The campaign marks Norwegian’s first return to network television advertising since 2008 and also integrates social media, digital and onboard elements, providing a complete immersion in the Norwegian community. This is also the first work from the line’s new agency partner, The Martin Agency, which the company engaged in March.

“We’ve spent the last four years working a variety of initiatives across our organization to improve and enhance our company and our brand,” said Kevin Sheehan, chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line. “We felt this is the right time to issue this bold invitation to cruise with us by piquing interest and creating excitement around our brand. We believe this new brand platform will differentiate us and help clearly define a Norwegian cruise as one of the best vacations.”

The visual embodiment of the campaign is a brand essence video that illustrates the passion and enthusiasm of Norwegian cruisers who can “Dine like a Parisian,” “Surf like a Hawaiian,” “Party like a Brazilian,” and “Love like a Venetian,” among other things. An original score “Let’s Go!” was created to accompany the video. Television advertising, beginning tonight, includes one 30-second and two 15-second spots running during prime time on the ABC and CBS television networks, as well as on seven national cable channels, including Travel Channel, HGTV, MSNBC and Discovery Channel.

“Our goal with this new platform is to elevate our profile and put Norwegian Cruise Line front and center by expressing what it means to vacation with us and inviting people to join the community of Norwegians,” said Maria Miller, Norwegian Cruise Line’s senior vice president of marketing. “We are confident that this integrated campaign – from TV to social media and digital – will engage our community in fun and memorable ways.”

Social media plays a large role in this new platform. Leading up to the launch, Norwegian’s Facebook page featured a six-day countdown that asked fans to post their favorite photos to illustrate how Norwegians dine, shop, party, etc. Beginning today, Norwegian’s Facebook page highlights the brand essence video which can be shared with friends. There is also an opportunity for fans to “Mix it Up” and make their own “Cruise Like a Norwegian” personalized video using their photos and setting it to one of three custom music remixes of the “Let’s Go” song. Finally, an interactive personality quiz asks “How Norwegian Are You?” The results show how closely respondents align with a “Norwegian” lifestyle and then groups like-minded “Norwegians” together by personalities. Upon completing the quiz, fans are rewarded with a special ‘badge’ that is posted to their Facebook page.

These social media elements are combined with digital media efforts including custom page takeovers, rich media banners that invite consumers to watch the brand video and a re-skinned Norwegian web site that all work together to raise awareness about how to “Cruise Like a Norwegian” and to engage consumers with the brand.

As part of the company’s continued commitment to its Partners First philosophy, travel partners will also be provided with the tools and resources they need to help them feel part of the “Norwegian” community and to help them spread the word to their clients. The company is rolling out a new course at NCL University, providing partners with inside tips on “How to Market Norwegian;” new marketing materials on its Marketing Headquarters platform; and a video message introducing the new brand to travel partners.

The brand platform comes to life onboard Norwegian’s ships when guests are officially welcomed into the Norwegian community and can experience the “Cruise Like a Norwegian” themed Sail-Away Party and drink menu; all new White Hot Party with “Norwegian” elements; special “Cruise Like a Norwegian” photo and video opportunities; and a revised farewell show, so guests will continue to feel a part of the Norwegian community until their next cruise.

Related posts:

1. Norwegian Epic Already Making Changes
2. What’s Behind Cruiser’s Cruise Line Loyalty?
3. Norwegian Epic – The Most “Un-Freestyle” Ship?

Sister ship Allure has been in service for about nine months now, which means all the kinks should be worked out, especially with the experience Royal Caribbean has in operating Oasis. I expected this cruise to run like a Swiss watch.

Just like my Oasis of the Seas cruise, the pier operation was crisp and efficient; we were processed in less than ten minutes. How can they do it so quickly? Enough space and staff for dozens of check-in desks and several employees stationed all along the way to keep guests moving. Plus the terminal is huge which means no crowding or traffic jams. Sometimes the answer to a problem really is to just throw more people at it, provided you have a good methodology. It was apparent to me that everyone was extremely well-trained and able react quickly. They were also unfailingly courteous and upbeat.

So what does Allure of the Seas offer? Is it a ship that really is a destination of its own? Can someone become bored on a ship with so many things to do, places to eat, and shows to attend?

The Entertainment

Much has been said about Royal Caribbean raising the bar on the shows they offer aboard Allure and Oasis. We attended four big shows and were quite pleased by them.

DreamWorks was on full display with costumed characters like Shrek roaming the ship, special breakfasts for the kids, 3-D movies, and shows at the AquaTheater. I noted that none of it was intrusive and unless you were really looking for it, you might not even notice the DreamWorks activities. The 3-D movies were not heavily promoted and many didn’t even realize they were being shown. I did hear the 3-D glasses were popular souvenirs, evidenced by notices in the Cruise Compass for movie goers to please drop glasses in designated containers when exiting the theater.

“Chicago, the Musical” is one of the featured showtime productions. I am not a fan of the show but the talent and production were excellent. I had the opportunity to meet the entertainers and was not surprised to learn some had been in the Broadway and touring troupes of the show. They had to audition for both Royal Caribbean and the producers of Chicago in order to maintain the Broadway production standards on the ship and then they all had to sign 11 month contracts. Something that many passengers were not expecting is the length of the show. At 90 minutes it is much longer than a typical cruise ship revue (about 50 minutes) and I noticed people leaving after an hour as well as lots of fidgeting in nearby seats.

OceanAria is the main show in the AquaTheater and we enjoyed it. There isn’t much of a theme except for the comedy relief character who starts the show and periodically reappears. It is primarily a display of amazing acrobatic strength in and around the main pool, plus diving. The underwater platforms in the AquaTheaters have known problems which can leave shows shortened or cancelled all together. Happily, we had no such issues and saw the full program. The high dives were just as breathtaking as those I saw on Oasis in 2009. As you might expect, many of these performers have Olympic-level backgrounds in gymnastics and diving. One acrobat told us he had done extensive training at a circus acrobatic school.

The ice show we saw was called “Ice Games.” They also presented How to Train Your Dragon, another part of the DreamWorks affiliation. Ice Games draws on famous video and board games for the theme. As with the water show, the physical and artistic talent of the skaters is more important than a story line. You’d think that after 12 years – the first ice shows were done on Voyager of the Seas in 1999 – that Royal Caribbean ice shows would have lost their luster and become less popular with repeat cruisers, but our show was packed and it wasn’t all first time cruisers – even at 5pm on a beautiful sea day! It was quite thrilling and well done. I never get tired of seeing skaters doing jumps and spins on those smaller than Olympic-sized ice rinks. They are remarkable; and as with every ice show I’ve attended, several standing ovations were delivered.

Saving the best for last, if you sail Allure of the Seas do not miss Blue Planet. It was absolutely wonderful, with acrobatics, dancing, beautiful singing and great production values. As the title implies, this show has a new-age theme and includes popular songs that flow along seamlessly. The audience was enthralled. We recognized many of the same performers from Chicago and OceanAria. During my Q &A with the performers I learned that Blue Planet combines members of the other shows although one performer jokingly claimed he was not aware that was in his contract until he was already at sea on his first cruise. They put this show together with just 9 days of rehearsal and many of the performers said they liked it as much as the main shows they were hired to perform.

Culinary Delights

We ate dinner in the main dining room four times and had excellent service. While I enjoyed the beef and seafood entrees, the desserts were not as especially flavorful as they looked. I ordered a calzone entree and it was utterly tasteless and told my wife a frozen pizza would be a big improvement. Still, the service was good and the staff was very gracious.

I was quite excited about our dinner at Samba Grill, the Brazilian Churrascaria that replaces the Solarium Bistro on Oasis. I love churrascaria and I expected it to be packed each night. But we always got a table, and we were even called one morning with an offer to dine there that evening for half price (regularly $25 dinner, $15 lunch). Like the traditional Brazilian method, salads and appetizers are buffet style while bowls of vegetables such as corn-on-the-cob and fried plantain are delivered to the table. The main attraction is the variety of spit skewered meats like lamb, chicken, beef and pork delivered to your table almost non-stop if you fail to click your table light from green to red. Trust me, they do not skimp and all the meat is delicious. This is definitely not a meal for light eaters or vegans. Just know that the venue itself is something like glassed-in greenhouse and I suggest you wear light clothing.

Lunch at Giovanni’s Table was excellent and may be my favorite eatery on the ship. I loved the antipasti platter and the fried seafood appetizer. Toss in a steak with gorgonzola butter, a plate of pasta and then a dreamy tiramisu and espresso, and you have a memorable meal. This is another big win for Royal Caribbean and I see they are now putting Giovanni’s Table on some of their older ships as well.

The Boardwalk Dog Haus is another popular venue that it is also part of the Royal Enhancement upgrades for older ships. There never were more than a few people in line and quite often you could walk right up and order. It was a good fast lunch or snack, and the special baguettes they use for most of the sausages are delicious.

The nearby carousel was popular early in the cruise but it seemed to be less so towards the end. Rita’s Cantina struck me as noisy and cramped, and although our waitress said it serves ‘authentic’ Mexican food the menu is typical Tex-Mex. Our cover charge included three courses but they have four courses on the menu. So you either skip one course or pay extra for it. Our booth was roomier than the narrow tables in the center but not by much. Still, it is a fun place to choose from several different margaritas to accompany a plate of nachos.

Probably the most popular place for no extra charge dining was the Park Cafe. This is the deli patterned on “Tavern on the Green” and it was always packed for its excellent sandwiches.

Thoughts on the Ship and Cruise

As the largest cruise ship in the world the Allure can be intimidating at first. People can get confused or even lost. But by day four the ship seemed smaller and most people no longer needed the touch-enabled navigation screens located by the elevators – which are excellent tools by the way. You can access the Cruise Compass, check on restaurant table availability and read menus; all in several languages. Our cruise had many non-English speaking passengers, which speaks well for Oasis and Allure’s ability to attract people from all over the world.

We had the full spectrum of ages aboard our sailing – from babes in arms to senior citizens like 85-year old Manny whose family was aboard for his birthday cruise. All were obviously having the times of their lives. It would be easy to say the primary reason was all the activities, shows, sports attractions like the zip line and flowriders or the myriad bars and lounges, but in my mind it still comes down to the crew. They can make or break a cruise.

Allure has an exceptional crew, and the key is that they all seem to enjoy and have fun with their jobs. There was Captain Johnnie tooling around on his motorcycle posing for pictures on the Boardwalk and cruise director Ken Rush shaving his head for charity, but all of the 2000+ crewmembers I saw were always smiling, helpful, quick to laugh and simply put – just fun people to be around.

So what about that Swiss watch expectation I had at the beginning of the cruise? In the end I can say my expectations were not only met but exceeded on this wonderful cruise. Allure really is a well-oiled machine where everything runs as well as I could ever expect. When we wanted to relax we could find a place for it. When we wanted excitement it was there. Every night was filled with great music and marvelous shows. Food was plentiful, varied, and tasty. We had the quintessential family cruise and a memorable vacation. What more can a cruise ship offer?

Related posts:

1. Royal Caribbean International and DreamWorks Strategic Alliance
2. Oasis of the Seas? Kuki is ALL WET!
3. Is Oasis of the Seas Going To Ruin the Cruise Industry?

CruiseMates recently did an article to re-define cruising; “Defining Cruising 2.0,” which represents the new standards that have replaced the older traditions of cruising.

Traditional sea voyages, as originally defined by the great ocean liners, included reading a daily schedule each morning followed by lunch, daily afternoon tea and mandatory dress-code dinners in assigned seating restaurants, with the same tablemates and service people nightly. Shipboard games were bingo, bridge and shuffleboard. The entertainment included one stage show nightly, followed by drinking or dancing and the only alternative was a small casino or going to bed early.

For the most part, this style of cruising has been replaced on contemporary cruise ships with anytime, open seating dining rooms, much more relaxed and non-obligatory dress codes, a much wider range of onboard activities suitable for younger, more active people and a diversity of entertainment nightly after dinner.

While this style of cruising has not completely disappeared, it has become so integrated with new-style cruising that many traditionalists insist we are losing touch with the very definition of cruising as they knew it.

What Do We Stand to Lose?

Prior to the year 2000 taking a cruise mandated a complete disconnect from the “real world” for the duration. It was difficult and expensive to stay connected. There were no cell phones, email, Twitter or texting.

Cruisers enjoyed scouring the daily schedule for events like Captain’s Cocktail Parties, formal nights, days at sea and activities like trivia games and even bingo. Absent these activities, the only option was sitting in a deck chair and watching the sea go by. This was especially true on days at sea, which the vast majority of traditional cruisers insist they prefer to visiting ports of call. Cruisers were told what time to show up for dinner, where and with whom they would sit and what they were expected to wear.

Is Traditional Cruising Dead?

The question becomes – are there any cruise lines that still offer this traditional style of cruising? The answer is a qualified “yes.” There are some cruise lines that have changed the least, or in some cases they have older ships where the traditional style of cruising still prevails although some of the modern conventions are also offered.  Here are the remaining traditional cruise lines, in order:

Crystal Cruises: Without a doubt, the cruise line that has retained the most traditional style of cruising is Crystal Cruises. With just two ships, each of them built before year 2000, the line still offers two pre-assigned dining times nightly, with pre-assigned tables, dining companions and the same wait staff each night of the cruise.

Crystal is a very formal, luxury cruise line where cruise traditions such as “High Tea” are done with exceptional attention to detail. High Tea on Crystal comes with a string quartet playing Mozart and Beethoven. Musicians and wait staff turn out in full dress powdered wigs, corsets and other robe a la Française. Piles of freshly baked cakes, pastries and scones with clotted cream are served with a vast selection of teas, each brewed to specific tea sommelier standards.

Crystal has mandatory formal nights where nearly every gentleman will don a tuxedo and ladies parade in the finest modern gowns. Officers in their dress-white uniforms join the passengers for pre-dinner dancing to standards played by a jazz quintet. Naturally, Crystal is a big hit with single ladies with the means to enjoy the best things in life.

Crystal’s two ships are not bereft of modern technology. They have excellent Internet access and even offer classes in computer programs. But the line also focuses on more traditional cruise culture such as arts and crafts classes, music lessons and always several guest lecturers speaking on a variety of topics.

Cunard Line: This British cruise line has three ships offering a very traditional style of cruising based on the golden age of ocean liners. Cunard ships are larger and more densely populated than Crystal’s, but with a wide variety of price categories that makes it possible to offer a classic cruising style without the luxury prices of Crystal.

But the people who want the luxury style of Crystal cruising can also find it on Cunard ships by booking either of two premium categories of staterooms and dining. These premium suites are known as the “Queens Grill” and “Princess Grill” categories which include much larger suite staterooms and privileged access to the corresponding dining rooms for every meal.

The rest of the passengers are assigned to the much larger “Britannia Dining Room” where they offer the traditional two pre-assigned dinner seatings nightly with the same tablemates and wait staff. There are formal nights on every cruise, generally on nights when the ships offer time-honored Cunard traditions such as the Black and White Ball and the Ascot Ball.

These balls are now a traditional part of the line’s 180 year history. They were born in the days when ocean liners were considered state of the art for world travelers. They feature a 10-piece band backing a singer crooning the dance standards of the great swing era.

So, while the difference is subtle, Cunard has a 180-year history of classic ocean travel traditions to which they continue to pay homage as a part of the Cunard cruise experience. Crystal is a modern cruise line that has brought the time-honored cruise traditions into the 21^st Century. Both approaches are equally valid and rewarding, but it is fair to say that while Cunard has much more distinctly historic British element, Crystal is more immersive in luxury.

But the strict adherence to traditional pre-assigned dining and dress codes, including formal nights, has remained largely unchanged on both of these cruise lines.

Holland America: Our next contender is Holland America Line. For cruise traditionalists the older and smaller ships of Holland America, particularly the S-class named after the Statendam introduced in 1992, still offer most of the elements of the traditional cruise experience. However, on Holland America the traditions co-exist alongside many of the newer elements of Cruise 2.0; alternative restaurants, open-seating anytime dining and more relaxed dress codes.

The reason these older and smaller ships are still the most traditional is mostly by popular acclimation of the passengers. These ships tend to offer longer cruises in more exotic regions which attract older, very experienced cruisers. These older cruisers basically learned the traditional style of cruising many years ago which makes them much more predisposed to maintaining that traditional style.

Holland America offers the choice between traditional and open seating, anytime dining, but the two are offered in different dining rooms so the traditional cruisers are not exposed to the more casual modern style. The older ships also restrict casual dining to the Lido area nightly, so the recommended dress code is still taken very seriously by the other cruisers throughout the rest of the ship on formal nights.

Carnival Cruise Line: Although this may come as a surprise to some of you, the last cruise line we recommend for traditional style cruising is Carnival; rightly regarded as a contemporary and mainstream cruise line. While this is true, there are aspects of Carnival ships worth noting for traditional cruisers.

Carnival still offers traditional cruise dining as an option, along with open seating anytime dining which is now more popular. So, don’t expect the majority of cruisers to voluntarily adhere to a formal dress code or any dress code at all; but when it comes to activities and cost structure, there are still many traditional elements to Carnival Cruise Line.

For example, Carnival has never gone in for the added slate of alternative dining choices that other mainstream cruise lines offer. NCL and Royal Caribbean both have several added-cost restaurants on most of their ships. The newest ships from both of those lines have as many as ten added-cost restaurants.

Carnival has added many dining options over the years; but without the added service charges. There is Mongolian barbecue, sushi, New York style deli, pasta and seafood. Most of the Carnival ships have but one alternative restaurant, the Steakhouse. Three of the ships have no alternative dining at all. The recent dustup over Carnival’s decision to offer premium steaks in the dining room at a reasonable fee just shows how seriously Carnival passengers take the line’s adherence to traditional cruise pricing

So, with Carnival what they do not offer may be more important than what they do. Carnival has avoided what many people see as the new “nickel and diming” approach to cruise costs where cruise lines impose small fees for a number of little things throughout the cruise. Carnival still includes almost everything in the basic cruise fare as they have always offered; the only exception making gratuities a mandatory service charge rather than optional.

Related posts:

1. The Slow Demise of Traditional Cruise Dining
2. Cruising Trends for 2010
3. Minimizing Dress Codes – Is There A “New Formal”?

I have long been bothered by the misuse and misunderstanding of the word “upgrade”.  It rarely means what it implies, yet too many cruisers go through various stages of rapture when told they received an upgrade.  Someone receives an e-mail from the cruise line which touts special savings with upgrades and people will take the hook and book.  They either fail to read the fine print, or even bother to look at the cabin category descriptions.

“Book a category 6A and automatically get upgraded to a category 6C”.  Sounds nice doesn’t it?  But what is it really? In most cases, that upgrade is merely a move to an identical cabin on a different deck.  Using Carnival as an example, getting an upgrade can mean booking a 6A cabin on the Riviera Deck of the Fantasy and being moved to a 6C cabin directly above you on the Main Deck.  But the cabins are internally identical.  185 square feet.  Same beds.  Same bathroom.  Same everything except for the category assignment.  Oh, but they do charge more for the 6C so therein lays the shell game aspect of the upgrade.  The cruise line can look you straight in the eye and say you were upgraded to a more expensive cabin.

The prospective cruiser who thinks they can book an inside cabin and will be immediately upgraded to a balcony cabin is dreaming.  Those you encounter on a ship who brag that they get huge upgrades all the time, and in fact they were upgraded from an inside cabin to an owners suite this time, are lying and need to go back to their inside cabin and rethink their lives.

The typical upgrade is going to remain within basic categories and will rarely be a genuine upgrade.  Standard inside cabin to another standard inside cabin, standard balcony cabin to another standard balcony cabin, etc.  One of the forum moderators calls it being “updecked”, and that in many cases is a more accurate description although you can also be “downdecked” too since some ships  have more expensive categories spread all over the place.  You see, there is a reason why cruise lines have so many categories.  The more of something you have, the more likely it will confuse.  Not to pick on Carnival, but recently they changed many of their cabin category names, and split previous categories up into more categories.  Princess, NCL, and Royal Caribbean are also infamous for their seemingly endless categories.  The Caribbean Princess has 35 cabin categories.  The new Norwegian Epic has 38.  The Oasis Of The Seas has 37.

A true upgrade to me means going to a cabin which offers something you don’t have in your original cabin.  Gaining more space.  Getting a balcony.  Getting a bathtub.  Those are upgrades.  And, they do happen.  All cruise lines have tightened up on upgrades over the past couple of years, and they often require approval from a surprisingly high level of management.

The best chances of getting a real upgrade are to either be a high end member of the cruise line loyalty club, or to book a cabin category guarantee.  I know a person who had done close to 40 cruises with Royal Caribbean before he finally got upgraded.  In his case he was moved from a standard balcony cabin to a Grand Suite.  Pretty nice upgrade.  But then, look at all the money he’d spent with the cruise line over the years.

Those who book a guarantee will get at least the category they booked, but do have a better chance of moving to truly better category.  Another option is the “upsell”, which seems to be more frequently used by NCL than other lines.  With the upsell, you are offered a nicer cabin for an extra fee.  This can often be far less than if you booked the better cabin outright, and thus an upsell is often a good deal.

My advice to those who booked a specific cabin category, with an assigned cabin number, is to not get fixated on getting an upgrade.  It likely isn’t going to happen or be meaningful.  It is wise to remember that cruise lines do things for monetary reasons and are not in business to be philanthropic.  If they were, I wouldn’t own stock in them.

I don’t play the upgrade game.  I pick a specific cabin, by number, and book it.  If the cruise line approaches me about moving, I’ll entertain their proposal if it truly offers me something worthwhile.  Otherwise, I prefer to stay put.

Do you like playing the upgrade game, or is picking a specific cabin and sticking with it your approach?

Related posts:

1. Complimentary Upgrades – The Good, The Bad, The Confusion
2. Cruising In A Suite Is Sweet
3. Become a CruiseMates “Alluretian” And Be Eligible To Win a FREE cruise!

We do occasionally see people coming out and publicly praising a cruise line for their handling of a customer service issue. However, it’s much more common to see complaints of rather pathetic attempts at resolving customer service issues.

I believe much of this arises because the cruise lines don’t seem to have any standard policies which customers can read and understand easily and simply. The quality of the experience dealing with Customer Service departments seems to rely entirely on the luck of the draw, dependant on whether a customer with an issue finds a sympathetic or unsympathetic ear during their initial contact.

After 30 years in the hospitality industry my experience taught me that though on rare occasion a new problem occurs, the vast majority of customer service issues are reoccurring (with some variances), and can be dealt with effectively and quickly by having a set resolution policy in place.

The only complication in that system is making the determination as to whether the customer making the complaint has a valid issue which should put the resolution machinery into effect. That means having a well trained customer service staff, and that’s where the cruise lines systems seem to fail too often.

Granted, as anyone with much time spent working in those departments will tell you, it’s somewhat difficult to not get cynical after spending time dealing with customer complaints. It is difficult dealing with people who expect perfection, when you’re dealing with imperfect products, or when perfection is in the eyes of the customer. But better training, and set policies would simplify this process.

I believe the Customer Service departments don’t have much vision into just how much an unsatisfied customer, with valid complaints, can cost them in lost future revenues. Instead they concentrate too much on minimizing the immediate, short term, cost of resolving the matter.

In this regard, my own story is an example. In 1995 I sailed on the second sailing of the Celebrity Century, along with 11 other family members. I won’t go into all the details of my complaints at the time, but a combination of “new ship glitches” along with service and stateroom issues, and what I felt were inappropriate responses by the onboard management dealing with them, left me unhappy about that cruise experience. I believed I had valid and defensible complaints and wrote a letter to Celebrity attempting to address them. Their response (if memory serves me) was an offer for a 10% -15% discount on a cruise, to be used on a future booking, valid for 12 months. I felt the $300 -$400 value of that offer was not adequate compensation, and declined the offer… and didn’t sail on a Celebrity Cruise Lines ship again for 6 years (until I decided to give them another chance).

During that 6 year time frame I became a message board monitor and hosted live on-line chats for Cruise Critic on AOL, and went on to become a writer and ship reviewer for CruiseMates. During that time I “talked” to thousands of cruisers, and put in place a group cruise program for CruiseMates. During that time frame I also went on perhaps 18-20 cruises… and none of them were on Celebrity Cruise Line. 

I discussed this with a friend who is an Actuary, and combining dollars I personally spent on those cruises with that spent by people cruising with me over that six year period, he said he would conservatively “guesstimate” my situation may have resulted in $400,000 + of lost revenue for Celebrity.

Now my story may not be the norm. But I suspect most people who have similar unsatisfactory resolutions to their problems are more vocal than I when sharing their dissatisfaction with others. I quit cruising on the cruise line for some time, but others, more vocal “word of mouth” types, sharing their dissatisfaction could have cost the cruise line even more revenue.

In my case, an apology admitting the problem was theirs not mine, rather than sending me a “gesture of good faith” letter, and a couple of hundred more dollars in compensation, would have meant they’d have received at least a significant portion of that missing revenue.

They needed to step up and accept responsibility for their failures, just as I implore passengers to accept their responsibilities in the partnership. The combination of the two is what creates great cruise experiences.

- A View From The Kuki Side of Cruising -

Related posts:

1. Cruise Ship Service Is About More Than Just Service
2. Are Cruise Travel Agents Justified in Charging Service Fees?
3. What the Cruise Lines Do Badly

Royal Caribbean announced their latest quarterly earnings yesterday, and while they do not represent the entire industry, what happens to them is pretty typical for what the other cruise lines are experiencing. So, let’s take a look.

Royal Caribbean Intl. posted a loss for the second quarter in 2009 (April through June). The loss was not as bad as predicted, however, so we knew things were bad but they could have been worse. The loss they experienced in largely due to pricing pressure. Right now there is a LOT of competition for your cruise dollars, and you are an especially hard customer to pin down. The good news, however, is that you are still taking cruises, you are just making up your mind at the last minute possible.

Cruise ships are sailing full for the most part. In the cruise industry that means all of the berths are filled for a 100% occupancy rate. In cruising, ships can sail at up to 106% occupancy rates, which means there are extra people filling in extra third and fourth beds in the two-person cabins. Cruise ships are not bursting at the seams, but they are sailing selling their inventory despite the bad economy.

People are spending less onboard cruise ships now – using their discretionary funds wisely. The two onboard revenue areas suffering the most are casinos and art auctions. As far as we are concerned (speaking for Cruisemates) this is fine. While we enjoy blackjack or the occasional game of video poker, casinos do not pay off like they used to when Vegas was a gambling destination. Casinos everywhere are money sinkholes these days, and art auctions aren’t much better.

People are spending money on shore excursions, which also is fine by us. If you are going to pay money to get on a cruise to exotic places you should spend the money to see those exotic places once you arrive. Sales of tours are down overall, exacerbated by people booking cruises to places that are not tour-intensive.

For example, Alaska and Europe sales are down and both of these regions are best experienced by shore tours. You do not want to travel all the way to Italy and miss the Colisseum, for example. In Alaska tours are less mandatory but they do add a lot to the experience.

Alaska is the weakest market of all, and it is something of a mystery to us why that is true. Maybe the cruise lines are not “working it” where Alaska is concerned because the state passed a $50 head tax. When you add in lower cruise fares there just isn’t enough profit there to warrant a heavy push to sell Alaska cruises. We (at CruiseMates) advised our readers to snap up the Alaska bargain cruises months ago and now we hear that most Alaska inventory has sold. As for that head tax, Royal Caribbean’s CEO, Richard Fain, said he should have advised the state more vociferously that it was just a plain bad idea.

If you book an Alaska cruise now, you are like most people – putting off the cruise purchase decision until the last possible minute. This is the most vexing issue to the cruise lines right now – visibility. They are having a very hard time predicting how anything they try will work out. Capacity on ships for the rest of 2009 is only about 75% sold for Royal Caribbean right now.

Much to the cruise lines’ surprise, the Caribbean is the strongest region right now. Europe is being booked 75% by Europeans, even on English-speaking Royal Caribbean ships. This says a lot about the future of cruising as an industry – that Europe will be a strong cruise market from now on and this is just the beginning. Costa and MSC are being booked by almost 100% European cruisers.

Still, while there are European cruise lines like Costa and MSC, a lot of Europeans like American (Royal Caribbean) ships enough to speak English to sail on them. That is especially good for Royal Caribbean who does not have a European cruise line. Any way you look at it, the potential for Europe as a cruise market post-recession is huge.

Royal Caribbean says their onboard ratings have never been higher. Is it because fewer passengers means the staff on board is able to provide better service? Or is it because the recession makes the staff more grateful to the people who are cruising? After all, most of them work for tips and they understand that without passengers they would have no job.

One of the things driving the cruise market right now is new ships. If it were not for the recession, this would be one of the most exciting times in the cruise industry ever. Pre-sales for Oasis of the Seas are said to be spectacular (debuts in November). At the same time, Carnival Cruise Lines and NCL both have new ship debuts planned with Carnival Dream coming in November 2009 and Norwegian Epic following a year from now.

The introduction of Oasis of the Seas, the world’s newest, largest cruise ship in the world, would have been world news under different economic conditions. Meanwhile, Celebrity Cruises revealed that sales for their newest ships, Solstice and the brand-new Equinox, coming this week, are doing better than the rest of the fleet.

Although there is a lot of buzz about the financial viability for the first sister ship to Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean is confident they can manage to the finance the ship. In case you haven’t noticed, credit is one of the challenges with the current recession, but Royal Caribbean is managing and estimates they currently pay about a 7% interest rate on their loans combined.

Oil is currently selling for about $67 per barrel. The five separate cruise brands of Royal Caribbean International spent $155 million on fuel last year. Royal Caribbean hedges its fuel purchases by buying futures contracts. Right now, the line is 40% hedged for 2010 and 25% hedged for 2011.

That is the state of the Industry. Cruising is holding up better than most travel businesses, and is poised to sail through this economic downturn and ultimately come up smelling like a rose. What terms were NOT mentioned at all during this conference? Scroll down…

1. Swine Flu

2. Cruise “Crime” and the Congressional hearings.

3. Norovirus

Not that the cruise line don’t care about these topics, It is just that while the media is obsessed about certain things, within the cruise industry the bottom line is hardly affected by the same things the media jaws on about. Interesting.

Related posts:

1. Economy and the Cruise Industry
2. Is Oasis of the Seas Going To Ruin the Cruise Industry?
3. Cruise Industry In Flux

Carnival Cruise Lines will resume visits to Mexican ports of call once all voyages with previously modified itineraries are completed in mid-June with the exception of the Holiday (out of Mobile) which was modified through late May

Gerry Cahill, president and CEO of Carnival Cruise Line, said “The health and well being of our guests and crew is our highest priority and we are returning to Mexico after careful evaluation and consultation with the CDC. It is important to note that the concentration of H1N1 flu cases in Mexico has been inland rather than in the coastal resort areas where our ships visit.”

The cruise industry works closely with U.S. public health officials in the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program to develop extensive policies and procedures to mitigate illness aboard cruise ships. Along those lines, expect all the cruise lines to follow CDC guidelines for cruise ships, including pre-boarding health questionnaires for all guests and crew, along with secondary screening by shipboard medical professionals when necessary. Cruise ships will stock influenza test kits and anti-viral medications.

Naturally, Mexico is an important destination for the cruise lines, and for many U.S. citizens, and to lose it for an extended period of time would be a shame, financially and in other ways.

I think it is safe to say that when the cruise lines return to Mexico they will be very serious about screening passengers, as they should be. Although H1N1 did not turn out to be the “eminent pandemic” some of the news channels promoted it to be, there is still a significant amount of concern about the virus in the public psyche.

We all want ships to return to Mexico soon. In fact most of the outbreaks that have occurred in Mexico have been less severe than we were initially led to believe, and few of them occurred on the West Coast where the most port-intensive Mexico cruising occurs.

So it is highly unlikely, under current conditions, that a significant outbreak could somehow occur on a cruise ship. But if it did happen it would be a setback for Mexico tourism, including cruising, that would be hard to recover from.

Therefore, when ships start returning to Mexico we hope and expect that they will be careful and generous in screening pasasengers traveling there. If you are on a ship and you come down with flu symptoms while you are in Mexico, please report it to the ship and do not complain if you are quarantined.

We also hope that of a cruise line has to quarantine a passenger that they will be generous in making up the cruise to the passenger as long as they agree to cooperate with the health staff on the ship.

The cruise industry and the travel industry in general needs Mexico, especially with current laws that require cruise ships to make a stop in a foreign port before they proceed on any cruise transporting U.S. citizens. Let’s all tread carefully to get Mexico cruising back to a normal state.

Related posts:

1. Should You Cancel Your Mexico Cruise?
2. Cruise Lines Pre-screen for H1N1
3. Stand Up for Your Right to Cruise

The “H1N1 nee: swine flu” situation is overblown and the worst offenders are television media, especially cable news channel CNN using the phrase “eminent pandemic” at every opportunity. This is not a pandemic. In fact, this work week brought news of only two additional deaths from this disease, both of them from people who contracted the virus in Mexico.

Mexico, lagging in reporting because the government health agencies are not very robust reported the number of has gone up, but mostly because they are reviewing old, suspected case to see if they were H1N1. There are now more cases reported in Mexico than previously, but the Mexican Health Minister actually said new reported cases of the disease are slowing down. In fact, out of all deaths in Mexico only 12 have been confirmed as H1N1 deaths. Has the media told you that?

Obama just admitted there is no proof that this virus is any more lethal than any other flu virus, especially in its non ground-zero Mexican form. In fact, we still have not seen more than one death outside of Mexico.

There is a company called Veratect near Seattle that claims they discovered the virus long before the CDC did. Following their updates it is easy to see the panic in action. Many cases first believed to be H1N1 are later confirmed not to be. They also show that even in Europe and Asia, many suspected and confirmed cases are largely people who traveled to Mexico before they were warned to watch out for this virus. They caught something close to the original form and still noneof them have died.

Mexico is now largely shut down and tourism is dead. I doubt we will be hearing about many more cases of people going to Mexico and coming back with H1N1 within two weeks. That means the number of reported cases worldwide is going to drop very soon. And the touted European prediction “we haven’t seen any deaths, BUT WE WILL” could very well continue to be unfulfilled.

I have been getting email, and so far it is running five to one that people agree that H1N1 is overhyped by the media, for their own benefit and the administration in power. It is the perfect diversion from news of Chrysler going bankrupt.

It is an opportunity for our President to come out and sounding wise and concerned when he tells us “wipe your nose, you have a little something right there.”

Lets face it, the media loves to cover Obama, but the economy is a very dry subject. But Obama talking about something as common as the flu, that’s great TV, almost like adopting a puppy.

Joe Biden, aka “the gaffe machine” – said on the Today Show he wouldn’t take any subways or planes. The President’s spokesperson, Robert Gibbs, had to explain to the press what he “meant” to say. Did the administration forget to tell Joe how to couch his comments? Or did Joe uses his “oops” trick to say what no one else can say? When Joe makes a “gaffe” haven’t we all been conditioned to give the President a pass on it?

What does any of this have to do with cruising? All the cruise lines have been pressured by public opinion to cancel port stops in Mexico when they initially decided there was very, very limited danger of exposure. This is due to a flu virus that has killed nine people worldwide when 36,000 people die from flu in the U.S. alone every year.

There is another disease that the WHO already says is epidemic to the Caribbean, South America and other tropical areas called Dengue Fever. The WHO says some 2.5 billion people, two fifths of the world’s population, are now at risk from Dengue and estimates that there may be 50 million cases of dengue infection worldwide every year. It is spread by mosquitos. Dengue is now epidemic in more than 100 countries. Where is the 15-minute news update cycle on that disease?

What we are NOT being told is the message here.

Why do we keep hearing the words, “eminent Pandemic?” Why are other world health officials saying, “we haven’t seen any deaths yet, but we will,” but we haven’t? Why do we not hear about all the cases that have been proven NOT to be H1N1, when in fact it is ruled out in several cases every hour after tests. Why have all the things we are hearing will happen have not yet happened?

At some point the cruise lines are going to return to Mexico ports. There is a very good chance they could go back soon and not have a significant exposure to this virus as long as prudence is used when passengers go ashore. But that has always been the case in Mexico. Everyone already knows not to touch things and not to drink the water there.

The most likely thing to stop the cruise lines from going back to Mexico is panic on the part of the general public, not cruisers. We have heard from cruisers, they are NOT overly alarmed by this virus, and they want their cruise to Mexico. But if the media keeps boosting the H1N1 profile to boost their ratings, then we will hear an outcry from the general public not to let cruise ships go there. This will come from panicked moms, the same moms who stuff a kleenex and hand sanitizer in their kids’ pockets every morning.

All it will take is one comment from Obama or Joe Biden about cruise ships and this industry will take a multi-million dollar haircut. Hundreds of scheduled cruises to Mexico will have to be relocated to places that are already suffering from overcapacity.

And so it is up to you, dear cruisers, to tell the world that you want your Mexico cruises. Tell us you are willing to take responsibility for your own health. With your encouragement the cruise lines will be able to formulate a reasonable plan to continue cruising to Mexico.

By the way, where did I get the title “stand up for your right to cruise?” A Judith *** wrote this to me when I told her, “you have the right not to cruise to Mexico, but don’t infringe on my right to go there.” Here is her reply…

——————————————-

“Infringe on your right?” Please tell me you’re joking. (You know Colbert is joking, don’t you?) I have read the U.S. Constitution and doesn’t say anything about a “right” to cruise to Mexico. Maybe it’s
in the Arizona constitution? Second, the government is not suspending Mexican cruises–the companies are…

Seriously, if you believe that other peoples’ needs, interests, and perspectives amount to an infringement on your personal rights, then you’ve misunderstood the nature of a democratic society. I’m sorry I bothered you and I hope you can find someplace on this earth where everyone leaves you alone. No reply necessary or desired, you’re in my junk filter now.
——————————————

So, here is my reply, Judith. It seems to me it used to be acceptable to criticize the party in power in this country without being insulted. It was called free speech and as I learned in public school, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Judith, I happened to have a copy of the Constitution on my desk when you wrote that so I looked it up. The 14th amendment says every U.S. citizen has the right to leave the state and come back with full rights and liberties intact. No one can deny my rights for any reason just because I left. It is generally known as the “right to travel” amendment.

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Article 9 says that just because a right is not stated in the Consitution it does mean I do not have the right. It is called “the silent amendment.”

“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

So Judith, I will never tell you to shut up or insult your intelligence for your opinion. I respect your opinion, although I disagree with it. Too bad as a ‘democratic society” American you don’t see it the same way. And for the record, I am NOT right wing as you obviously assume. In fact I am equally skeptical and critical of the conservatives. The thing I abhor the most is the newly accepted practice in this country of insulting people instead of disputing their ideas if you disagree with their political opinion.

Stand up for your rights, including the first amendment which allows the right to a free press and freedom of speech. And please don’t let anyone intimidate you with name calling.

Related posts:

1. Flu Alerts: Just Doing Our Job
2. Cruise Lines Venturing Back to Mexico
3. Should You Cancel Your Mexico Cruise?

People rarely if EVER just “fall” from a cruise ship – they jump, they dive, they inch out beyond the safety barriers and either lose their grip or just let go. Once the initial act is effected, they essentially “fall” through the air and into the sea. But what we are missing in almost every media report is the details of what happened immediately before the act of “falling” occured.

Last week we had a woman who was reported as missing. This case was probably the closest case to the infamous George Allen Smith case we have had yet. George Smith was the newlywed who went overboard during a cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship in the Adriatic Sea in 2005.

In that case, there were signs of an argument before he disappeared. There were even traces of blood below the balcony where he apparently “fell short” on his way down. This was a sad case, as they all are, but the media could not get enough of speculating about the circumstances and trying to prove there was foul play involved.

In the end, no one was ever charged in that case, and the one person who probably knows more details about it than anyone in the world, Jennifer Hagel (Smith), his new bride at the time, has subsequently announced that she fully believes it was a suicide. She said George was taking lots of prescription drugs that did not mix well with alcohol, as well as anti-depressants for his mental state, and that the night he disappeared he had been drinking excessively.

Through all the speculation, lawsuits and countercharges from his family (who were not there) her story has held up. This is despite the highly unusual circumstances where she could not even account for her own whereabouts at the time of his demise due to her own inebriation.

Jennifer Seitz, who apparently died last week after “falling” from Norwegian Pearl near Cancun, also is believed to have committed suicide. This time the media accusations and innuendo did not last nearly as long as the George Smith case because her very own mother was also on board, and she and the rest of the family all come forward to say that Jennifer was depressed, possibly bi-polar, and that they believe she chose her own fate.

Yesterday, we got yet another report of someone “falling” from a cruise ship. We are even told that he was a crewmember and that his friends (one report even says his family) saw him fall. Excuse me – but where are the details here? How did he fall? That is the the crux of the story, the main factor that puts the entire event into perspective.

Was he drinking? It was just after 1:00 am on New Years Day. Was he out on a railing doing a Kate Winslet “I’m flying?” impersonation. Was he on or off duty?

Hello, media? Please learn to ask the right questions before you report these stories. They should not even be reported unless you can say what the circumstances preceding the “fall” are – or at the very least be prepared to say “we do not yet know how or why the person got around the extensive safety systems in place on the ship.”

Why? Because there ARE extensive safety systems, but a large number of uninformed people who have never been on a ship simply do not get that. I have never seen a single story in a major newspaper about someone “falling” from a cruise ship where some idiot in the “comments” fields below the article doesn’t write something like “well, I’m am sure a crewmember killed them and dumped the body.” Outrageous innuendo and lies!

Even last week, for Jennifer Seitz, I was reading the report in the Miami Herald and someone made that comment, “I’ll bet a crewmember killed her, it happens all the time. It is time for Congress to do something about these floating death traps.”

Puleeeeezzzeeee People! How many times do you have to hear the facts before they intrude on your over-active imagination. No crewmember has ever even been accused of killing a passenger, at least that I know of in recent (post-1990) history. Certainly, no crewmember, or passenger, has ever even been tried or convicted of murder of a passenger on a cruise ship.

“It happens all the time?” Stop watching Jerry Springer and start taking some pride in having at least a modicum of awareness about the real world. What is the problem here? Is it too much violence on TV and Movies, is it people who live in a fantasy world, or is just a lack of care or respect for the truth?

Cruise Ships are by far the safest vacations ever. No passenger or crewmember has ever just “fallen” from a ship unless they were intentionally doing something they were not supposed to be doing.

As least as far as we know – because right now as I write this we still have a media report “pending” that a crewmember has “fallen” off of a cruise ship – but it has not yet been reported how this happened.

Carnival Sensation Crewmember Falls – Update
We know a little more from new reports about the Sensation crewmember who “fell” overboard from the ship. Various TV and radio web sites in Florida say he was either standing on or near the railing and taking pictures.

We assume they mean he was shooting pictures, not posing for them, but we are not sure. He was off duty, and being early after midnight on New Years Day (Eve) he had likely been drinking.

Some passengers said he was standing on a tall place close to the railing and that when the wind came up he lost his balance control. Another report says he was standing “on the railing” but that could mean on a lower crossbar, not the top of the railing. Exactky where he was standing is really not clear, yet.

In either case – it was obviously an accident, but it also has to be said that it was improper procedure to be standing anyplace where a loss of balance could mean going over the edge. So, the young man is not without some responsibility for what happened.

We are sorry for the young man and never mean to take these stories lightly. This is actually one of the first cases of a person “accidentally” going overboard who was not flagrantly doing something he should not have been doing. It is possible the seas were fairly rough and he normally would have felt fairly secure wherever he was standing under normal conditions. But conditions were not normal.

In any case – we are sad it happened, but relieved it did not happen to a passenger. Even with the shared responsibility that would have led to assumptions about cruise ship safety that really are not warranted. The safety is there, it is just up to people to use common sense.

* I am referring to the ships that belong to CLIA, the Cruise Lines International Assn, which includes all of the brands commonly known to American passengers; Carnival, Royal Caribbean, NCL, Princess, Holland America, Windstar, Cunard, Oceania, Silversea, Regent, Seabourn, Seadream, Costa, MSC and more.

Related posts:

1. Cruise Crime Act 2009 Questions
2. Cruise Ship Engine Explosions
3. Stand Up for Your Right to Cruise

OK, that is complicated, but according to my charts the price of light crude closed below $70 on November 5 and has stayed below that price ever since. This means that 12 trading days have passed with the price below $70/barrel.

Since the price is now at $49.62/barrel, I contacted Carnival to see if they are tracking this and they confirmed that if the price stays below $70 then they will start giving discounts starting with the December 18 cruise sail dates.  By the way, I originally saw that the price closed below 70 on Oct 21, which would have meant the cutoff date was Dec. 1st. But it did close above 70 for ONE DAY on November 4 setting the deadline back by three weeks  – because weekends are not counted.

This is a significant onboard credit, equal to the fuel supplement they charged these customers. The supplement was $10 per person per day. In other words, the onboard credit should equal $140 per couple for every 7-day cruise.

Furthermore, while Carnival has suspended the fuel supplement for cruises departing in 2010, they are still charging it for all cruise sold that sail in 2009. However, based on the current economic situation it appears to me a reasonably safe bet that a cruise you book now for 2009 will very likely qualify for the onboard credit.

In other words, while you will still have to pay the fuel supplement for any 2009 cruise, there is a very good chance you will get it back in the form of an onboard credit on the day you cruise. Remember, the price of oil has dropped below $50/barrel for the first time today, actually trading at $49.62 as I write this. That means it has dropped about 27% since the day it first dipped below $70 barrel. Nothing in this economy has gone UP 27% in the last few months, so it is pretty good bet you will get your rebate.

If you don’t it probably means our economy has improved significantly, and that is also good news. Either way you win. Naturally, the only reason why this shouldn’t remain true for an extended period of time will be if the price of oil creeps back up, or if (Heaven forbid) somekind of cosmic event should push the price of oil up overnight.

This is great news for cruisers – you can effectively take away the fuel supplement from the total cost for any cruise sailing after December 18 st, although you will pay it, you will get it back in the form of an onboard credit.

This will apply to all Carnival Corp cruise lines: Carnival, Holland America, Princess, Cunard, Seabourn and Costa.

Royal Caribbean and NCL have a different approach from Carnival – but surprisingly similar to each other. They are charging no fuel supplements for any cruises departing in 2010. If you book a cruise leaving in 2009, then know that they plan to check the price of oil quarterly to see if fuel surcharges will apply, and whether or not people who pay them will get rebates.

Here is the chart of the date they check the price of oil. If it is below $65 when they check it, then for cruises in the time frames in column number 2 will not be charged when you book, or if you have already booked and paid a fuel surcharge you will recieve a rebate in the form of an onboard credit:

Fuel Price Determination Date        Quarter of Possible Fuel Supplement Refunds
December 18, 2008                        First quarter 2009
March 18, 2009                             Second quarter 2009
June 17, 2009                               Third quarter 2009
September 17, 2009                       Fourth quarter 2009
December 18, 2009                        First quarter 2010
March 18, 2010                              Second quarter 2010
June 17, 2010                                Third quarter 2010
September 17, 2010                        Fourth quarter 2010

As noted, the price of oil is under $50/barrel today, so the chances of it going above $70 or $65 again anytime soon are remote, it COULD happen, however. December 18th is a good day to check in and see what the state of fuel supplements will be – that is the date they will end for Carnival for the first time, and that is the first “check-date” for Royal Caribbean.

UPDATE: Some market people are saying oil is oversold and that the price could come above $70/barrel again in the next two weeks. If it does then Carnival will NOT be offereing the promised discounts. If it is above $65/barrel on December 18 then RCL and NCL will put off their rebates until after the first quartter of 2008, minimum.

Related posts:

1. Columbus Day Cruise Updates
2. Cost of Cruise Business
3. State of the Cruise Industry