Will they be able to sell all those Western Itineraries?

Do you think they will have trouble selling all those Western Itineraries at regular prices? I know some people do not care where they cruise but many do - is there sufficient market to full the ships I wonder?

Do you think they will have trouble selling all those Western Itineraries at regular prices? I know some people do not care where they cruise but many do - is there sufficient market to full the ships I wonder?

no more, no less trouble than the rest of the lines. We all have to remember all the mass marketed lines as well as international lines and luxury lines are facing the exact same thing: The two largest ports in the eastern Caribbean are shambles, San Juan, a popular embarkation port is a disaster, so people are going to have no choice, either accept what is available, understand the cruise lines are doing the best they can, or give up cruising for a few years. :rolleyes:

no more, no less trouble than the rest of the lines. We all have to remember all the mass marketed lines as well as international lines and luxury lines are facing the exact same thing: The two largest ports in the eastern Caribbean are shambles, San Juan, a popular embarkation port is a disaster, so people are going to have no choice, either accept what is available, understand the cruise lines are doing the best they can, or give up cruising for a few years. :rolleyes:

Really don't think it is going to be "years" before southern/eastern caribbean and puerto rico is back open.

Really don't think it is going to be "years" before southern/eastern caribbean and puerto rico is back open.

It might be longer than you think before they are back in full swing. They will open up as soon as they can, of course, but full swing, it will be a long time. Probably not San Juan as much as St Thomas and St Maartin.

no more, no less trouble than the rest of the lines. We all have to remember all the mass marketed lines as well as international lines and luxury lines are facing the exact same thing: The two largest ports in the eastern Caribbean are shambles, San Juan, a popular embarkation port is a disaster, so people are going to have no choice, either accept what is available, understand the cruise lines are doing the best they can, or give up cruising for a few years. :rolleyes:

That,s exactly what I mean, all those cruiselines offering similar itineraries surely supply will exceed demand.

Does anyone think this will create additional demand for other locations instead? Hawaii? Alaska? Europe?

Does anyone think this will create additional demand for other locations instead? Hawaii? Alaska? Europe?

I don't think so...a different market and I think different motivations...there will be some, though, we may decide now is a good time to book that alaskan cruise they've always had on their bucket list...I could be one of those cruisers :)

You may see discounts on the lesser ships if the route is flooded with all the flagships. They will still fill up though due to pricing flexibility.

Looking at the prices over the next 90 days you'll see that they've dropped substantially already.

Europe and Alaska aren't really a viable alternative especially now in the winter.

I remember reading an article a while back that said 10-20% of people on a cruise ship don't book until AFTER the final payment is due and now you're going to have probably at least half of those people reconsider cruising since it's going to be the same ports all the time with the limited itineraries. This is why the cruise lines have already dropped prices substantially over the past few weeks and the ships might still not sail 100% full.

Does anyone think this will create additional demand for other locations instead? Hawaii? Alaska? Europe?

Not in the short term.

Alaska has a very limited sailing season which is closed now (it’s May to October, I think). So, that’s out for now.

Europe is chilly this time of year, which is why there is more capacity in Miami. The warmer sailings are Barcelona to the Atlantic islands, which the Epic used to sail, not sure which ship is deployed there now.

Hawaii has major restrictions because it is a US State - so, the ships have to be US-flagged (and US crewed) to sail only Hawaii ports, which is why only NCL does it and they only have one ship. The other option is sailing from the West Coast and stopping in Mexico but it takes a long time to get to Hawaii from the West Coast. Setting that up in a hurry would be a challenge.

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The November 11th sailing has a guarantee Balcony that just went down to $649/person. And guarantee Oceanview wemt down to $499/person so I think ncl is already trying to make these itineraries more desirable just by price alone.

Prior to the storms, we made a decision to cruise for ports, not ships. We also made the decision to take fewer Caribbean cruises and save our money and vacation time to do one big cruise a year. Western Med, Alaska, Hawaii, Eestern Med. we are all in with NCL. Take a break from the Caribbean until she heals and think bigger! I do appreciate the Caribbean needs our tourist expenditures to heaL, so we donated for relief.

We're scheduled for the Eastern Caribbean in March and will go this time were they send us if changed. We did the Western last year. But for next year we are looking at Alaska or the Panama Canal because of the hurricanes. Keep in mind Puerto Rico is already in debt for billions, so not sure how much credit the government can help.

Looking at the prices over the next 90 days you'll see that they've dropped substantially already.

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The Mexican Riviera went up recently for 2018, and they are not offering 3rd and 4th free yet.

I think maybe people who are scared off from the Caribbean are looking at the west coast cruises for next year.

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Heck yeah, they will have trouble selling. We are stuck going Western and would not book it if we had the choice.

Do you think they will have trouble selling all those Western Itineraries at regular prices? I know some people do not care where they cruise but many do - is there sufficient market to full the ships I wonder?

There will be NO choice for a while.

I think it will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. It will all be OK until about mid November when all the boats are back and the Caribbean season is in full swing. Lines are going to have to get creative. There are limited places to park. This will be short term good news for Harvest Cay vendors. They may get more then one boat a week and that would be a good thing from them. The amount of infrastructure there for 2 boats a month in the off season and maybe 2 a week in season is pretty amazing. Western ports are not generally used Friday, Sat, Sunday. A few trips may need to find a way to make weekend stops.

Hard to say what's going to happen. Epic goes to E Caribbean every other week and nothing has been posted about where that ship will be going or emailed (I am on 11/18 sailing).

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That,s exactly what I mean, all those cruiselines offering similar itineraries surely supply will exceed demand.

Of course you are right, but those who love to cruise or have never cruised, they will still decide to go wherever the ship goes. I guess we will just have to wait and see. And yes, I am sure there will be discounts, but they are not going to give the cruises away. All I know is, I just feel sorry for everyone involved and am not worrying too much about the cruise prices. The people depending on tourism for their livilihood are suffering, the cruise lines will suffer, as will the crew and those wanting certain itineraires are going to have it tough. Maybe some new ports will come out of all this. Who knows?:o:o

What I think you are going to see is that NCL may use Jamaica and Samana in the DR as alternatives to St. Thomas, Tortola and St. Martin. They could also use St. Kitts more.