Sales Volume Very Low?

[peder]

Finally found a website that lets me check cabin availability, and when I hunt and peck, it looks like the vast majority of cabins are unsold on most cruises, even on popular sail dates like NYE. Is there a lull in booking now after some initial excitement with the brand launch? Frankly the cabin availability looks downright disastrous to me and not indicative of a brand that will survive.

 

To be fair, maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way. Maybe most cabin assignments are simply GTY rooms, so booking websites wouldn't show specific cabins as taken unless someone told Explora specifically which cabin they want? Or maybe there's an issue with the inventory APIs that these 3rd-party sites are using? 🤷‍♂️

[PaulMCO]

No they do not do GTY.  I just check ours in January in an OT3.  Only 5% of those cabins are booked. About 1/2 of the OT1s are booked (less plentiful).  So yes bookings are low.

 

Maybe they will fill the ships with TA's.  That will help..

 

Maybe that is why the CEO left for "personal" reasons..

Edited March 5 by PaulMCO

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, PaulMCO said:

Maybe that is why the CEO left for "personal" reasons

I'm glad they didn't say "he wants to spend more time with his family."  Everybody wants to spend more time with their family; nobody wants to spend ALL their time with their family!!!

[peder]

1 hour ago, PaulMCO said:

No they do not do GTY.  I just check ours in January in an OT3.  Only 5% of those cabins are booked. About 1/2 of the OT1s are booked (less plentiful).  So yes bookings are low.

 

Maybe they will fill the ships with TA's.  That will help..

 

Maybe that is why the CEO left for "personal" reasons..

 

Thanks for the confirmation on GTY rooms and what you're seeing for availability. The ~5% per category is what I was seeing also, for sailings that I assume should be at least 25% sold by now.

 

Pretty dismal numbers and suggests that more changes are inevitable.

 

Which is exactly the problem IMO. We've put a hold on cabins 2x with Explora, but both times we've either gone with MSC YC or canceled our plans entirely, because we don't have enough faith that the product and itineraries will be the same by the time we get to the sail date.

 

Maybe there'll be some heavy discounting in the near future.

Edited March 5 by peder

[Wheelhouse]

After this spring Explora is only offering the Med and Caribbean up to the last released cruises scheduled in March of 26.  I am not including the Middle East cruises which may not happen. 

[PaulMCO]

39 minutes ago, peder said:

 

Thanks for the confirmation on GTY rooms and what you're seeing for availability. The ~5% per category is what I was seeing also, for sailings that I assume should be at least 25% sold by now.

 

Pretty dismal numbers and suggests that more changes are inevitable.

 

Which is exactly the problem IMO. We've put a hold on cabins 2x with Explora, but both times we've either gone with MSC YC or canceled our plans entirely, because we don't have enough faith that the product and itineraries will be the same by the time we get to the sail date.

 

Maybe there'll be some heavy discounting in the near future.

They had their 50 percent offer on Black Friday.  We paid $400 pp per day for the OT3.   

[peder]

10 minutes ago, PaulMCO said:

They had their 50 percent offer on Black Friday.  We paid $400 pp per day for the OT3.   

 

I'm still seeing prices in line with that? I didn't think they ever really ended their sales?

[cruisingxpert]

36 minutes ago, peder said:

 

I'm still seeing prices in line with that? I didn't think they ever really ended their sales?

They definitely ended the 50% discount.  My 14 day Dec cruise is $417per day for a solo. They had 50% plus 15% solo supplement. Cost now is more than $4000 higher.

Edited March 5 by cruisingxpert

[peder]

Gotcha. We had never seen availability of the 50%-off cabins (best we saw available was 30% off some Ocean Terrace cabins because the sailings we were looking at didn't have any more 50%-off cabins), and we were likely going to get a Penthouse and my understanding is that the discounts didn't apply to Penthouses and Residences? And I guess I'm mostly looking at what must be cheaper cruises in the low season. So with all that I probably just hadn't noticed the price jump.

 

But Explora is marketing like crazy (I see their ads on YouTube incessantly), they're serving very "safe" routes with known demand, they've run big promotions, and they still can't fill these ships. Very rough start.

[saminina]

Pricing a few cruises as solo and it's beyond acceptable.  For Explora product, I consider per diem of $400 a bargain for OT1.  500 to $600 reasonable.  Add 50% for holiday.   About same as Silversea, more $ for Crystal, less S for Seabourn.

[peder]

I'm not saying it's not reasonable. I'm just saying if they can't fill the ships after doing a ton of promotion, I'm not sure what other options they'll have besides deep discounting.

[frankhi]

11 hours ago, peder said:

I'm not saying it's not reasonable. I'm just saying if they can't fill the ships after doing a ton of promotion, I'm not sure what other options they'll have besides deep discounting.

What cruise dates and cruise ships are you using for comparison?

Edited March 6 by frankhi

[mnocket]

18 hours ago, peder said:

they're serving very "safe" routes with known demand

That's actually what has kept me from booking.  Their itineraries are not exciting. 

[parallax]

The numbers aren't great on Crystal but where is the doom and gloom with Crystal.  Explora can play the long game because of its parent MSC.   Just like Stickman, we have booked a future cruise on Explora with friends because we know that they will love the product.   

[vistaman]

the product had a very bad start 

regular cruise passengers do not like to be surrounded by up to 100 TA journalists and influencers at all  abusing the free champagne as much as possible 

also in all ports quite an amount of port functions 

if i am sitting in a bar of a luxury ship i do not like the fact groups of 30 TA are running around , one is trying to take a bar menu another some napkins ...

and 10 minutes later group nr 2 is passing 

if Explora(  so MSC )  is not  appointing a crise team  ( a broom)this product will fail 

maybe MSc must consider to converse Explora  into  Yacht Club only ships , they can handle that 

ok i am a F & B freak ( and a rather strict one )  , just imagine a fast food chain even a better one is trying to set up a starred restaurant ??

reminds me of some series on Tv where top rated chefs are trying to rescue a restaurant close to failure 

 

[saminina]

Like other cruise lines, poor management away from ship is where I place blame for a poor experience on board.  That would include putting personnel on board into positions for which they are not qualified.  I've had no problem with people in responsible positions on board Explora.  Wish I could say same about other companies.

 

The two most recent posts are examples of marketing decisions that have cost the company more than they will ever earn by introducing them.   While I understand bringing travel agents/writers on board, how about qualifying them before they set foot on the ship?  Every one of them should be catering to an audience capable of booking future cruises.  90% of them are not.  50% of those create unpleasantness among the paying passengers.  Influencer....whatever that is.....put them on a cruise without  paying passengers.  Very poor marketing from the get go that continues today.

 

The limited time deep discounting of basic cabins another poor decision.  How about a

competitive fare structure that makes sense to fulfill long term goals?

Edited March 7 by saminina

[Wheelhouse]

While on my 800 passenger nearly full sailing last month I talked at length with two separate well-to-do younger working couples who had never cruised before.  Both couples booked the cruise no more than two weeks before embarkation.  They were very impressed by the ship, food, and the service.  They are the demographic that Explora is looking to attract and hopefully get to return. They will never book a cruise anywhere near a year in advance. With all it's pools and bars the ship was designed for a younger cliental rather than the fossils that permeate Crystal. 

 

Do they need to improve in a lot of areas?  Surely they do and they working on it.  The line has barely been at sea for half a year.  

[parallax]

We are in our 50s and we have been a couple Crystal cruises.  It is a very good product but it is safe to say that we are not their target demographic.   What happens when the current Crystalites are no longer able to cruise?  Where are these next generation cruisers coming from?  I'm more comfortable on Explora.  What some see as negatives on Explora others see as positives.      

[Waltershipman]

On 3/5/2024 at 9:14 PM, Stickman1990 said:

and in another view of the situation that is different than yours we are taking 6 Crystal friends and a couple of others new to luxury cruising with us when we sail Explora next - we are still beaming ear to ear recounting our cruise last September. We certainly don’t see them having any major issues that need resolving and I just hope they maintain the current standards and offerings 

 

I just don’t see it being a case of one over another. For example we're happy on both Crystal and Explora - with different aspects resonating with us on each line - in the case of the next Explora cruise it’s partly driven by the itinerary and timing 

I was disappointed but ultimately not surprised when i tried to book a January 5 sailing at 35% off only to be told the sail ended the day before and now there was only a 15 % discount and they would not extend even though i was a past passenger

[TrinaLC]

I personally think you underestimate the ability of a smart executive to learn the ropes of an adjacency. Maybe this guy wasn’t the right guy, but a savvy and highly capable individual can certainly make a jump. And frankly maybe even bring some new and better ideas. 

[no1talks]

1 hour ago, frankhi said:

You wrote "Speaking as one of the many Crystal “fossils”... the only time fossil is used in this thread is when you called yourself one... 

Nope. Referring to Crystal passengers as fossils occurred in a Friday morning post.

 

"With all it's pools and bars the ship was designed for a younger cliental rather than the fossils that permeate Crystal."

[tfred]

On 3/8/2024 at 9:25 AM, Wheelhouse said:

While on my 800 passenger nearly full sailing last month I talked at length with two separate well-to-do younger working couples who had never cruised before.  Both couples booked the cruise no more than two weeks before embarkation.  They were very impressed by the ship, food, and the service.  They are the demographic that Explora is looking to attract and hopefully get to return. They will never book a cruise anywhere near a year in advance. With all it's pools and bars the ship was designed for a younger cliental rather than the fossils that permeate Crystal. 

 

Do they need to improve in a lot of areas?  Surely they do and they working on it.  The line has barely been at sea for half a year.  

This is exactly the demographic that every "better" cruise line is looking for   That also includes the Celebrity, NCL Haven and MSC Yacht Club suite crowd on bigger ships.  

 

They want the historically land vacation crowd that goes to a Ritz or Four Seasons and spends a ton of money. This is a case when it may be better to go after new customers instead of poaching existing cruise customers with very set in stone ideas of what constitutes a "good" cruise. 

 

Many of the Crystal, Regent, Sebourne Silversea routes start and finish at difficult to get to ports (as compared to flying to Miami or Barcelona), longer itineraries (makes it difficult to fit time off when you are still working) 

[peder]

Sure, but the fossil market is already captured. Explora's cost of customer acquisition is going to be highest with the fossils.

 

MSC knew before even entering the market that they'd need to find ways to carve out new segments / differentiate themselves, because the market is a very crowded oligopoly that has many substitutes (like Four Seasons on land).

[2SailingNomads]

We boarded in Vancouver and had 290 fellow pax to Honolulu. Have gotten multiple answers as to how many are going back to Vancouver. Will find out more later.  

 

Have found the food, which is subjective, to be some of the best we have had with over 600 nights of sailing on luxury lines. Love all the bar options.  Crew are extremely friendly.

 

Dislike limited included spirits options although vodka choices are 2 of the 3 I normally drink. Included wines certainly could be better. Lack of shade on outside decks is a big problem as been noted by others.  Stupid design of switch to turn on the bathroom light outside the bathroom.  No option of course by course room service from one of the restaurants for dinner.

 

[tine-tine]

In the UK and I believe the EU which we were once part of the safety legislation for bathroom and kitchen electricity is very strict and no electric switches or sockets allowed inside apart from shaving socket. You will see when you travel to hotels or homes in the UK that they are always outside the door.