Cruise Fares Overall....

[graphicguy]

I think we all saw this coming.  After the startup bargains, and the initial bookings over Spring Break, this was on the horizon....

 

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/why-you-may-see-cheaper-royal-caribbean-carnival-cruises

[rudeney]

"Travel agency executives speculate that there is a shifting paradigm to give up more on the headline ticket price in order to get people on board to spend"

 

Hasn't it always been this way with shorex, UDP, DBP, Internet, etc.?  Onboard expenses can easily exceed the cruise fare, even for upgraded rooms like JS.  And for the least expensive rooms, this can be 3x or more the cruise fare.

[RFerrington]

5 minutes ago, rudeney said:

"Travel agency executives speculate that there is a shifting paradigm to give up more on the headline ticket price in order to get people on board to spend"

 

Hasn't it always been this way with shorex, UDP, DBP, Internet, etc.?  Onboard expenses can easily exceed the cruise fare, even for upgraded rooms like JS.  And for the least expensive rooms, this can be 3x or more the cruise fare.

Pretty much.  Historically, cruise lines just "break even" on the cruise fare; most of the cruise lines' profits are realized via onboard spending.

[orville99]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

I think we all saw this coming.  After the startup bargains, and the initial bookings over Spring Break, this was on the horizon....

Interesting read, but doesn't match up with reality. We have 23 cruises booked between this July and April 2024, and every one of them now costs more (in some cases a lot more) than what they cost when we booked them. If someone is looking for a bargain price on a future cruise I wish them the best of luck, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that deal to show up.