HappyInVan

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.

Yah! More last minute deals!!!! 🙂

Anyone tried room service? The menu is limited, but quality is comparable to MDR.

The biggest splash is the mass parade around the pool. Best I ever saw was on the Koningsdam Hawaii in December 2022. Last year, I was on 4 HAL cruises and did not see anything of this caliber. In fact, as I recall the Statendam TA in December 2023 had none.

Guys, Looks like HAL is offering 3/4 free on almost all of its last minute deals... https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/ca/find-a-cruise?dealId=TOPTEN23&csvFileName=multi_TOPTEN23_1.csv&ICID=INTHWEB20240124Q89QXAW4NL 7 out of 10 are "Free Guests 3 and 4". All ship classes. The only exceptions are the two Denali itineraries, and the 7D Iceland/Scotland cruise which has sold well.

The Pinnacle ships have good design features. Unfortunately, my actual experiences were unfortunate. On the K, liquid scrambled eggs were served for several days on two consecutive cruises. Never again. I breakfast early in the morning. Sometimes, there's no waiter. The pax get their own beverages. After a while, the waiters who are there don't bother to offer beverages. On the Statendam cruise, the ship had just finished dry dock, and the crew should have been fresh. But, the Dive-In only offered pre-cooked hotdogs at the opening hour. Take it or leave it. I had CO, and tried to dine in that restaurant. I gave up after 2 meals because the hostess was so abusive. For the rest of the cruise, the restaurant was half filled at best. I saw the Hotel GM Mustafa Gulbahar standing in the restaurant and gesturing angrily at the empty tables. Don't get me started on the Pinnacle elevators (enough on the Noordam class). The list goes on and on. I have only one cruise with HAL this year to complete 4-star Mariner. Its on the NA (never sailed this class). My cabin is a partial OV with the long window. That's all I'm willing to pay HAL. Then, its done. IMHO, HAL has been unable to maintain higher prices. The ships are understaff. With the additional crowding from low low fares, and free 3rd and 4th pax, it won't get better.

+1 I sailed K (Alaska) and Statendam (TA) last year. Nasty experience. Just sailed on MSC Meraviglia. Not as bad as I feared. In fact, not bad at all. I would rather sail on the Meraviglia with Aurea package (equivalent to Club Orange) than HAL's Pinnacle ships with Club Orange. Also, I sailed on Volendam (Alaska) and Noordam (California coastal) last year. Much nicer experience than on the K.

There's a rumour that CCL is sailing above capacity. The reality is that HAL has many deals... https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/ca/find-a-cruise?dealId=TOPTEN23&csvFileName=multi_TOPTEN23_1.csv&ICID=INTHWEB20240124Q89QXAW4NL I find this itinerary attractive "14-DAY BRITAIN, SCOTLAND & IRELAND" June 15 on the Statendam from Copenhagen. The airfare looks okay. Might go for it! Possibility of an upsell to the suites. While the standby fare (gotta pay first) looks attractive, we have to realize that the pax is gambling (like at the slots) against the company. The House always sets the odds in their favour. In this example, the House can improve the odds in their favour by offering discounts and incentives before passing the remains to the standby folks. Enjoy your cruise!

I sailed on the V last August in Vista suite AA6123.. Generally, I was pleased by the experience. More intimate, more casual seating than the new ships. Of course, everything was smaller. The pool, the Lido, the theater. I was surprised by the amount of creaking roof panels in my room, when the ship sailed open waters north of Haida Gawaii. Would not sail that cabin again.

I think that we can agree that laws are often not equitable, or efficient. That's why laws are tested in court and amended. This discussion has been useful in understanding what can be done by the pax, the ship's officers and the cruise line. I can understand your concern as advocate for the handicap. But, advocates for the general public and the general pax on a ship also have a say in the matter. Let's stay on topic with a discussion about life onboard the ships. Don't veer off course with references to parking. Totally different situation. As I understand it, the cruise company aren't able to authenticate service dogs in sailings out of the States. They can however respond to complaints about misconduct. Therefore, I suggest that anyone concerned about a situation should report it to the ship. Hopefully, the volume of complaints will force management to respond. Imposters and fraudsters prosper when we are silence, and acquiescence to their misdeeds. Personally, I have no interest in why someone has a service dog. My concern is about pax safety and the welfare of the animal. Hope that this clarifies our positions.

This is what puzzles me. It must be obvious that a guide dog is required by the visually impaired. So, why the secrecy? Similarly, someone traveling with a medical condition should want the ship's officers to know about the condition. Certainly, be candid on the medical questionnaire. It might save your life. For PTSD survivors, thank you for your service! See you at the veteran get-together.

That is the most essential part of dog ownership. The professional assesses the service dog and its fit with a potential master. Dogs (unlike cats) are truly social creatures. They belong in a pack. Therefore, does the potential master live with a family with kids and other dogs. Is the master a social person living in a retirement community with many friends. A service dog is not a tool like a wheelchair. It has emotional needs that go far beyond food and shelter. Problematic dogs usually mean that they are undergoing trauma. Not the dog's fault. Back on topic. The ship's officers are responsible for security. In my mind, that means that they need to screen the validity of service dogs. There's good reasons why pets are banned on a ship. Inevitably, there will be misbehaving animals onboard, particularly among the dogs self-trained by a master. Pax have to a part to play. Report the incidents to the ship. Its up to the senior officers to decide what to do. That's why they're paid the big bucks. Inevitably, some dogs don't travel well among strangers in a stressful environment. Perhaps, the owner should be made aware of the issue? The welfare of animals is everyone's responsibility. That's why there are cruelty laws in our society.