise market last year, opting for more line-friendly itineraries in other parts of the world. In January, Carnival announced that 2011's new ship Carnival Magic would mark the line's return to Europe. Princess Cruises, long a leader in unique European itineraries, announced it's largest ever deployment, and Norwegian Cruise Line will sail new-ship Norwegian Epic from the area reports CruiseCrtic.com.
These moves, combined with previous adjustments to the way cruise lines are doing business such as the recategorization of staterooms on existing ships, revamping past-guest loyalty programs, updating of older ships and addition of never before seen features on new ships all point to an evolving and maturing industry determined to be profitable and relevant for many years to come.
For guests, all these changes and more surely to come, mean giving serious consideration to some basics
- Find a good travel agent and hold on tight. The days of Internet Cruise Brokers are quickly coming to a close. We've been recommending the use of a travel agent for quite some time and now it is more important than ever. Finding one that specializes in cruise vacations only is not just good advice, it's essential to staying on top of this evolving vacation choice
- Book as soon as possible. The days of last-minute bargains are slipping away. The cruise lines are going all out to solidify bookings and are making policy changes, such as those noted here, to reward those who book early and penalize those that don't. Good travel agents will be promoting the value of advance bookings rather than sale prices on close-in sailings.
- Stay up on changes and adjust when needed. The days of "book it and forget it" are over right now. We need to view cruise vacations as fluid and potentially evolving, maximizing possible advantages offered by the cruise line throughout the life of the booking. New policies, promotions or pricing as well as future changes in the way lines will do business may need to be applied to existing bookings and may offer additional value
- Pick a winner and stick with them. Now, more than ever, cruise lines are rewarding not just past-guests but those currently booked with them. Royal Caribbean's recent policy to pass along savings if a booked guest's price goes down, Carnival's Early Saver fare and other moves make knowing how a line does business inside-out more important than ever
Do you have questions about cruise vacations? Email them to Chris for quick answers.
Get more on this story and others by reading Chris' unfiltered biog, ChrisCruises.
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Comments
Great job of summarizing the climate of the cruise industry! I look forward to hearing more about the cruise line's improvements to existing ships, and the great new ones on the way. Thank you for keeping us informed!
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