Cruise Critic Article - Goodbye Low Occupancy As Cruise Ships Drop Capacity Restrictions

[njgirl]

Goodbye Low Occupancy As Cruise Ships Drop Capacity Restrictions - dated May 10, 2022

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/6947/?et_cid=3553492&et_rid=10400746&et_referrer=NULL

 

"We sailed at reduced capacity to get back," Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises, told the UK media and travel agents during the first Celebrity Beyond mini-sailing. "Please go back and fill these ships."

 

 

[FlorenceItaly]

It is a matter of financial survival for them.

[mikewomb]

4 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

It is a matter of financial survival for them.

At the expense of the customer. Pathetic. 

[FlorenceItaly]

1 minute ago, mikewomb said:

At the expense of the customer. Pathetic. 

They are a for profit business.  We as customers have a choice to participate or not.

I am not defending the cruise line just stating fact.  I sail at the end of July.  When I booked I knew the situation.  In fact, I gave up a 24 day HAL cruise in August for a 7 day Celebrity July cruise figuring I would have less of a chance to face a quarantine situation.  In this environment there is much to consider.

[Bo1953]

5 minutes ago, mikewomb said:

At the expense of the customer. Pathetic. 

Of course it is not at our expense, as we can choose to not sail, sail on other lines if the anticipated capacity is too much for us and etc...

 

I rather keep the pricing at current levels as far out as possible vs lower capacity...

 

bon voyage

[mikewomb]

7 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Of course it is not at our expense, as we can choose to not sail, sail on other lines if the anticipated capacity is too much for us and etc...

 

I rather keep the pricing at current levels as far out as possible vs lower capacity...

 

bon voyage

I know you mean well, but you can book based on their policies, and 1 month later they have changed them…and not in the passengers best interest but theirs. Sadly it is all about money. The way this is going,  people stuck in other countries, no one knows what their next plan is. I don’t think they have a plan. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by mikewomb

[Minniebug]

anyone knows what cruising occupancy is for the Solstice from Seattle to Alaska right now? And any number for covid infections? CDC site says "yellow". No number.

[mnocket]

• Cruising with Covid restrictions is unacceptable to some people
• Cruising without Covid restrictions is unacceptable to some people

 

No surprise here.

[paulh84]

41 minutes ago, mikewomb said:

Sadly it is all about money. 

 

It is. Welcome to capitalism. They have to keep up or close down. 

 

 

[RedneckBob]

But Celebrity will have small number of cabins to isolate Covid passengers and crew isolation. So capacity may be up to 95%.

[mikewomb]

1 hour ago, paulh84 said:

 

It is. Welcome to capitalism. They have to keep up or close down. 

 

 

Whatever term you want to use, but it sure isn’t about the safety of the passengers. Maybe if they were all licensed in the United States and not some tax free country off shore, where they pay no taxes they would have had some covid relief funds. There are many types of vacations, and we love to cruise, but not under these circumstances. 

[goofysmom99]

1 hour ago, RedneckBob said:

But Celebrity will have small number of cabins to isolate Covid passengers and crew isolation. So capacity may be up to 95%.

Assuming people continue to book or don't cancel.  I don't see X obtaining 95% right now.  A lot of chatter on multiple platforms (TPG, FB, cruising newsletters, here, etc) about quarantining, riding buses, canceling, delaying.  When people are talking about such things, booking numbers are are going to be affected, whether or not anyone posts about it directly.  Heck, X is offering PUPs for booking a shore excursion.  That's telling.

 

I'm glad I still have 10 weeks remaining before I have to make final payment for my Oct TA.

Edited May 13, 2022 by goofysmom99

[jelayne]

4 minutes ago, mikewomb said:

Whatever term you want to use, but it sure isn’t about the safety of the passengers. Maybe if they were all licensed in the United States and not some tax free country off shore, where they pay no taxes they would have had some covid relief funds. There are many types of vacations, and we love to cruise, but not under these circumstances. 

That’s the nice thing about freedom , we have a choice of whether or not to cruise, fly, go to a resort, concert or stay home.  If it was about passenger/ guest safety then masks,  vaccines, social distancing would be required to fly, in dining venues, sporting events, etc. but they are not so we get to choose what we feel comfortable doing

For us it is cruising, your free to choose.

[mikewomb]

10 minutes ago, jelayne said:

That’s the nice thing about freedom , we have a choice of whether or not to cruise, fly, go to a resort, concert or stay home.  If it was about passenger/ guest safety then masks,  vaccines, social distancing would be required to fly, in dining venues, sporting events, etc. but they are not so we get to choose what we feel comfortable doing

For us it is cruising, your free to choose.

That is correct.  However things were going well when the occupancy was low, and then it jumped and now they are going to go right back where they were. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by mikewomb

[Minniebug]

things would be easier if the whole world would have the same policies, but that's obviously not happening. Would make too much sense. 

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, mikewomb said:

That is correct.  However things were going well when the occupancy was low, and then it jumped and now they are going to go right back where they were. 

When “things were going well” masks were required on airlines, ships, sports arenas, schools, etc., etc .  Seems we don’t want restrictions, testing, isolation or the  cruise lines changing their policies on Covid assistance but want occupancy low to protect passengers.    Low occupancy is not a sustainable business model for a cruise line, air line, hotel.  So is the answer a significant increase in prices to be  profitable at lower occupancy. 

[asnaleah]

3 hours ago, RedneckBob said:

But Celebrity will have small number of cabins to isolate Covid passengers and crew isolation. So capacity may be up to 95%.

Silver lining - we may have to isolate in our own cabin!

[mikewomb]

45 minutes ago, jelayne said:

When “things were going well” masks were required on airlines, ships, sports arenas, schools, etc., etc .  Seems we don’t want restrictions, testing, isolation or the  cruise lines changing their policies on Covid assistance but want occupancy low to protect passengers.    Low occupancy is not a sustainable business model for a cruise line, air line, hotel.  So is the answer a significant increase in prices to be  profitable at lower occupancy. 

Don’t you think we need to get everyone to work together and wear masks, etc before this is ,if we are lucky , goes away. We went to Hawaii in November wore masks, etc, and it wasn’t an issue at all. Unfortunately many people don’t look at it that way. Cruise lines I think will go with what the passenger wants , at least it seems that is the directions they are moving.  If you read, what the passengers want isn’t 

going to cure the problem. I don’t care because we have no plans to get on a ship…after 55 cruises, that is sad…however currently it seems not a viable option, and we are in the high risk group of people who are older. 

[jelayne]

It would be great if we could get everyone to work together but that doesn’t seem to be possible these days on Covid or other problems.
We left a ship in April, did a home test before we left the ship both negative.  We flew home the v day we disembarked , just after the mask on air planes mandate was lifted.  The plane was full and the flight attendants, DH & I plus maybe 3-4 others wore masks.  DH and I weren’t seated together and day 4 after leaving the ship DH tested positive I was negative.  We will never know for sure where he got the virus but we think it was the plane.  So ships can only do so much, we could have just as easily tested negative 2 days before boarding  flew to the ship on a plane full of unmasked flyers and 4 days later, on the ship tested positive.  
 

We can only do so much.  For us that means have a plan if things go bad, make plans that have us in a good location if we need to enjoy a unplanned stay have good travel insurance, take the precautions we can, keep our fingers crossed and go on with seeing as much of the world as we can.

[chemmo]

11 hours ago, jelayne said:

That’s the nice thing about freedom , we have a choice of whether or not to cruise, fly, go to a resort, concert or stay home.  If it was about passenger/ guest safety then masks,  vaccines, social distancing would be required to fly, in dining venues, sporting events, etc. but they are not so we get to choose what we feel comfortable doing

For us it is cruising, your free to choose.

Your posts always seem to hit the nail on the head! I am often about to try to write something and then see you have already said it in a clear and balanced way…

 

You are so right about choosing what you are comfortable with. At present it is the flying we are not comfortable with, hence our choice of a ‘local’ cruise this year. Not our preferred itinerary but it still gives us a cruise to look forward to!

[Virginia100]

Covid is now spiking again. And now they say fill it up on ships? Financially short term benefit, as once the outbreaks hit these ships again this summer snd fall, the publicity will be brutal and self defeating for the cruise lines,

[TeeRick]

18 hours ago, Minniebug said:

anyone knows what cruising occupancy is for the Solstice from Seattle to Alaska right now? And any number for covid infections? CDC site says "yellow". No number.

They never report an actual number of passengers or capacity in advance.  It is sometimes announced on the first day or two of the cruise.  They also never report the COVID infection numbers anymore.  Just the CDC color code threshold if a US based cruise.

[someguyfl]

18 hours ago, Minniebug said:

anyone knows what cruising occupancy is for the Solstice from Seattle to Alaska right now? And any number for covid infections? CDC site says "yellow". No number.

I don't know, but I am on the May 20 Solstice Seattle to Alaska cruise, and I've looked at the cabin availability map a few times at all the categories. No suites are available, few Aqua class and Concierge are available, few Insides are available. Few Ocean View. PLENTY of Veranda. There is an entire deck that is mostly empty.

 

And that's assuming that everything is even available for sale. If I had to guess, I'd say maybe 20% of the rooms are still available only 2 weeks away... So, at most, it's 80% occupied.

 

Personally, the only reason I'd prefer for lower occupancy is to have a more luxurious service (ie: large ship, large crew, fewer passengers competing for resources), but I really am unconcerned about covid risks. Celebrity needs to make a profit, and I wish them well in getting the highest possible yields. If you are concerned about covid risks, get vaccinated, get a booster, and then look at the data on the percentage of people who are boosted and have serious cases of covid (it's very low) ... Also consider your personal health choices (ie: try to get in better shape, if you can). Cruising has *always* had risks of disease (eg: Norovirus)

 

If the prices were 30% higher for an Aqua class cabin, I probably wouldn't have booked the cruise at all, and probably would have done something else with my money. 

 

If cruise lines continue sailing with occupancy much lower than they had in 2019, the industry will die. No more money to build new ships. No more money to refurbish existing ships. 

 

Solstice, for example, was supposed to go to dry-dock and be renovated with newer cabins, and major upgrades to the public areas. That renovation was suspended indefinitely due to the lack of money in the industry. 

[Minniebug]

honestly, a healthy purge of cruise companies wouldn't be a bad thing. Just like having too many coffee shops, bagel shops, gas stations, pizza places, burger joints etc.

Competition is good but there is too much of everything around. IMHO.

 

[mikewomb]

1 hour ago, someguyfl said:

I don't know, but I am on the May 20 Solstice Seattle to Alaska cruise, and I've looked at the cabin availability map a few times at all the categories. No suites are available, few Aqua class and Concierge are available, few Insides are available. Few Ocean View. PLENTY of Veranda. There is an entire deck that is mostly empty.

 

And that's assuming that everything is even available for sale. If I had to guess, I'd say maybe 20% of the rooms are still available only 2 weeks away... So, at most, it's 80% occupied.

 

Personally, the only reason I'd prefer for lower occupancy is to have a more luxurious service (ie: large ship, large crew, fewer passengers competing for resources), but I really am unconcerned about covid risks. Celebrity needs to make a profit, and I wish them well in getting the highest possible yields. If you are concerned about covid risks, get vaccinated, get a booster, and then look at the data on the percentage of people who are boosted and have serious cases of covid (it's very low) ... Also consider your personal health choices (ie: try to get in better shape, if you can). Cruising has *always* had risks of disease (eg: Norovirus)

 

If the prices were 30% higher for an Aqua class cabin, I probably wouldn't have booked the cruise at all, and probably would have done something else with my money. 

 

If cruise lines continue sailing with occupancy much lower than they had in 2019, the industry will die. No more money to build new ships. No more money to refurbish existing ships. 

 

Solstice, for example, was supposed to go to dry-dock and be renovated with newer cabins, and major upgrades to the public areas. That renovation was suspended indefinitely due to the lack of money in the industry. 

Your points are good, but I believe the remaining ships upgrades were not done due to covid and the shutdown..also lack of income.