Increased Costs for 2014

[adaptabl]

Hold off on the bookings to put pressure on Carnivsal to lower the prices. Lees booking will result in lower prices.

[skyeman27]

If they go from having two past guests to only one,, I would expect it to be full and it has been on Conquest too, even with the new rules. At least they can now get everyone into one party and dont have to hold it twice like they were before.

 

Have been on about 7 or 8 past guest parties on Carnival and never saw that 2 were being held. What I did notice is that they used to be held in the comedians lounge and were moved to the theater because they needed the room. Have only been cruising Carnival for 3 years, so maybe having 2 past guest parties in the lounge were prior to my cruising experience with Carnival...

[FireEater]

I just did a comparison for a cruise I have booked next summer. They went up $200 but still $300 cheaper then another line going to same place, same time.

[T. Advisor King]

On the “new passenger” vs. “past guest”, my guess is that they are trying to appeal more to the first-time customer than trying to retain previous customers. While the posters to this site are pretty hard core, the vast majority of cruise customers I speak to are not particularly dedicated. And by that, I don’t just mean loyal to Carnival (or any other cruise “brand”), but to cruise vacations in general. People go to Hawaii, they go to Disney, they go on cruises, they’re all fun. I think there are a very small percentage of passengers for whom the word “vacation” means “cruise”. So while it is usually considered easier to retain a customer than find a new one, I think Carnival is spending its time and marketing efforts on the first-time and occasional passenger.

As for the pricing, I think it reflects a misunderstanding of business and economics to think that they’re setting prices high to “make up for” losses or weak sales. It doesn’t work that way. The cruise line will always endeavour to charge 100% of whatever the market will bear. If their profits were down last quarter, they can’t recoup them by raising their fares this year. All that means is that they will sail partially empty, or that they will have to significantly discount the fares the closer it gets to sailing date.

What they may be doing is starting off with a premium fare because there are always some people who really, absolutely have to have a particular sailing with a particular itinerary on a particular ship for a particular date. They will pay more to get what they want. Then once they’ve sold all they can to that group, they’ll lower the prices a bit and try to get the next tier.

I do have to laugh a little about the posting pointing out the increase in price from $380-something to $520-something (or whatever it was). I appreciate that it is apples to oranges and that the poster's perspective is his/hers, but when the all-in cost of a cruise vacation for my family of four is in the $6-7k range, it is hard to get excited about a cost difference that amounts to about two tanks of gas.

[sonicbuffalo]

The Dream Eastern itinerary for mid-July 2014 is up just slightly ($30 pp for Early Saver) than when we booked last fall for our upcoming cruise on Dream, for the 1st/2nd pax. At least that's the case for the Cove balcony that we will be in.

 

Prices always reflect supply and demand. If people don't book, you'll see prices drop - like they did for our upcoming cruise.

 

It's always cheaper to cruise in the fall than in July....in the fall, kids are back in school...that's why we sail in the fall each year...and on top of that our anniversary is in October.

[cruzn buckeye]

Last September, we booked a balcony, 2 people, on the Liberty. Another cabin had 3 of our friends in a balcony. Those balcony prices have jumped for this September. it is costing us about the same for balcony cabins on the Victory 5 day this Sept., as we paid for the Liberty 7 day last year. Not all prices are down.

[wmowan8485]

I'm just posting to verify that cruise pricing is very low this year as I've never taken 3 cruises in 1 year before but I will this year. The rates have been awesome. If I only get one in next year, no problem. However, I do shop for the bargains.. :)

[CantWait08]

January 2013 8 day Breeze $1900 cove balcony. January 2014 8 day Breeze $1900 4J inside. Prices seem to have been on the rise for 2014 and out. We did find a great deal on a fall Legend 8 day though ($1550 Balcony).

[Rockee4055]

Prices seem to be higher across the board. I have been looking at some 7 day cruises in December and the Carnival itineraries are higher than I expected, and a cruise I was watching on NCL has gone up $50.00 pp in the past month.

 

I would have thought that with so many new ships across the industry, that prices on some of the older ships would be lower.

 

If CCL puts their prices up that high they will not attract like they should. If the prices are going to be up there close to NCL or RCCL then people may opt to cruise on them.

 

The good thing is they won't fill the cabins...maybe and the prices will drop again.

 

So much for ES rates.

[askimdog]

As of last week the price for the Legend in January 2014 was the same as we paid in 2012. We are still seeing if we can swing it? I hope this price raise didn't JUST come in. :)

Jan. 2012 was our last cruise and was hoping Jan. 2014, if it goes up, it will be Jan. 2015 budget wise....tooooo dang long between cruises.

[larkz]

On the “new passenger” vs. “past guest”, my guess is that they are trying to appeal more to the first-time customer than trying to retain previous customers. While the posters to this site are pretty hard core, the vast majority of cruise customers I speak to are not particularly dedicated. And by that, I don’t just mean loyal to Carnival (or any other cruise “brand”), but to cruise vacations in general. People go to Hawaii, they go to Disney, they go on cruises, they’re all fun. I think there are a very small percentage of passengers for whom the word “vacation” means “cruise”. So while it is usually considered easier to retain a customer than find a new one, I think Carnival is spending its time and marketing efforts on the first-time and occasional passenger.

 

As for the pricing, I think it reflects a misunderstanding of business and economics to think that they’re setting prices high to “make up for” losses or weak sales. It doesn’t work that way. The cruise line will always endeavour to charge 100% of whatever the market will bear. If their profits were down last quarter, they can’t recoup them by raising their fares this year. All that means is that they will sail partially empty, or that they will have to significantly discount the fares the closer it gets to sailing date.

 

What they may be doing is starting off with a premium fare because there are always some people who really, absolutely have to have a particular sailing with a particular itinerary on a particular ship for a particular date. They will pay more to get what they want. Then once they’ve sold all they can to that group, they’ll lower the prices a bit and try to get the next tier.

 

I do have to laugh a little about the posting pointing out the increase in price from $380-something to $520-something (or whatever it was). I appreciate that it is apples to oranges and that the poster's perspective is his/hers, but when the all-in cost of a cruise vacation for my family of four is in the $6-7k range, it is hard to get excited about a cost difference that amounts to about two tanks of gas.

 

Nice post. I'd have to agree with pretty much all of this, but I would add that we're also due for inflationary pressure across the board.

 

Prices will be easing up over the next couple of years (or jumping in some cases). The majority of my web clients have been raising prices starting about 18 months ago. These are primarily food and entertainment sites. My rough estimate is that prices at these venues have increased by about 15-20%. However, they have wisely not increased every single item. They still keep a few low end bargains. It's not much different than the good-better-best philosophy employed in pricing in the cruise industry.

[debee1015]

The low end prices are misleading.

 

Super Saver and Early saver were within $50 of each other usually for a Balcony. I checked the Breeze for October 2014 for the S Caribbean, super saver is 959 and early saver is over $1300!!!! :eek: With all the fees it was around $2800 for the 8 day to Aruba.

[beachbaby2]

i just looked up the feb 14 2015 breeze cruise. a cove balcony for 2 people is $2998.00 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! crazy!!!! we did the same itinerary on the same ship, a cove balcony this past feb and it was $800.00 cheaper. i'm pretty disappointed :(

[beachbum53]

Just maybe, since the prices are going up for next year, Carnival will be able to hire some better entertainment, do away with the "Legends" show, and get rid of the DJ on the Lido deck and bring back a live band. No harm in being optimistic.

[dclark]

Just maybe, since the prices are going up for next year, Carnival will be able to hire some better entertainment, do away with the "Legends" show, and get rid of the DJ on the Lido deck and bring back a live band. No harm in being optimistic.

 

Just because the prices have been set initially high doesn't mean that they'll stay there. If by some miracle of Neptune they did, the extra profit would be sent to CCL corporate, not back to the ships.

[aggieastrosfan]

The low end prices are misleading.

 

Super Saver and Early saver were within $50 of each other usually for a Balcony. I checked the Breeze for October 2014 for the S Caribbean, super saver is 959 and early saver is over $1300!!!! :eek: With all the fees it was around $2800 for the 8 day to Aruba.

 

On the 8 day Breeze sailing I looked at for summer 2014, it was around $1100 for super saver and almost $1450 for early saver. Definitely an unexpected surprise to see that! I get super saver is going to be cheaper, but never seen that big of a difference before.

 

 

Meredith

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Not sure how many new ships will be hitting in 2014. That could affect prices too.

[ano]

I don't know where everyone thinks the prices are low now. I have been paying more in the last 2 years than I ever have. I used to get a balcony for 549.00 to 629.00 on a 7 day now I can barely book a 4j or OV for that, and I am one who watches prices everyday.

 

I definitely agree. The current price for a balcony (8a) on the cruise I'm taking in July is over $1250 per person for a 7 day cruise. That is NOT cheap.

[CarnivalBreeze319]

Not sure how many new ships will be hitting in 2014. That could affect prices too.

 

What do you mean by this?

[isaiahsnana]

My sisters want to take my parents on a cruise next summer and for a family of four the prices are over 4,000 for a balcony. We paid right around 2,000 for our cruise last week on the Dream. Just seems like a big jump. We can't afford to pay our fare and then my parents fare too with these type of prices.

 

You are comparing apples to oranges, an off season cruise to a prime summer cruise. All of the prices jump significantly from spring to summer. Look at taking the parents in the spring or fall and you will find better prices.

[MandynJim]

Well then I will compare apples to apples, same exact cruise, ship, time of year for next year one category below what we had is 1200 more than what we paid this year. Regardless prices are really high right now.

[firefly333]

Well then I will compare apples to apples, same exact cruise, ship, time of year for next year one category below what we had is 1200 more than what we paid this year. Regardless prices are really high right now.

 

Or the converse is true, prices are really low this year, so prices next year appear high to you, but that doesnt mean prices next year will come down unless carnival cant get their act together and has more PR problems.. like not having sunshine ready was another blot.

 

It could be either... but it obviously is true the prices this year are below normal and Carnival is not able to charge enough to maintain profits this year.

 

I've seen several posts where compared to NCL and RCL Carnival prices are still the lowest, so they said they are still booking Carnival if they are the lowest.

 

Carnival did not give a profit warning because prices were ok now. they have to raise them... or continue to lose growth. Right now growth is negative year over year because prices are so low.

[dclark]

 

Carnival did not give a profit warning because prices were ok now. they have to raise them... or continue to lose growth. Right now growth is negative year over year because prices are so low.

 

They can't raise prices. I don't know what you mean by "lose growth".

CCL is in a pickle of a situation. Profits are down because cabin prices are low. They can't raise cabin prices because if they did, they'd sail partially full and that would hurt profits even more.

There is only one thing they can do- more cutbacks.

[jwalk03]

To me, this says that loyal CCL cruisers, fed up with the cutbacks, have left the cruise line. It used to be that half the ship had gold cards, a few had platinum cards. They'd have the repeaters party in the theater, it would be full and they'd have it twice to accomodate everyone. You know there were a lot of repeaters as the theater would be full.

Take away repeat cruisers and you have less people wanting to sail CCL. Less people= less demand. Less demand means lower prices, lower prices= less profit.

CCL can do all the cheap email promos it wants, but it will have a hard time bringing back the loyal guests. Not everyone can pack up up the minivan and drive to port, a lot of us have to fly out to go on a cruise and we are at the point now where airfare can be as much or more than the cruise itself. If one is spending that much $ to get there, they'll likely want to spend a few hundred more for a better cruise line.

 

It also use to be that you got a gold card on your second cruise! Now you dont get it until you have sailed 25 days, hence the reduction in Gold cards on board.

[firefly333]

They can't raise prices. I don't know what you mean by "lose growth".

CCL is in a pickle of a situation. Profits are down because cabin prices are low. They can't raise cabin prices because if they did, they'd sail partially full and that would hurt profits even more.

There is only one thing they can do- more cutbacks.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/21/investing/carnival-stock/index.html?source=yahoo_quote

 

If earnings are less year over year, it means the stock has negative growth, or another way ...the earnings are not growing and need to grow.

 

Carnival said late Monday it now expects full-year revenue to be as much as 3% lower compared to the previous year. On top of that, trip cancellations and administrative costs are hitting the company's bottom line.

Full-year earnings per share are expected to be as much as 30% below previous estimates,

 

Once this bad PR is forgotten, I expect prices to start rising.. in fact from what I see prices are already rising from even a month or two ago.