molecrochip

https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/04/23/why-cheap-air-travel-is-not-going-away/

I'm not so sure. I do wonder if thats why there is such high prices next year. Number of available cabins = total balcony cabins - less number booked - less number of inside/ocean view booked. Essentially anyone that books an inside removes a balcony cabin from sale. Now, this only works until the point you announce this as a policy. At that point you upgrade everyone for free but then have to stop selling inside/ocean view. This comes back to economics of cruising.... Broadly, it is said that a modern cruise ship can breakeven based on 60% of cabins being full, once you factor in onboard spend etc. This assumes a 60% occupancy across all cabin types. In the Covid scenario, you cut the 40% cheapest cabins going forward and that 60% is then the more expensive cabins. That actually could make a ship more profitable. The other option is that going forward you reduce the entry level balcony cabin price to still retain those who choose inside cabins on cost. The other thing to consider is that if ships really are booked up as high as P&O indicate then there will be very few bargains next year and future OBS will not need to be thrown at customers to book. You move towards a more traditional package holiday pricing model. The same thing was said about cheap air travel and an article on Head for Points from April 23 explains why. Similar principles apply to the cruise industry.

It would certainly be sensible off them from a PR point of view.

At present. FCO has not yet relaxed its restrictions because a) UK cruise lines have not announced their new health measures and b) like Gyms, Cinemas etc, it lots of people in a close space. We might not have the US CDC putting no sail orders in place in the UK, but the cruise ship operators are very much playing ball with the UK governement. Hence why restart dates are in October etc.

Oceeeena has no balconies? Iona coming out of a shipyard in Finland in the new year???? He even mentions Pulmantur ships being scrapped. That they maybe but they are being given back to RCI who own them - its then up to RCI whether they are scrapped. Pulmantur was used to extract extra life from old vessels. I've seen a number of his videos. Bruce means well but is often wrong.

John does indeed refer to a cold lay-up. All the time the ships are sailing they are no technically laid-up. One of the reasons for Carnival moving their crew into passenger cabins across all brands was to ensure that the passenger cabins continued to be aired etc. Water systems are still being used and flushed through daily to ensure no build-up of bacteria etc. There are a couple of you-tube videos which show how everything has been cleaned/decommissioned and then bagged-up to protect it. In a cold lay-up a ship can be emptied of water / fuel and basically locked-up secure with no one on board. A cold lay-up expects a dry dock/refurbishment before re-entering service.

If not your November cruise then maybe my December cruise! P&O will want to make sure that a 2020 launch doesnt slip to 2021. It's a bit different for Princess as they have new ships most years. Not the case for P&O.

I said that there was an option, not that it was financially viable. If capacity restrictions are being put into place then this will have the same effect on pricing as the cabins having already been sold hence the last few cabins available will always be the most expensive under the supply and demand model.

Yeah, well, whose idea was it to put a rollercoaster on top of a cruise ship! On another thread I've just said: ... I'll predict this. Iona's first passenger cruise will be after October.

We know that there is an update to investors/market tomorrow. So far this week, Oceana has left, Carnival has reshuffled some deployments for Jan-May 2021 and Princess have reshuffled some deployments through September 2021. This seems to suggest that affairs are being put in order before the October 15 minus three months point. I wonder if there will be an update later this week to change final payment dates. With this in mind, I'll predict this. Iona's first passenger cruise will be after October. *I'll run and hide now*

I'm positive that P&O would have de-branded her if she was going to be broken up. I though that this ship was Costa Mediterranea but may be, Oceana had already been sold and renegotiation just had to happen regarding transfer date. From the 2018 accounts "In November 2018, we entered into an agreement to sell an EA segment 2,110-passenger capacity ship. The ship will be transferred to the buyer at a date still to be determined." The 2019 accounts did not state this ship as having been transferred. As a comparison, 2018 accounts said "In June 2018, we sold an EA segment 1,880-passenger capacity ship. The ship will be transferred to the buyer in August 2019." and the 2019 accounts said "In August 2019, we transferred an EA segment 1,880-passenger capacity ship." This was Oriana. Obviously, a deal could also have been struck between December 2019 and Covid which just happened to turn out advantageous. The other option is that Carnival have given warranties on the state of the ship and will indemnify the new owner for any repair work needed on initial dry-dock inspection.

Yes, but its the reason that Oceana's fly cruise season were based around scheduled airlines. At one point, Emirates were flying 8 A380s a day into Heathrow. P&O bulk buy seats on scheduled airlines for those 2 days out of 10 in advance of the general on-sale date. If you've ever tried to book a holiday to the middle east, getting flights on a cruise day is a nightmare as the availability is gone. Travel companies build their packages around the other dates. You also have a fair bit of connecting traffic in the middle east who flex their schedules based on price and availability. But with the overnight in Dubai, 7 nights are more likely.

You need to look for Costa Diadema or AidaPrima. The US market doesn't travel to the middle east. They would rather go to Australia or Asia if flying for that long hence only European brands operating.

Thanks Jack. General feeling was that Gala2 would spend her Maiden summer season across Spain & Portugal's Atlantic Coast & the Canaries from Southampton and then spend Winter in the Middle East! Thats exactly what Oceana was due to be doing from April 2021 to April 2022 and I always say Gala2 as a direct replacement. In 2023, I had heard talk of a weekly summer fly-cruise season alternating from Tenerife with one week Canaries, second week Atlantic coast. This again focused on getting families to the heat quicker and avoiding 4 days of dubious weather on a 14 night itinerary. LPG ports are still going to be slow coming on tap. Rotterdam, Southampton, Tenerife, Barcelona, Dubai, Miami and Port Canaveral all spring to mind as open/due this year at the latest. There are bunkering options in the Caribbean but not that sustain a homeport scenario for 6 months. A number of Caribbean of ports have plans but you're probably looking at 5 years start-finish. If I'm honest, the intention appears to have always been for the Med fly cruises to use Ventura or Azura. It only fell to Oceana so that P&O could still visit Venice. I actually wonder whether this gave Oceana a stay of execution for the last couple of years.

The ship was sent to the Tyne for lay-up. This has all moved very quickly unlike Oriana who was sold and leased back to P&O. The ships are sold with most of the furnishings in place. A bit like a house there will be a long list attached to the contract. This will include beds, life jackets, mini-bars, spare carpet, tv etc. What needs to come off, is any stock, shop stock and fittings on loan, branded products, computers/IT involved in hotel services. If this is to be retained then it would have come off in Southampton. It was notable there were reports of theatre equipment being offloaded. The fleet's theatres have just been upgraded over the past three years. I believe that all of the shop stock, jewelry and art which was previously on sale was offloaded at the start of the lay-ups. Obviously items like crockery and cutlery is branded but this probably makes its way to the bin unless its new. Anything to be scrapped is likely to come off in Greece as cheaper to dispose off. They will have had a list when Oriana went so shouldn't be hard to make a new one. No doubt over the next few days, every cabin, room and area will be inspected to check everything that should be off is.