navybankerteacher

The fact is: there are still a lot of people who have never cruised, so they will grab the least expensive option offered. .. Then, there are many for whom the lowest APPARENT price is the most important factor - and they will continue to stick with the line which offers the lowest cost experience (or seems to offer - once the nickel and diming comes in what they ultimately pay is very different from what they thought they were going to pay) - until they finally wise up. For people who enjoy cruising - especially those who got to know it when it was a quality experience - the mass market lines are losing their attraction. Once you pay the add-ons for the “quality” experience on a 4,000+ passenger behemoth (separating you from the peasants who book regular accommodations) you might as well consider the premium lines.

I think the matter is still subject to change - but ultimately I think there will be some strict limits imposed. The fact is that cruise passengers only offer value to a small portion of the people in an area - those offering tours and cheap fast food. A possibly substantially larger number (who contribute more, and long term to the community) are opposed to having things taken over by thousands of day-trippers. A number of communities around the world already do limit the numbers - and that trend is likely to grow —— especially as the numbers of day-trippers descending on small communities grows with the introduction of ever larger ships.

Try checking out Viking - they have a number of good Mediterranean itineraries, no casinos, and are not party/booze oriented.

You don’t always get what you pay for - but you certainly will not get something you are not willing to pay for.

On a cruise to Bermuda a small ship will stop at St. George at the east end, and/or downtown Hamilton - rather than at that somewhat remote tourist trap Dockyard. Or in the Caribbean at St. Barth’s - which wants nothing to do with the huge ships with their thousands of budget-minded passengers - There are a number of other ports which either cannot, or do not want to, accommodate large ships and their accompanying mobs - such as Bora Bora in the Pacific and Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts.

Cruise lines will provide shore excursions to anywhere - as I recall, most port calls there were just long enough to say hello and good bye. It’s primary function is to provide the required “foreign port” for three day cruises out of California — sort of the Pacific Ocean’s version of Nassau for comparable deals out of Miami.

When it comes to having “…extremely little to do…”, Ensenada is also in the running. If it were not for the PVSA, you would not hear about it.

XV

We will soon be sailing Oceania (balcony) for just about $300 per person per day - uncrowded, superior food included, access to smaller ports not accessible by the Walmarts of the Seas. We used to enjoy Celebrity and HAL, but they have followed NCL and Carnival downhill. Bigger is very rarely better.

Right - 30 minutes minimum to about 45 minutes. Either way, the NY sailaway beats early supper hands down. My favorite was on HAL Noordam in January 2007 - near zero F, with ice floes in the river slowing us a bit , but magical lights. Then by early afternoon the next day we were in the Gulf Stream, off the Virginia Capes - sunny and in the 70’s.

Celebrity Beyond, 8 days from Fort Lauderdale , 8/10/24 : pp fares- Inside $1,018, Ocean View $1,028, Balcony $1,435, Suite $5,180 - ranges from $125 to $648 per person per day - nowhere near $1,200.

At least until passing under the Verrazano Bridge (30-45 minutes after leaving pier) but the next half hour or so is also a great time to be on deck- until dropping the pilot and passing Sandy Hook.

Celebrity Beyond - 8 days to ABC’s from Fort Lauderdale - suite for $5,200 - or less than $700 per day. I am curious - what itineraries came to more than $1,200? Of course, the plushest suite accommodations are costly - but balconies, ocean views, and (gasp!) insides are way less.

All this is really much more cost cutting, rather than fare increasing. The fares are not going up at anywhere near the rate shown in virtually all other areas of life: grocery prices, air fares, NYC subway fares, TBTA tolls - you name it. They are simply giving less and less for what used to be included in the basic fare. I will not be surprised to hear that “free meals” will become a thing of the past. Well served, well prepared meals, utilizing quality food have certainly gone by the wayside. The basic “fares” are very close to what they were twenty to thirty years ago (when there was no such thing as “specialty restaurants”) — those “fares” just buy a whole lot less. The mass market customers have little context - they could not afford to cruise at all a couple of decades ago - now they can —- but what the mass market is getting today is simply not what cruising was those decades ago.

Have they REALLY raised fares all that much? It sure does not look like it in promotional ads. But there is NO DOUBT about their cutting services — which was ordained a few years before Covid hit when they ordered their new classes of mega-ships. Are you aware of how long it takes to start filling cabins after a line decides to order a ship?

Those cuts really have little to do with Covid - they are part of the business plan of all mass market lines: improve bottom line by cutting costs - because another element is to fill bunks on the increasingly oversized ships by keeping fares low. They have essentially trashed their product: making folks who want a good experience switch to Azamera, Oceania, Seaborn , etc.

Of course, the simple act of shopping is something a lot of people see as recreational - they enjoy the exercise, I happen to not like the activity - and must admit to sometimes paying more for a thing I wanted than I really needed to —— just to get the deal done and go back to activities I prefer.

A person taking a cruise obviously has a few dollars to spare. It is hard to understand why someone paying thousands of dollars for a flight to New York, their hotel, and the cruise from New York would want to save a few dollars by finding the cheapest (as opposed to an easy and comfortable, if slightly more expensive) way to get to their hotel - and consider for a second the hassle and wasted time involved in getting the cheapest transfer fro airport to city. Bus and/or subway— are you kidding?

Crystal Serenity just carries about 1,000. So, if you are also on a small ship (under 2,500 pax) you may be OK. But if you are on one of the 4,000 or so ships, all bets are off- it will be a dog’s breakfast.

I wrap them well with bubble wrap and then some large piece of clothing wrapped around them - never had a problem. But if you are buying them at the port, you may as well leave them in the store bag.

Early January - until the 10th or 12th is likely to be free of too many school kids, but around the 15th (MLK day) it will be busy — as will the period around Presidents’ Day in February, but the first and last weeks of February should also be good.

All this make sense -- if you think long walks in Brooklyn or lower Manhattan are the best way to end a cruise vacation -otherwise, why not look for the easiest way to get to where you want to go?

XXII

To get to Howard Beach, you need the A Train headed to Far Rickaway.

No, but I understand that African swallows do it often.