Norwegian Cruise Line reported biggest ever booking day in its history

[Andi Land]

Even though this is not HAL related, I found it interesting as it shows how anxious people are to get back out there. 

 

Hopefully the link works, but if not, here’s a brief excerpt:

”What Happened: On March 3, the company opened its bookings for 127 itineraries, according to a report by Cruise Hive. The itineraries include cruises to Africa, Antarctica, Asia, the Caribbean, South America, the South Pacific and Australia and New Zealand. The top-selling itinerary was a 35-day cruise around Australia over Christmas and New Year's.

 

 

https://m.benzinga.com/article/20104898?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fr.search.yahoo.com&utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Fr.search.yahoo.com

[srpilo]

PR stunt (?)

The reality is each time there's a round of cancellations there's yet another pool of FCC available to reenter the booking stream as new bookings. After a year of taking deposits, and then those eventually ending up as FCC the cruise lines are now using these multiple time re-bookings as a form of  PR messaging stunts to their share holder's and investors to bolster their ability to borrow more money.

 

Sure there's pent up demand , but starting from scratch with hundreds of empty ships, it's going to need more than hyped up record booking numbers to fill all those empty ships, and right now after a solid year of ZERO revenue this leaves cruise lines with no other options than to paint the rosiest picture possible for their uncertain future to the financial world .

 

Question is, how many more rounds of cancellations will the re-booking scheme be tolerated  by the booking public before they move on to a more predictable and stable form of vacation investment ?

 

time will tell.... 

 

 

 

 

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Edited March 12, 2021 by srpilo

[KirkNC]

Yea I consider these stories akin to fake news.  When you keep canceling cruises and issuing bonus FCC over time ALOT of FCC exists.  Now open up some new itineraries in the distant future when Covid maybe at bay and guess what?  Lots of bookings.  It’s like a dam bursts.  Roughly half of all bookings are FCC.  Don’t get me wrong, the bookings are real but you can’t compare them to normal volume during normal times.

[kazu]

1 hour ago, KirkNC said:

Yea I consider these stories akin to fake news.  When you keep canceling cruises and issuing bonus FCC over time ALOT of FCC exists.  Now open up some new itineraries in the distant future when Covid maybe at bay and guess what?  Lots of bookings.  It’s like a dam bursts.  Roughly half of all bookings are FCC.  Don’t get me wrong, the bookings are real but you can’t compare them to normal volume during normal times.

 

I wonder if that many are all FCC?

 

I have some FCC but it doesn’t even account for 1/4 the cost of my one cruise. Pretty sure I am not alone.  But, in any case, I do think many are looking forward to travelling again and hopeful to be able to do so.

 

I know my TA has been very busy with bookings for 2022.  Of course, that’s a long wait for her pay day. 😢 

 

[KirkNC]

11 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I wonder if that many are all FCC?

 

I have some FCC but it doesn’t even account for 1/4 the cost of my one cruise. Pretty sure I am not alone.  But, in any case, I do think many are looking forward to travelling again and hopeful to be able to do so.

 

I know my TA has been very busy with bookings for 2022.  Of course, that’s a long wait for her pay day. 😢 

 

CCL reported 40% of their bookings are FCC.  

[kazu]

12 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

CCL reported 40% of their bookings are FCC.  

 

Thanks - saw it - but does that mean that the entire booking is FCC?  (Ie 100% paid by FCC?) 

 

For example mine would be considered an FCC booking I’m sure but a lot of cash payment is still involved.

 

I guess I need to read the foot notes.

 

Thanks 🙂 

 

[KirkNC]

9 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Thanks - saw it - but does that mean that the entire booking is FCC?  (Ie 100% paid by FCC?) 

 

For example mine would be considered an FCC booking I’m sure but a lot of cash payment is still involved.

 

I guess I need to read the foot notes.

 

Thanks 🙂 

 

That I am not sure how they break them down but if people get 125% FCC and book the same cruise a year later they should have left over FCC.  
 

Also even ones like yours have partial FCC, how many of those customers would book at all if they had no FCC.  To use an analogy, it’s like car dealers sell no cars for 18 months and then start to sell them again.  Of course there would be high demand.

[kazu]

6 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

That I am not sure how they break them down but if people get 125% FCC and book the same cruise a year later they should have left over FCC.  
 

Also even ones like yours have partial FCC, how many of those customers would book at all if they had no FCC.  To use an analogy, it’s like car dealers sell no cars for 18 months and then start to sell them again.  Of course there would be high demand.

 

I would have booked my cruise FCC or not.  Loved the itinerary and have another one booked in 2022 without FCC.

 

I’m pretty sure there are lots like that out there.  Agree with you on the high demand aspect.

[HAL4NOW]

3 hours ago, KirkNC said:

That I am not sure how they break them down but if people get 125% FCC and book the same cruise a year later they should have left over FCC.  

I have found that the extra 25% mostly covers the price increase on comparable cruises, but didn't leave any extra FCC.

[iancal]

PT Barnum was right.  

 

There is one born every minute.

Edited March 13, 2021 by iancal

[Norseh2o]

Proud to be part of the most bookings crowd! Did not use FCC, found a cruise on Oceania that spoke to my heart...❤️

[Red Haired Lady]

On 3/12/2021 at 4:18 PM, kazu said:

 

I would have booked my cruise FCC or not.  Loved the itinerary and have another one booked in 2022 without FCC.

 

I’m pretty sure there are lots like that out there.  Agree with you on the high demand aspect.

I agree Jacqui.  I have no FCC from the 2020  cruises.... I took the refunds but it was only the deposits.  And will do the same on my fully paid Azamara cruise that has now been cancelled for May 1st.  But for HAL, I have one B2B and one B2B2B booked for this fall and winter.  And two more in the works for 2022.  I don't know if the 2021 cruises will sail, but I have only invested the deposits.  And if HAL were to go bankrupt [I don't think they will!!!] I am covered by my credit card.  This is a small amount to invest to be able to look forward to something. @iancal I don't think this makes me what P T Barnum said was born every minute. 

[Indianadaytripper]

We took the %125 for 2020 WC it paying  for the 2022 WC less port fees and taxes. Plus had over $11000 fcc for next years Voyage of the Vikings. We’re well satisfied since Holland gave us 125% for last years world Cruise that we onboard over 60 days. Plus they paid us back for unused port fees.

[KirkNC]

Our FCC is for the 50% of the 2020 world cruise and we had no option of getting that in cash.  The other 50% was a cash refund (which we took) or for some they got 125% of the whole cruise.  I agree we were fairly reimbursed even though it took 7 months to get our luggage 😳🙄. 

[bennybear]

17 hours ago, Red Haired Lady said:

I agree Jacqui.  I have no FCC from the 2020  cruises.... I took the refunds but it was only the deposits.  And will do the same on my fully paid Azamara cruise that has now been cancelled for May 1st.  But for HAL, I have one B2B and one B2B2B booked for this fall and winter.  And two more in the works for 2022.  I don't know if the 2021 cruises will sail, but I have only invested the deposits.  And if HAL were to go bankrupt [I don't think they will!!!] I am covered by my credit card.  This is a small amount to invest to be able to look forward to something. @iancal I don't think this makes me what P T Barnum said was born every minute. 

Agree,  something to look forward to perhaps and it costs you nothing.  Some people prefer to only look at the glass as half empty.  If things improve rapidly you will have your plans rather than scrambling for last minute leftovers.  One of course cannot predict how this will resolve, but sometimes the early bird truly gets the worm. 

Edited March 14, 2021 by bennybear