Cruising from the New World to the Old
Keeping with the cruise theme, if the Alaskan wilderness (see previous post) does not float your boat and pigeons flying free in asphalt jungles count as wildlife in your book, we’ve found a cruise for you. Moment’s Notice Travel is offering a Transatlantic Cruise special, aboard the Queen Mary 2 no less, so you can cruise in the style of a 19th century metropolitan sophisticate—with all the modern advances in technology, of course—without having to spend like one.
$699 per person affords you all the luxuries the ship, which sails from New York to Southampton, England, this spring, has to offer, minus the price, which without the 75 percent discount would be as high as $2,999. And there is no membership fee involved—just add an additional $28 per person in taxes and fees to the $699 price tag. Included are six nights in the balcony stateroom—two people per room—all meals, some beverages, port taxes and entertainment aboard.
And like any cosmopolitan intellectual, you might want to take advantage of the on board cultural enrichment programs and workshops in the 500-seat auditorium or in one of the seven classrooms. Talk about a learning experience. The program, which consists of lectures and seminars on everything from fashion, furniture and painting to foreign languages and even filmmaking, has one common theme: comparing and contrasting the two cosmopolitan centers of the world, New York and London.
To help you digest all this new knowledge and relax your brain cells, the Canyon Ranch Spa Club has 24 treatment rooms with all kinds of therapy pools, including a thalassotherapy pool with a deluge waterfall, a whirlpool, saunas and an aromatic steam room.
Out of the four departures this spring, three are eastbound (New York to Southampton) and one is westbound (Southampton to New York). Below is a list of dates:
- April 10—eastbound
- April 22—eastbound
- April 28—westbound
- May 4—eastbound
According to Moment’s Notice Travel, they can get you a return flight to your hometown from Southampton starting as low as $399. We’ll take their word for it, although the cheapest one-way plane tickets we found from Southampton to New York in April and May started at $630 (Aer Lingus). For any other information visit them on the web.
So why not get rewarded for all the hard work it takes to be pampered for six days and nights? We’ve been holding out on you. As a “farewell gift,” each passenger will receive a free three-day stay (valued at over $200) at a participating Marriott Courtyard and Marriott Fairfield, Hampton Inn, Ramada and Wyndham Resorts in over 100 U.S. cities—that is if you book a cruise on any Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America, Cunrad, NCL and Costa sailing offered by Moment’s Notice Travel through December 2005.
Cruising the glaciers
Though there’s nothing wrong with cruising on one of many ships taking you to some of the warmest and most exotic destinations on the planet, there’s also nothing wrong—on the contrary—with doing something less conventional. So why not tickle your adventurous fancy, bundle up and jump aboard a vessel destined to explore the wilderness of one of the most beautiful—and humbling—places on Earth. What do we have in mind? Here’s a hint: glaciers.
No, not the North Pole; we’re talking about Alaska. Cruises have become one of the most popular ways to visit Alaska and its mesmerizing coastline, both beautiful and intimidating with its untamed wildlife, including grizzly bears and humpback whales.
This spring, Cruises Only is offering a southbound glacier discovery trip with Glacier Bay to Alaska on the Holland America Line that starts from as low as $569 per person for a seven-nights stay in an interior stateroom aboard the Ryndam ship. This is a 49 percent discount from their brochure price of $1,123. If you’d like to have a window, you can upgrade to an ocean view room from $669.
These prices are for ships sailing on May 22 from Seward and ending the cruise on May 29 in Vancouver. Later departures might dig a bigger hole in your pocket. Here’s a sample of prices for summer cruises:
- From $849—June
- From $1,099—July
- From $1,048—August
- From $949—September
The package also includes meals, entertainment, ocean transportation, port charges and more. There’s no booking deadline, but since it's a low-priced sale, it’s bound to sell out. For details and booking options visit CruisesOnly.com.
If you opt to book your flight with Cruises Only, expect to pay a total starting from $1,348 that includes roundtrip air—an additional $779 on top of the cruise ticket. Although Cruises Only recommends purchasing your flight and cruise together through them, in order to avoid complications, such as delays, we've found you some cheaper flights to Anchorage, if you’re willing to take the risk. Here’s a sampler from major U.S. gateways for the May 22-29 period:
- $551—Boston (American)
- $536—New York (American)
- $468—Washington (Alaska)
- $450—Chicago (Delta)
- $419—Los Angeles
We suggest you make the transportation from Anchorage to Seward, where your ship departs, part of your Alaskan adventure. Taking the Alaska railroad, $59 each way, will let you enjoy some of the most beautiful scenery during the four and a half hour long trip. And being in a state known for great scenery along its highways, you may opt for the bus, $49 each way. Or take the train there and the bus back and get the best from both. For more information on Alaska and other travel options, including cruises, you can visit Alaska Tour & Travel.
Mary, Mary quite contrary to expectations: Sales aboard the QM2
Just one short year ago, the launch of the Queen Mary 2 (the largest, tallest, widest and arguably most luxurious cruiser ever built) dominated the evening news. Usually sober news anchors went into a lather describing all of the luxe amenities that an $800 million dollar budget can buy—the world's largest floating wine cellar! a planetarium at sea! a Canyon Ranch health spa! The Veuve Clicquot champagne bar! British nannies to watch the kids! Even more news was generated when the celebrities began to board, from former President Bush (who stayed onboard when she was anchored in Athens during the Olympics) to Antonio Banderas, Beyonce Knowles, Glenn Close, Whoopi Goldberg and (believe it or not) the Muppets.
But Mary's no longer an infant; at age one, she's entered her toddlerhood and public excitement seems to be fading. Apparantly, not enough billionaires are booking passage because we're starting to see discounted sailings from a number of sources for the upcoming months.
Summer sailings from Virgin Vacations (better known for its air and hotel packages) has eastbound and westbound itineraries available for $1,499 on the following dates: May 4, 21 and 28; June 2, 9 and 25; July 5, 10 and 17; August 2, 9 and 26; and September 2,7, 14 and 19. As with the previous deal, airfare to or from London is also included in the price. These fares must be purchased at least 21 days in advance. It'll be interesting to see if these prices drop too, as we get closer to the sailing dates in question.
Savings tip: The type of cruise you choose can make or break your budget
Gone are the days of the $50/night cruise. With cruiselines breaking occupancy records each quarter (in the third quarter of 2004 the occupancy factor was a whopping 109.4 percent), prices have been steadily ticking upwards. Why should the cruiselines discount, the reasoning goes, when cabins are selling at a record clip, and more Americans than ever—an estimated 9 million in 2004—are taking to the seas?
But even with these figures, there are some types of cruises that never sell out and probably will never sell out. By booking these sailings, you're almost guaranteed to be paying a lower daily rate than the norm...and you'll have just as good of a vacation. Here are a couple of the types of cruises you'll want to seek out:
- Off- or early-season sailings: Travel when no-one else is going and you can save a bundle. This motto works for Caribbean sailings in the slow fall months; and Alaska in May and September, when it can be a tad chilly. Case in point: The May 17 sailing of Holland American's Veendam. Book through a discounter such as Cruise.com and you could pay as little as $535 for this seven-night sailing.
- Repositioning cruises: When cruiseships sail from their winter to their summer home ports (or vice-versa), the routes they take tend to be offbeat and the time spent at sea is (usually) longer than the norm. Passengers also have to book airfare to two different ports which does increase the total cost of the vacation. To make up for these inconveniences, the cruiselines inevitably slash prices on these sailings. Case in point: At the height of summer (July 22) the Norwegian Sea will be repositioning from Houston to Los Angeles. Along the way, she'll call at Cozumel,the Cayman Islands, Cartagena (Colombia), make a full transit of the Panama Canal and continue on to Costa Rica, Acapulco, and Cabo San Lucas. It's a true whirlwind, and the cost for this 15-night adventure is a low $679 ($699 for an outside cabin) when booked with Cruises-N-More.
These are just a few ways to save on cruises. With prices rising each day on these watery adventures, it's getting more and more important to shop around before purchasing. There are still discounts out there to be had, but they're just a tad harder to find.
Cruising takes a bruising (cruise discounting that is)
It was only a matter of time. Less than a month since Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Carnival announced that they would no longer allow agencies to sell cruises at anything lower than “sanctioned” prices, Norwegian Cruise Lines has hopped on the bandwagon. Declaring on Friday that it wanted to “level the playing field” among agencies, it announced that it would no longer allow agents to advertise lower prices in any public forum; nor would it reward agencies that sold more cabins with special discounts. Colin Veitch, CEO of NCL, told industry newspaper Travel Weekly “We are simply defining the way in which we wish our pricing to be advertised, and we are making all of our pricing mechanisms available to any and all agents who wish to partner with us.”
Sounds healthy and above board, right? Wrong! What this really is is a not-so-subtle attempt of the big players to raise prices and do away with discounting altogether. Who could blame them? This year, 10.5 million passengers are expected to ante up for a shipboard holiday, a record number. But many of those passengers were lured onboard by special discounts and low overall cruise costs—if those sky-rocket (and prices are rising at a steady clip), will this type of vacation remain as popular?
In the past, cruise discounters had been able to “work their magic” in three very specific ways: 1) By rebating part of their commission back to clients and 2) by selling so many cabins that they were granted special discounts and rewards for their productivity by the cruiseline and 3) by purchasing cabins in bulk and at a group rate, assuming the risk if they didn't sell (or if a client's payment bounced) and passing along part of the discount to their clients. None of these methods are illegal but since the cruiselines control agent commissions, you can be darn sure the cruise lines will be successful in squelching them—unless of course, some brave agency, or consortium of agencies brings a class action suit, a very definite possibility here.
We've already seen prices on cruises rise this year. Gone are the days of the $50/night Caribbean cruise (doable as recently as mid-2003). We fear that with this move, the cruiselines will be able to accelerate price hikes even more rapidly.
So what can we the consumer do? Let's reward those cruiselines—Princess, Cunard, Disney, Holland America, Windjammer and Costa—that are giving the agents that work with them a little leeway in pricing. Sure, Princess, Cunard and Holland America are owned by the same companies that are putting these unfair policies into play, but currently these divisions aren't playing ball. Let's use our credit card clout to send a message: we like our discounts and we don't want them to go away!
Spring sailing in Alaska
When the frost starts to bite, it’s only natural that those living in chilly climes start thinking about warm, blue waters and palm-studded ports of call. But why just check into one tropical locale; you can cover a lot more ground, er, water on a cruise?
VacationOutlet.com has an early-bird special on a spring sailing in Alaska. The price is a cool $561 for the seven-night Royal Caribbean cruise, which originates in Vancouver and heads through the Inside Passage and then on to Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau and Point Sophia before cruising the Hubbard Glacier to Seward. You’ll depart from Vancouver on the , a massive ship that even has an ice skating rink, on May 27, 2005.
The price of this cruise will no doubt go up over time; Alaska is a popular cruise destination and come March and April we could see this same cruise selling for at least double the amount. If you book online, be sure to look under “Featured Cruise” and then click on “7 Night Alaska Hubbard Glacier Northbound.” VacationOutlet.com’s promo code is: HAB5-FM9.
Policy changes in the cruise industry may well raise the price of your next sailing
How does one get discounts on cruises? In the past would-be cruisers have used “cruise consolidators” (or discounters) to cut their costs. And most didn't worry about how these agencies got their discounts; they were just happy to be paying $50 or $250 less for their cabin than the couple across from them at the midnight buffet.
But now consumers are going to have to start worrying about how their agency “works its money magic” thanks to new policies being implemented by Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Carnival Cruise Lines. These three monoliths (with their various off-spring they control about 70 percent of the cruise market) have decreed that travel agencies that advertise prices “not approved” by the cruiseline will be punished. Agencies will lose their commissions and published rates will rule, much to the dismay of many consumers and travel agents.
So what does this really mean for cruisers? Let's backtrack a bit. In the past, cruise discounters saved their clients money in three major ways:
- They “rebated” part of their commission back to their clients. Since commissions on cruises can be up to 18 percent of the cost of the cruise, this can mean terrific savings for the vacationer.
- They bought blocks of cabins in advance and at a group rate, and then resold them at the group discount rate. Since group bookings often come with extra perks, such as complimentary upgrades or a bottle of wine in the cabin upon arrival, consumers who bought cabins in this way often got a particularly good deal.
- The agency in question sold so many cruises that it was rewarded by the cruiseline with a “sweetheart deal.” Called “tiered pricing,” such huge agencies such as Cruises Only (the largest in the US) are sometimes offered discounts on particular sailings as a thank you from the cruiseline. These lower prices simply aren't available at your local mom and pop travel agency. (Every cruiseline but Carnival engages in this practice; last year, Carnival very publicly announced it was getting rid of tiered pricing in an effort to “level the playing field.”)
When the cruiselines' new policies take effect (Royal Caribbean and Celebrity have said their new policy starts Monday, Carnival is putting of its policing efforts until Jan. 1), the first two types of discounting (rebating and group discounting) will go underground. Though we have no doubt that agencies will continue to rebate and sell at group rates, they'll no longer be able to advertise these prices on their websites, in newspapers, in email alerts and, some worry, even over the phone.
“Royal Caribbean is taking it a step further saying we can’t discount over the phone, over email. They want a price fix, that's what they want to do,” says Jeff Kivet, president of Cruise Value Center, the largest family-owned cruise agency in the US. “They want everyone to have the same price no matter how they buy it and it’s going to hurt the consumer. It reminds me of what used to happen back in Russia, when all the stores were forced to sell bread for the same amount.”
But Jennifer de la Cruze, spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Lines disagrees. Discounts are not going to disappear, she says. “What the consumer will pay is a matter of the marketplace and consumer demand. If enacting this type of policy would raise pricing, damn, we would have done this years ago,” she laughed. “We still do yield management and adjust the rates; if a sailing is hurting we'll lower the rates.” According to Ms. Cruze, the policy is simply a way for the cruiselines to regain control of how their product is being advertised.
But we think it goes beyond that. According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) the cruiselines were acting in response to complaints from the smaller travel agencies that the actions of the discounters were making it “harder for them to compete.” If this were so, all would do what Carnival has done, and gotten rid of tiered pricing. What this really seems to be is an attack against the middling and smaller agencies and an attempt to wrest back control of pricing from the discounters. Currently, 90 percent of cruises are sold through travel agencies. Perhaps this is a not-so-subtle attempt on the part of the cruiselines to shift the paradigm, and get customers to buy direct.
It also begs the question: “Is this legal?” Toshiba can't demand that “Crazy Eddie” not discount its TV's, so why should the cruiselines be able to? Kivet, of Cruise Value Center, thinks this will end in a lawsuit. “I think the FTC should get involved,” he says. “They’re trying to make it sound like it’s good for the consumer, but it’s going to mean that prices are fixed and are going to go up and up and up.”
Monday, as we said earlier, is the day this all goes into effect, at least for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. So what should consumers do when booking a cruise after that date? They have a couple of options. First off, they can play only with the big boys. By buying only from the huge agencies, the ones that move a lot of cruise cabins, consumers might luck into one of the "approved" discounts that these giants are offered (and the smaller agencies rarely see). Problem is, tiered pricing is never a given, and it can shift from week to week and from cruise to cruise which agency is getting these "preferred deals".
A more sensible alternative are the “reverse auction sites” such as Cruise Mates or Cruise Compete. When consumers use these two sites, they get around the issue of advertising. They input the date they want to sail and the ship and cabin category they're seeking. Then travel agents contact them (through the sites; no email addresses are revealed), revealing to the customer how much their agency will charge for the cruise. Since there's no advertising involved agents should still be able to rebate or offer group rates; in the past when we've tested these services the difference in prices, for the same exact cruises (dates, ship and cabin category), have been astounding, often in the hundreds of dollars.
And there's always the phone. If there's a discounter you've used in the past and liked, give them a call. They're not going to change their business practices, they're simply going to stop advertising them...for now. It's going to make finding a good discount harder, but it won't be impossible.