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Bookings are up - prices to rise


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You gotta love the spin RC is putting out - in the latest waffle 

 

Michael Goldner, Royal Caribbean Vice President of Revenue Management said big increase in bookings for next year and that the “low prices” at the minute won’t be around for much longer and he expects to prices to rise.

 

hmmm 🤔 would the strong bookings for next year be actually cruisers trying to rebook cancelled cruises using cruise credits ?

 

Would he be trying to scare people about price increases to ramp up booking deposits to help with short term cash flow ? 
 

“Smoke and Mirrors” 

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My take is bookings on all cruise lines next year are going to be pretty strong based on the number of people rebooking cancelled cruises. RCI is not the only cruise line to state something similar to this. What I am curious to see is what will the demand be once things normalize and there are no longer cruise ships being filled with passengers from previously cancelled cruises.  

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Smoke and mirrors? Nah, not really. 
 

My husband is a pilot. I’ve been telling wives in various FB groups that just because flights are starting to fill back up - and will continue to do so, even as schedules ramp up - it does not mean everyone should be surprised when quarterly revenues are still in the toilet. Heck, I took our spring break airfare and used it for Thanksgiving - so while we are occupying seats, it’s still $3k we didn’t spend on airfare this year. I don’t expect to see revenue uptick (and I’m not even talking full recovery) in the travel industry for another year or once all the rebooked fares have been exhausted. But, on the plus side - and this is where they’re talking about bookings being up - passengers are choosing to rebook versus taking cash refunds. 
 

As far as increasing fares, it’s always a simple supply and demand issue (pardon me while I dust off my 20 year old unused Econ degree, lol). Even though they’re not “new” bookings, ships/planes/etc are filling up. This reduces available spots for new bookings. Supply is down, the thought is that demand will eventually go back up and your equilibrium price will creep up. The only question is which curve will shift sooner and at what rate. 

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43 minutes ago, soloadventurer said:

You gotta love the spin RC is putting out - in the latest waffle 

 

Michael Goldner, Royal Caribbean Vice President of Revenue Management said big increase in bookings for next year and that the “low prices” at the minute won’t be around for much longer and he expects to prices to rise.

 

hmmm 🤔 would the strong bookings for next year be actually cruisers trying to rebook cancelled cruises using cruise credits ?

 

Would he be trying to scare people about price increases to ramp up booking deposits to help with short term cash flow ? 
 

“Smoke and Mirrors” 

 

Bookings are still bookings, no matter how much you try and twist it. 😉😅😅

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Prices for some cruises in 2021 are rock bottom right now.

 

In the Cruises I am monitoring there have been 4 price drops since 15 April 2020, yet almost zero cabins have been sold since the sailing was announced.

 

 

 

 

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I am waiting for a special offer or may be refundable deposits before I can bite the bullet.

 

although the prices are very tempting right now, I need to have some patience and restrain myself.

 

 

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35 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Bookings are still bookings, no matter how much you try and twist it. 😉😅😅

 

“By a process of smoke and mirrors, he intends to try to slide that money under the heading of accounting adjustments.“  🤔🧐

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“By a process of smoke and mirrors, he intends to try to slide that money under the heading of accounting adjustments.“  [emoji848][emoji3166]

to make it clear,

Smoke and mirrors is what magicians use for their tricks and illusions, to fool people into believing it is real magic.

 

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2 hours ago, soloadventurer said:

You gotta love the spin RC is putting out - in the latest waffle 

 

Michael Goldner, Royal Caribbean Vice President of Revenue Management said big increase in bookings for next year and that the “low prices” at the minute won’t be around for much longer and he expects to prices to rise.

 

hmmm 🤔 would the strong bookings for next year be actually cruisers trying to rebook cancelled cruises using cruise credits ?

 

Would he be trying to scare people about price increases to ramp up booking deposits to help with short term cash flow ? 
 

“Smoke and Mirrors” 

You would think new bookings are down, but that is not the case. 80% are new bookings not rebooking.  The following report is about a month ago. . 

In the  last 45 days, *****.com, an online cruise marketplace, has seen a 40% increase in bookings for 2021 compared with 2019, said Heidi M. Allison, president of the company. Only 11% of the bookings are from people whose 2020 trips were canceled, she said.

“People are still booking cruises and are anxious to sail again when this is all over,” she said.

In an analysis of the cruise industry, Swiss banking giant UBS wrote that cruise booking volume for 2021 was up 9% in the last 30 days compared with the same time last year.

The UBS report said the bookings for 2021 cruise trips included people using their credit for canceled sailings but added that volume “still shows a surprising resilience in desire to book a cruise.”

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While I've read all about bookings being up, I've also read analysts who say earnings wouldnt recover until 2023. 

 

I took my last refund as cash, but have rebooked but feel fcc too many restrictions so technically my rebookings are new bookings. 

 

I'm betting the majority of posters here have had one or more cancellations and frustrated. 

 

Ps how does the guy in the report know the percentage who have not been cancelled other than if they choose to use a fcc or not. Smoke and mirrors I agree.

Edited by firefly333
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I regularly check all my cruises for price drops. So far all my 2021 and 2022 bookings have fare increases.

 

 

even on my l&s cruises we have had to be flexible with ship/sail date as the cabins we had booked were sold out for our preferred dates.

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Do you think I should bite the bullet and pay fresh money for 3 Cruises of Carnival and Princess in April May 2021 with non-refundable deposits ?

Do you think they will not run out of cash and still be in business after one year?

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16 minutes ago, drsel said:

Do you think I should bite the bullet and pay fresh money for 3 Cruises of Carnival and Princess in April May 2021 with non-refundable deposits ?

Do you think they will not run out of cash and still be in business after one year?

You might ask on those boards?  😇

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You might ask on those boards?  [emoji56]

But the question of them surviving and being in business after one year applies to all Cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean Norwegian and Carnival

 

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21 minutes ago, drsel said:

Do you think I should bite the bullet and pay fresh money for 3 Cruises of Carnival and Princess in April May 2021 with non-refundable deposits ?

Do you think they will not run out of cash and still be in business after one year?

So those great prices you are talking about or not on Royal Caribbean?

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18 minutes ago, drsel said:

But the question of them surviving and being in business after one year applies to all Cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean Norwegian and Carnival

 

I’ve never booked a CCL ship so really has no suggestion. I just thought you might get a better answer on their boards. All good. 
 

M8

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When asked last week on their earnings call Carnival Corp said (across all their brands) bookings for next year are in line with historical trend but prices are down mid single digits and 1/3 of bookings are fcc.  That was before their shutdown was extended generating lots more fcc's. 

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1 hour ago, drsel said:

Royal Caribbean prices are much higher than Carnival

 

Maybe suites. Insides are cheaper on rcl on every booking I've compared.

 

So depends what you are booking. Suites on rcl also come with perks carnival doesnt offer.

 

There is obviously no agreement on this. I disagree with your flat out statement as if it's always true. Carnival fall of 2021 to me is sky high out of Galveston,

 

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We are booked on Anthem sailing from Southampton next July and from time of booking on 3 May this year which is less than 8 weeks ago the price for same balcony cabin type has went up by £1300 - £1400, admittedly I did get a price match so saved approx £200 on quoted price  but still shows an increase of £1000+. Just keeping an eye on the drinks package prices now to try and get a deal on that. However if it transpires that passengers are going to have to wear masks on board I will probably cancel and forget about it. Hopefully not happen though.

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