HappyInVan

Yes.

Oops! Will they raise prices?

First time on Ryndam in Alaska Sept 2010...

Big difference... "The majority of new ships break even at 50% occupancy, while older ships need 80% occupancy to hit that benchmark, according to Tom Baker, president of Cruise Center."

Onboard spending is an important supplement when you are selling $49/day fares. Less important when you are able to charge $99/day fares. Unfortunately, the experiences on a $49 ship is poorer than on a $99 or $199 ship. Like ship capacity, there's a limit on capacity in bars, restaurants and on excursions. So, there's little room for growth in onboard spending unless you have a different $class$ of pax. Cognac instead of beer. Fillet mignon instead of pork belly. Perhaps, HAL will add a 5th and 6th pax capacity to the cabins?

There's no need for a balcony or OV. The ship will enter and leave Glacier Bay by the same (roughly) route. So, a fixed position on the sides will only have a limited view at any time. The best position whilst approaching the glacier is the bow. There's the comfort of the Crows Nest, or the open decks of the Observation Deck or the bow (if access is allowed). The open decks on the top of the ship allows a 360 view of you are able to walk around. One advantage is the elevated viewpoint. A partially sheltered position is on Deck 10 aft (near the Tamarind restaurant) which overlooks the Sea View Pool. Should it get too cold on the deck, you can nip down to the Lido on Deck 9 where there are wall to ceiling windows. Enjoy...

They would be doing even better by increasing prices and margins, not dropping prices. Nor by cramming more people onboard the ships, and increasing stress on pax and staff. The theory is that companies discount because they've set the prices too high and demand is too low.

+1 I'm astonished that some posters on this forum speak with such assurance for HAL. I have to wonder if they are with HAL??? Personally, I hope that HAL takes note of the criticism after each of their brilliant innovation. The customer comes first?

Thanks. Their intention is pretty clear. They're gonna try and load the ships as much as possible. Make it peak season year round. Not for me. Might as well sail with MSC. When does this take effect? Hope that it isn't back-dated to old bookings!!! 😒

Sorry. Not going to waste my time booking cruises that I'm not serious about. Moreover, you might be reserving cabins that someone else wants. I'm booked on the NA this summer 14D Alaska cruise. Paid just C$1599 pp for a partial OV Stateroom 4091. Checked the equivalent itinerary and room next year. Its $2,826 for the Noordam and C$2,388 on the NA. Seems like a big difference. Would I pay a $1 deposit for a 2005 booking? What do you think?

Doesn't Aurea have their own dining room?? Is this available on all ships?

The operational area that you are referring to can be affected by any number of issues. It may be under-funded. Is HAL trying to cut costs? Does the IT department have the expertise? As I understand it, corporations sub-contract a number of IT functions. Were the contracts awarded to the right people or to the lowest bid? It may need new middle managers. Ideally, management set the parameters for a procedure that is consistent with corporate values. For example, efficiency and timeliness is important. But, the app should also be easy to use. This is my experience with the app and it should be enlightening. Google Play wouldn't allow me to download HAL's app because it was supposed to be not compatible with my device. On the ship, the IT person offered us a QR code to download the app. I asked the IT person, “Why don't you speak to the Google IT people and sort out this compatibility issue.” Huh? I don't know if HAL ever fixed the issue. I dare not un-install the HAL app. After my next and last HAL cruise under current management, the app will be gone from my device.

Not likely. Any large company has access to marketing consultants to keep them informed of the industry's doings, and for advise on future policy, And, HAL has inhouse marketing expertise. This is not rocket science. Various industries follow different traditional strategies. Non-perishable industries try to hold their retail (high) price for as long as possible. Then, blow out their inventory in a sale of the year. Airlines have to clear their seats by flight time. So, they start at a reasonable price and raise the price as the plane fills up. On the other hand, luxury brands try to hold their price point while motivating their customers with excitement. What's the latest and greatest? What's in the next Fall and Autumn collections? Seems to me that HAL has been unable to define themselves as a brand. They advertise about the excitement of Alaska. But, Alaska fares have been falling. And, their ships have problems with the excitement of entertainment. IMHO, HAL doesn't have the right size in terms of corporate capacity and ship size. They need bigger ships to provide good shows at the current fares. On the other hand, smaller ships offer more varied itineraries but cost more to operate per pax. The most important decision to be made as a brand is the choice of the corporate capacity. Too many rooms/ships means that you will inevitably have to discount at the margin, which affects your ability to hold the line on your retail (official) price. Conglomerates like CCL tend to be messy. HAL is signaling that this is the way to go, "Follow us!" But, Princess blows them out of the water with a big discount. On the other hand, NCL has a clean line-up with just three divisions (high, medium, mass). You must have noticed that each of HAL's initiatives alienates some of their old customers. CO gets the priority that senior Mariners used to own exclusively. The $1 deposit supersedes the old $100 Future Cruise Deposit. And, so it goes on.

Lets look at it from a management perspective. Need to fill the rooms at a decent price? What do you do? You can cut prices to fill the rooms, but a 40% cut would be disastrous to your margins. You can cut deposits in the hope that you can maintain retail prices. Should the low deposits ultimately fail, you can still cut prices and offer promotions and freebies. Let's assume that you've filled the ship and your margins aren't as good as you would like! You can still squeeze more people onboard with a 3rd 4th pax promotion. Hope that their onboard spending is high enough to make a difference. Ultimately, the company has the option of cutting costs and quality. This is something that the pax will notice. So, all these options are available to HAL. The sequence that they are deployed reveals something of HAL's internal state. What surprised me was that HAL used and is still using $1 deposits instead of $100 deposits. It suggests that HAL management is supremely confident or extremely desperate. Stay tuned.

Yes, cheap deposits are a boon to the pax. But, HAL (and the cruise industry) doesn't hand out freebies out of the goodness of their heart. Last year, HAL set their retail prices too high and offered the $1/$25 deposits. Great success! Then, Princess cut their fares 40%. Boom! I was able to sail in suites 3x at reasonable prices. Last minute deals are great! Looks like HAL is gonna try again this year. Good luck to them, and to pax! Of course, all these promotions are gambles. One thing you can be sure of is that the mainstream market is highly competitive. The luxury market not so much.