Increased demand...will that mean prices are going up?

[ldubs]

On 8/16/2022 at 2:38 PM, lazydayz said:

 

Two years ago there were no cruises going out, so of course the number of cruised being booked would be way down.  A better comparison would be same date 3 years ago (before the pandemic).  From that we could tell how close the cruise lines are to recapturing their passengers.  

 

Additionally, I wonder how much of the new bookings are FCC's from all of the pandemic cancellations.  

[tidecat]

5 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Additionally, I wonder how much of the new bookings are FCC's from all of the pandemic cancellations.  

I think most of those were flushed out earlier this year, although there's not to say there might be some out there.

 

There would also potentially be a decent number of people with FCC from the Freedom fire and the related cancellation on the Conquest.

[DallasGuy75219]

16 minutes ago, tidecat said:

I think most of those were flushed out earlier this year, although there's not to say there might be some out there.

Keep in mind all the guests who never rebooked using their FCC until this week when they knew they could cruise without being vaccinated (i.e., the reason booking activity doubled from 2019 on August 15).  

 

The decision to take FCC vs. a refund for a canceled cruise was irrevocable,  I'm sure a lot of the anti-vax crowd were later kicking themselves after taking FCC because (1) they didn't expect cruises to be on pause for over a year and (2) they had no way of knowing most would initially have to be vaccinated to sail after cruises restarted.  

 

Unrelated to the change in protocols, I happened to have booked two cruises this week, and my PVP said he's been slammed with people booking their first post-restart cruises now that most itineraries don't require vaccination. 

[ray98]

3 hours ago, tidecat said:

I think most of those were flushed out earlier this year, although there's not to say there might be some out there.

 

There would also potentially be a decent number of people with FCC from the Freedom fire and the related cancellation on the Conquest.

The unvaccinated have not had a chance to use any FCC's.

[ontheweb]

49 minutes ago, ray98 said:

The unvaccinated have not had a chance to use any FCC's.

With the caveat, unless they decided to become vaccinated.

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

With the caveat, unless they decided to become vaccinated.

Most, or at least those who post on CC were steadfast in their decision to not get the jab and were going to remain on their side of the line in the sand even if the results were that they would have to wait to cruise for awhile until protocols changed.  Obviously the flood gates opened with the major uptick of bookings on 8/15.  

Would have been interesting to find out whether more of the bookings were from the unvaccinated or those who were vaccinated but booked because of the pre-cruise testing being eliminated.

[BlerkOne]

Wouldn't it be funny if Carnival reversed protocols again? They can quite legally do so. It's in the ticket contract.

[Top_of_the_Cube]

Sure, supply and demand are a major force affecting prices, and the oppressive debt burden being carried by Carnival and other lines has to be serviced somehow.

 

But, Carnival has positioned itself as the FUN and economical option.  I would think they have to raise their prices, but still must be seen as generally less expensive than its competitors.  Otherwise, it won't survive (I say that as an opinion, so don't ask for my source).  Carnival needs smarter brains than mine to determine their pricing structure and product offering to generate optimum revenue for the long haul.  I see Carnival as in pretty good shape to weather the storm depending on what unforeseen hurdles appear on the horizon (see Post 33 of this thread for my source).

 

In my book, MSC can have a major impact on Carnival's pricing as MSC looks for more U.S. embarkation ports.

Edited August 18, 2022 by Top_of_the_Cube
Felt like it.

[ldubs]

12 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Additionally, I wonder how much of the new bookings are FCC's from all of the pandemic cancellations.  

 

I think that is likely a fact.   Though, on our roll call for a Sept cruise, there are a fair number of folks using FCCs.  So I think they are still out there.  How much of an impact on the numbers, IDK.  

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Most, or at least those who post on CC were steadfast in their decision to not get the jab and were going to remain on their side of the line in the sand even if the results were that they would have to wait to cruise for awhile until protocols changed.  Obviously the flood gates opened with the major uptick of bookings on 8/15.  

Would have been interesting to find out whether more of the bookings were from the unvaccinated or those who were vaccinated but booked because of the pre-cruise testing being eliminated.

But they always had the option of being vaccinated. That was the point I was trying to make.

 

There were also cc users who posted that they did get vaccinated for the sole reason of being then able to take a cruise.

[asalligo]

Of course prices will go up and Carnival needs them to.