Raw Deal for Aussies

:mad:Australians have been denied access to cruise deals offered on American cruise websites and this is now resulting in Aussies paying outrageous prices for most cruises. This policy is NOT a government edict but purely a restriction imposed by the cruise lines themselves. For example, we were intending to take a 31 day Princess cruise in November and to purchase this cruise through an Australian agent would have cost in excess of 100% (YES 100%) more than the deals offered in the USA. Needless to say we cancelled.

Most major cruise lines have now got ships operating out of Australia; Princess in particular, and they are making a killing. The average daily rate an Australian pays on these mostly old ships is exorbitant and Australians are being exploited either through ignorance and/or enforced marketing restrictions.

Hi Johncol,

Thanks for posting and welcome to Cruise Critic.

This board is all about the Ports of Call in Australia and NZ. You will get more mileage out of your topic if you post it on the P&O Australia board , which covers all cruising and cruise lines , in Au/NZ and is mainly for Au/NZ cruisers , or on the Princess board as well.

You are not alone in your thoughts, as it has been a very hot topic on the board at times.

:mad:Australians have been denied access to cruise deals offered on American cruise websites and this is now resulting in Aussies paying outrageous prices for most cruises. This policy is NOT a government edict but purely a restriction imposed by the cruise lines themselves. For example, we were intending to take a 31 day Princess cruise in November and to purchase this cruise through an Australian agent would have cost in excess of 100% (YES 100%) more than the deals offered in the USA. Needless to say we cancelled.

 

Most major cruise lines have now got ships operating out of Australia; Princess in particular, and they are making a killing. The average daily rate an Australian pays on these mostly old ships is exorbitant and Australians are being exploited either through ignorance and/or enforced marketing restrictions.

kia ora,

Yes, we also have struck this problem of price discrimination and raised it with Princess both direct and through our TA. While it would be nice to think that business ethics operate and all customers are valued the response was that basically it is their 'marketing decision'!!

Aquarians

Yes, we also have struck this problem of price discrimination and raised it with Princess both direct and through our TA. While it would be nice to think that business ethics operate and all customers are valued the response was that basically it is their 'marketing decision'!!Aquarians

Yes I agree. It all comes down to the cruise lines marketing decision,

and where they choose to sell each particular cruise.

We have American friends on Sapphire at the moment.

It was a cruise that we would have liked to do, but from NZ, kept being quoted top dollar. We knew what they were paying and were not prepared to pay the over top prices quoted here...... just so local agents, franchise holders and wholesalers could clip the ticket.

Its not always the cruise line's fault....

Its the number of hands your booking goes through,

before it gets to the cruise line.

It isn't any number of hands. the price is put on at the top and the major haul of profit comes off at the same spot. Your local TA is making a healthy commission, but I am sure would rather sell three times as many tickets at half the price.

If they didn't have local offices and just charged in USD, it wouldn't be an issue... though people would then complain when the exchange rate fell. This happened a few years' back when TA's and cruise operators copped it from pax when the final payment was much higher than at the time they booked.

So they have local offices, which set local pricing, and lock in exchange rates and also run local promotions. Sometimes this results in cheaper cruises locally and sometimes this results in dearer cruises locally.

While I'd prefer the ability to book directly overseas where I choose, it's the same in many industries - not just cruising - that that's restricted, and is understandable that it both improves service, efficiency and ensures that the local offices deal with the expected volumes instead of losing out and then losing money because they don't get the planned volume.

This thread has been copied over from the Australia and New Zealand Port of Call board. Check both this thread and the thread on the Aus Ports of Call board for subsequent posts.

We now have chosen to sail with CARNIVAL cruises from the USA as we can book these cruises with our travel agent at exactly the same price as Americans but we do have to be mind ful that until the cruise is completely paid for the currency fluctuations can alter the end price.

We prefer Princess Cruises but can't afford the luxury unless we can find a special price.

Just shop around for good deals.

Ultimately, they may change their stance.

I agree we are paying way too much from Australia.

Just booked QM2 Southampton to Fremantle Jan 2012.

Australian agents wanted in excess of $12600 each for the class of cabin that we booked overseas for $6600. (Thats even allowing for the exchange rate to drop a bit). As I've said before. It wont be long and the Cruise industry will be like the Airlines........ You will have to book in your own country. So make hay whilst you can. The US is not the only place with travel agents.:) :)

Don't forget. We are being totally ripped by the Airlines as well!!!!!:eek::eek:

Don't forget. We are being totally ripped by the Airlines as well!!!!!:eek::eek:

Us Kiwis also-

don't forget us- we pay way over the odds to.:mad:

Totally agree we are getting ripped off, compared to Americans. Ways to reduce your total cruise cost though, investigate where you can save $ on board. TIPS ? I did not say that. LOL.

This reminds me of "NEW SHIPS FOR AUSTRALIA"

Seriously though, we do pay top prices for cruises here compared to overseas and the ships we get here are generally at the end of their "Rest of the world including USA" use by date, and in need of repair.

It alright for people to get on these boards defending the cruise industry, inferring that we should be grateful for what we get down here because we are so far away etc. etc. (Some of them even sound like stooges for the local cruise companies).

Unless you ask for things in this world then cruelly you don't get. We want better ships at better prices or at least a level playing field when it comes to prices, end of story.

I'd really appreciate cheaper cruises in Australia but the reality of it is that they are a business at the end of the day, who ultimate goal is to make money. It would be foolish for them to give us cheap cruises if they are constantly filling ships with pax.

Pricing for cruises is all based on supply and demand, hence why you pay a ridiculous amount for a nye cruise, if they weren't filling the ships we would definitely have cheaper cruises but they obviously are filling them judging by the price.

Just on the side as well, if cruising out of Australia is such a profitable market with large turnovers then surely Royal Carribean or a non carnival line would get a ship down here permanently asap. Even though Radiance is coming next season it still seems like they lack faith in our market only coming for the summer season.

Sorry, I had to play devils advocate :P

I'm just looking at it from their perspective haha.

Just on the side as well, if cruising out of Australia is such a profitable market with large turnovers then surely Royal Carribean or a non carnival line would get a ship down here permanently asap. Even though Radiance is coming next season it still seems like they lack faith in our market only coming for the summer season.

All good things take time. :-)

Remember where both visiting ships are when they aren't here though. Both are working in Alaska, which is both a seasonal area, and one that gets good returns. Essentially for them to switch either as it stands means that they'd lose out that ship's coverage they have at that time to that peak destination. Given Winter is an off-peak time down here for both locals and foreigners, they need to be sure that the revenue they would get by keeping one here would be greater than doing the relocation, which is questionable. Having a ship here for less time increases the novelty as well, so is a positive boost beyond the bookings they would get for that period if it was here all the time.

If bookings hold up though, there's a good chance of them increasing local capacity further.