Register | Forgot Password? | Customer Service

While it will still be a long time before cruise fares return to 2007 levels, a handful of cruise lines have recently announced they will be increasing fares for this summer, and in some cases, for the remainder of the year.

These fare increases will only impact cruise bookings made after the increases take effect, which for the most part will be in late March or early April. So anyone who books before the increase kicks in will still benefit from the lower price.

The fare increases at the mainstream cruise lines will be modest. For example, Carnival will raise prices by up to 5% effective March 22, and NCL will hike fares by up to 7% effective April 2.  The rate of increase will vary according to itinerary, with the most popular regions getting the highest bump.

However, the rate of fare increase will be significantly larger at the luxury lines, many of which have been offering extraordinary bargains and incentives such as “two-for-one” fares, free air, generous onboard credits, and free or discounted shore excursions.

For example, Silversea Cruises is planning to increase fares and eliminate some incentives beginning March 18. Regent will be hiking fares on many of its cruises after March 31. And others cruise lines may soon follow their lead in the months ahead, depending on consumer demand.

That’s not to say fares on every cruise itinerary will go up, or increase by the same amount.

There are still some itineraries that are not selling well, or are getting too close to their departure dates for increases to kick in. For example, Princess Cruises recently announced fares starting at less than US$100 per person for a 32-day voyage from Singapore to Cape Town that departs April 2. And demand for cruises to the Mexican Riviera, as well as for three and four day voyages to the Caribbean, continues to be soft.

In addition, there will still be times of the year when bargain fares are still available on certain itineraries. For example, the fall for Caribbean cruises, May and September for Alaska sailings, and the winter for Mediterranean voyages.

But there’s no doubt that the price of some cruises – particularly those during peak periods to popular places like the Mediterranean, or those with decreased capacity like Alaska – are going up. And the reason is that cruise bookings for 2010 have been way up over last year, thanks to strong sales during the first two months of this year during the cruise industry’s primary marketing period known as “Wave Season.”

Each year, cruise lines use Wave Season – where more than 50% of the industry’s yearly cabin capacity can be sold — to gauge the level of consumer demand. If that demand is low (as it was in 2008 and 2009), cruise lines respond with lower fares and special incentives to encourage sales. If demand is strong (as it was in January and February of this year), the same cruise lines try to increase fares and remove incentives where possible for the remainder of the year.

So with this year’s strong, and for some cruise lines, record Wave Season, cruise fares will be going up on many itineraries. Whether cruise lines can maintain higher fares and continue to increase them in the future remains to be seen. After all, it was cheaper fares that drove this strong Wave Season to begin with.

However, for the time being, cruise lines are sending travel consumers a powerful and pointed message:  if you want to take a cruise vacation in 2010, book early before the higher prices kick in. Otherwise, you could be paying more than you need to.

While tough economic times are causing Canadians to search for bigger travel bargains, a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted for Tripharbour.ca shows that most (64%) are still planning a vacation within the next year. And according to statistics from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), a growing number of these Canadians are choosing vacations at sea.  

But while Canadians are not ready to jettison the family vacation, they are looking for travel deals that deliver more bang for the buck.

That’s probably why the rock-bottom pricing, incentives and all-inclusive deals being offered by the world’s major cruise lines have been hitting a responsive chord with recession-weary Canadians.  In fact, according to the 2009 CLIA Cruise Market Overview, the number of Canadians taking cruises grew by 5.18% to 710,607 passengers in 2008 from 675,558 in 2007.  And  industry insiders say that Canadian cruise sales to date are just as strong for 2009.

“With cruises to the Caribbean, South America and Europe selling for as low as $65 a day, we’ve seen a big increase in visitors to our site who are shopping for a deal on their family vacation,” says Stuart MacDonald, travel industry innovator and founder of Tripharbour.ca.  “And since the price of a cruise includes a room, all meals, entertainment and transportation from port to port, it’s a pretty good value proposition.”

According to the Ipsos Reid poll, 64% of Canadians are planning to take a vacation within the next 12 months, while 77% will take one within the next two years. In contrast, when asked the same question in January of this year during a prolonged cold streak, 69% of Canadians said they were planning a vacation within the next year – five percentage points higher than the current survey.  I guess we need some colder weather to encourage those 5% to change their minds!

According to the current survey, residents of British Columbia have the greatest urge to travel, with 73% saying they will take a vacation within the next 12 months. Albertans placed a close second, with 70% planning a leisure trip in the next year, followed by Saskatchewan/Manitoba at 68%, and Quebecers and Atlantic Canadians at 65%. However, only 57% of Ontarians are planning a vacation in the next 12 months, something that might reflect the deeper impact of the recession on that province.

The bottom line is that most Canadians still want to vacation, but they’re doing it more smartly by shopping for the very best deals.  And that means that the number of cruise passengers in Canada should continue to grow, even if the overall number of people planning a vacation drops.

People who share their insights and views about cruising on the Internet are part of a close-knit community. So when one cruise community has a problem, we all feel part of their pain.

That’s exactly what happened this week when some key members of Cruise Freek Forums alleged that owner Jacqueline “Tina” Rinaldi had been involved in a cruel hoax. For those not familiar with CFF, it’s an online cruise community that was started in August of 2007 as one of several alternatives to Cruise Critic – the more established but sometimes heavy-handed and overly censorship-happy cruise message board. As membership slowly grew, selected travel agents were invited to be the “official” travel agents for CFF and assist in organizing group cruises.

According to an open letter released on Twitter on March 31 by some key CFF members and agents, Tina had organized a large number of contests for the CFF community and given away nearly a million dollars worth of free cruises to members. The idea was to build registered membership in CFF and increase user traffic so that the community would be a more attractive place for advertisers or partners – specifically the major cruise lines. In fact, Tina recently pitched Royal Caribbean International to buy into a $3.5 million advertising campaign with CFF without success.

Apparently, the contests failed to generate a significant number of new members or advertising for CFF, and therefore insufficient revenue to pay for the cruise prizes. As a result, CFF’s travel agent partners were left holding the bag for the cruises, and finally got fed up waiting to receive payment for them from Tina and CFF.

As a result, CFF is in turmoil and has stopped accepting new member registrations. In addition, it is doubtful that members who entered the contests and won cruises will ever receive them. A message on the CFF site from Tina Rinaldi claims that all accounts will be settled in the next three weeks, and that a new head and board will be appointed by May 1 to take over the operation of CFF. However, no one involved in CFF is putting much faith in Tina’s promises which in the past have been pretty hollow.  And if CFF does mange to survive, it will be in a much more diminished and less credible way.

While Cruise Freek Forums was a competitor to other cruise communities including CruiseMates, Cruise Critic and Tripharbor.com/Tripharbour.ca, no one is taking pleasure in their problems and potential demise. At the end of the day, it’s better for everyone in the cruise industry to have more people chatting about cruises than fewer, no matter where they go to do it. As the old adage says, a high tide floats all boats.

So if there’s anyone out there from Cruise Freek Forums reading this, we share your disappointment. If you need somewhere to go to chat about cruising, feel free to join our Tripharbor.com/Tripharbour.ca community. We may not have contests that give away free cruises, but we do run an honest community which respects and values the contributions made by all of our members, and where cruise lovers can speak their mind without fear of unnecessary censorship.

If there is a lesson to be learned from the demise of CFF, it’s that anyone who claims to be giving away dozens of free cruises in one year probably isn’t telling the truth. In other words, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

This week Disney Cruise Line unveiled the names of its next two ships – the Fantasy and Dream. Nice names, except they already belong to ships owned by Carnival Cruises. Maybe Carnival should retaliate by naming its next ship the “Mouse”.

Does it matter? Not really, although it does demonstrate a lack of imagination from the people who coined the term “imagineering.”

It’s as though the people at Disney who dream up the names of ships left their creativity in dry dock. Or maybe they just took a cue from a gag on the old Bob Newhart Show – you know, the one when three guys walk into the Inn and one says, “Hi, I’m Larry. And this is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl.”

Whatever the motivation, it seems that for the most part, the names given to cruise ships today have become repetitive, meaningless and commonplace. For example, we’ve got multiple ships bearing the names Splendor,  Pride, Spirit, Europa, Princess, Rhapsody, Voyager, Explorer, Sky, Sapphire, Diamond, and Majesty – and that’s just a small sample.

That’s a far cry from the pre-1970s era of ocean travel when most ships had names that meant something. In those days, many ships were given names that were part of a theme such as ending with “ic” at White Star Line (as in Oceanic) and ending with “ia” at Cunard Line (as in Carpathia). Some names evoked images of their country of registration – like the Constitution and Independence of the American Export Line, the Ile de France and Normandie of the French Line, and the Sagafjord and Vistafjord of Norwegian America Line.

Other ships were named in recognition of monarchs like the Queen Mary, or for ancient Roman provinces like the Lusitania and the Mauretania.  Some were named for cities like the Rotterdam. And many were named for famous citizens like Michelangelo and Raffaello of the Italian Line, or Greek gods like the Orpheus or Artemis.

But whatever the ship’s moniker, it meant something, it was part of a naming tradition, and it was rarely used by more than one ship at a time. Compare that system to today’s mishmash where the marketing departments dream up names that signify nothing and can be used by just about any ship in the world.

Now if coming across two or more ships with the same name sounds confusing to you, the cruise lines can explain why it shouldn’t be. Apparently, we’re supposed to put the name of the cruise line in front of the ship’s name as in “Disney Fantasy” or “Carnival Fantasy.”  Royal Caribbean has gone a step further: they add an extra “of the Seas” after the name of every ship as in “Voyager of the Seas.” I guess that would make it okay for them to christen their next ship “Queen Mary 2 of the Seas.”

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer the old system of naming ships when only one vessel carried a name, and you instantly knew which cruise line it belonged to. That’s why I have to give a lot of credit to the folks at Holland America Line. All their ships end with the suffix “dam” as in Westerdam, Rotterdam, Veendam, etc., which has made it “dam” hard for anyone else to copy them.

However, at the end of the day, I suppose it no longer matters that lots of ships have the same meaningless names. After all, a ship by any other name would float as well, even if it lacks creativity.

A research report released today by Robin Farley of UBS Investments confirms what cruise industry insiders have known for some time – that cruise prices to Alaska and Europe have been sinking fast and currently represent some of the greatest vacation values in the market.

According to the report, “Alaska pricing appears to be under the most pressure and could be further impacted as Norwegian Cruise Line is beginning a major promotional campaign for Alaska in the next week or two. The U.S.-sourced European trade is also declining but not at as rapid a rate.”

The UBS Cruise Pricing Survey tracks pricing across various itineraries and brands, and analyzes pricing year-over-year on a week-to-week basis. Among several things, it shows that cruise fares have been dropping as the sailing date approaches, which indicates discounting has been necessary to fill ships to respectable levels.

The report notes that price discounting has been successful in so much as passenger bookings for several cruise lines have been up, albeit at lower prices. For example, bookings at Carnival Cruise Line have been up by 12% since mid-January versus the same period last year. And at Princess Cruises, bookings have been up by 6% during Wave Season (January to mid-February) over the same period last year.

What does this mean for cruise lines and the travelling public?

For cruise lines, it means declining levels of profitability as they compete to fill ships with lower prices. The majors are still making money, but not nearly as much as they should, which is impacting their stock values. For example, Carnival stock reached an all-time low in November of 2008, and is currently trading at its lowest average quarterly enterprise value per berth in the last 10 years. Investors know they are charging too little for their cruises.

For the small and niche market cruise lines, some of whom struggle even in good times, the impact could be worse. For example, they might have to sell some assets, restructure or even seek bankruptcy protection if the price war gets too crazy and prolonged.

For the vacationing public, it means that fares on cruises to Alaska, trans-Atlantic, and through all regions of Europe are being offered at price levels not seen for many years.  And these deals are likely to extend into the fall Caribbean season, which from August to November is traditionally weak anyway due to the threat of hurricanes.

So if you’ve ever thought about taking a cruise to Alaska or Europe, you may want to do it this year. While it may pain the cruise industry to admit it, they have slashed fares to incredibly low levels to get you up the gangplank. It’s not a great scenario for cruise line investors, but it’s a great deal for people who love to vacation at sea, and one that may not be repeated again in the future.

Carnival Cruises is holding a one-day sale today where cruises to the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska and more are being offered at amazingly low prices. In addition, the cruise line is guaranteeing that these sale prices will be the lowest offered on these particular sailings.

Amazing deals! Lowest price guarantees! If all this is starting to sound like a day at Wal-Mart, perhaps Carnival is on to something here.

In the good old days (remember those?), it seemed that cruise lines could hardly keep pace with the increase in people taking cruise vacations. The industry was growing at an impressive 4% a year, and new ships were coming out of dry dock at a dizzying pace.

But today things are a bit different. The new ships are still coming on stream and have to be filled, but travelers are being more frugal. They still want to take a vacation with their family and experience the world, but they want to do it for less, and in some cases, far less.

Enter Carnival with its Wal-Martesque approach to selling cruises.

Like Wal-Mart, Carnival prides itself in always offering very competitive pricing. And like any consumer goods retailer, Carnival understands that moving inventory in slow periods sometimes requires a compelling offer that is so good that it’s hard to resist.

That’s the kind of deal Carnival is offering for just one day – today! And we expect to see other great “sales” from its competitors as they remain in the fight for market share.

So has Carnival borrowed a page from the Wal-Mart marketing manual? I don’t know. But as long as they keep offering these kinds of great deals, their shipboard greeters are going to be very busy.

It’s been a busy 2009 when it comes to the media.

Since January 1, Tripharbour has launched a major advertising campaign, issued five news releases and participated in dozens of media interviews across North America. And whether it’s a question about cruising or insights into the latest travel trends, it seems that more and more reporters have discovered that Tripharbour is the place to go for the knowledgeable and trusted commentary they need.

For example, just this week I was interviewed about cruising on Radio Station 580 CFRA in Ottawa (You can listen to it at http://snurl.com/ckhmi). I’ve also begun writing a monthly column called “ports of call” for a local Toronto community newspaper, and will be putting pen to paper soon on two magazine articles about cruising.

In addition, Tripharbour CEO and founder Stuart MacDonald has appeared in dozens of print, radio and online stories about cruising and travel. These stories have appeared in major publications in the U.S. such as the Boston Globe and the Denver Post, as well as in prominent Canadian media such as the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and National Post.  And Tripharbour has been included in a large number of radio and online travel stories including with Radio Station 680 in Toronto, and online with MSNBC in New York.

But you don’t need to wait until our next media appearance to find the cruise you’ve always wanted. Just send in your questions or comments directly to us, and we’ll give you the same knowledgeable and insightful answers that media have come to expect from North America’s most innovative online cruise community, planning, and buying site.

The bitterly cold weather sweeping through Canada and most of the northerly U.S. states has been good news for cruise ships plying the warm waters of the Caribbean and the Mexican Riviera.  

Just a few weeks ago there were plenty of cruise cabins available for January and February. But shortly into the New Year a blast of cold Arctic air came swirling south, and guess what happened?  Tons of frost-bitten families decided it was time to escape the freezer and they scooped up lots of attractively priced cabins on cruises to warmer climes.

What does that mean if you’re not one of the lucky ones who have already booked a warm-weather winter cruise?   

If you don’t already have a cabin booked for the next 45 days, you are going to have to be a lot more flexible about when you sail, what type of cabin you get, and where you sail to and from. And it’s highly unlikely prices are going to get any lower if you wait.  

It also means that if you were thinking of taking a warm-weather cruise in March or April, you better make a booking soon. While inventory is still good for those months, cabins are selling briskly as a result of attractive prices and the continuing cold weather. So the best choices, selection and prices will start to dry up soon.

In fact, cruise lines will likely shift their marketing and incentive dollars away from the Caribbean and Mexican destinations in about a month, and start focusing on selling cruises to Alaska and Europe. Some lines like Crystal, Silversea and Regent have already begun to focus on those markets. 

So if the cold weather is getting you down and you’d like to escape aboard a luxury liner to the warm waters of the Caribbean and Mexican Riviera, don’t wait too long to make a decision. If you do, you might just miss the boat!

keep looking »