mcrcruiser

It seems to me that the parent company hasn't done very well with their extremely high debt facing them daily .Catch this one ,Carnival corp has to make $196 million in profits not gross sales when the Federal Reserve just increases the interest rates by just 1% yes one percent .so if this corporation needs to keep their doors open they should at least listen to fresh ideas .I am not running their business but they sure are & the stock price does not reflect that they are doing a great turn around job just saying .Last price for CCL stock I just saw was $6.99 per share

Come on there is never a "Marketing Nightmare " . what is important is that any business listen to their customers .I don't mean the ones that ***** & gripe all the time ;but ,when there is concern over product or stale sales it behoves a good marketing manager to do more market research before the roof caves in & part of the research are consumer groups

Any small business can hardly compare to decisions made by corporate business plans of which the marketing plan is vital to the business plan being successful .

Yes agreed about the airline costs whether you are on the East or West coast & flying to the opposite coast ;but please don't put down Mexican ports ;as we don't down the Caribbean ports .all ports have their charms & dislikes .We know having 87 cruise history doing the world cruising

Checked recently a R/T on Alaska airlines to Ft Lauderdale was $1056 for 2 people coach seating

That is great if you live on the East Coast near Florida ports .so just for starters add in the much higher cost of flying today to get to the embarkation port

I understood from the get go that cruise lines are in this business to make profits ;however ,I can not believe that occasionally the cruise lines can change the itineraries to juice up the publics interest . The same old becomes the same old or perhaps there are going to be new cruise lines that will adapt more flexibility into their itineraries coming to the business ,liking to Virgin & Viking

We just received a e-mail from HAL saying today only a $1 deposit5 secures a cruise . Imo ,as a marketing person all my life I perceive that as a type of desperation attempt to sell those high priced cruises ;which most people can read through . Today is far different with many consumers living pay check to pay check in the US .As higher & higher prices come rolling along & incomes can not match with 5% raises the extra costs of living today high is 9 % + inflation ,then how is it wise to put out ads that don't make any sense . I see this ad as a feeble attempt to get some well healed people to bite Going forward with higher fuel costs ,food costs ie & lower incomes for the pax how does selling high end cabins make any sense . If the economy of scale is for the main stream cruise lines to fill cabins then they need to be more realistic in pricing .JMHO

LOL U got that right

I respect your thoughts here however ;some time ago we sailed Carnival's Spirit to a round trip Acapulco with other Mexican ports in between Like Zwatineho /Xtapa Mazanillo ie .Those are 3 ports down the Mexican Riviera that cruise ships do not do . So then they don't need to go as far as the Panama Canal ;but ,It is difficult here to comprehend why there are partial panama canal transits from Ft Lauderdale yet nothing here .what makes that difference ? Even if it were not cost feasable to do a west coast partial Canal transit the ships occasionally could do the other Mexican Riviera ports , So what is the difference between a long Hawaii cruise vs a long Mexican Riviera cruise in days . Actually , there would be less sea days & more port stops going down the Mexican Riviera . Just seems to me that we not only sailed the Spirit as far a Acapulco but ,we also did deeper Mexican ports further south on Celebrity Mercury years back .There is quire a bit difference in the Mexican Riviera when the ships went further south .There are more ships on the West Coast of California now & less variety in the port stops for the Mexican Riviera . Princess ,Carnival , Holland ,Celebrity & Royal Caribbean all have ships now doing the regular Mexican Riviera cruises .so how does that help Holland America fill the ships ,especially now with a constricting economy ? Another thing is doesn't HaL rely on us older folks who have more cash & more time to take longer cruises ?

We have our own electric scooter & my DW needs it because she will be having knee replacement . I also bring my deluxe walker .We can park the 2 items near the front entrance to any of the ships restaurants then a short walk to the table .We also have a cain

You got to do it in todays world . Also ,like the OP said check your bill before you leave the restaurant for correctness

We live here in San Diego county .imo ,HAL could do a partial transit from San diego like they do from Port Everglades Ft Laiderdale Florida .There are many more ports in Mexico south of Puerto Vallarta yjru could stop like Acapulco where the Cliff divers are located . another cruise which imo would be also packed is a round trip Alaska ;which would eliminate flying .These are just the tip of that ice berg doe examples When you think that the Pacific Ocean is twice the size of the Atlantic ,we have a lot to offer cruisers here in the California ports HAL imo needs to differentiate itself from RCL ,Carnival ,Celebrity Mexico cruises alone or just be one of the bunch ?

Heck ,there are enough well traveled folks on these boards that could give HAL lists of unique & interesting itineraries that would help then sell cabins . My question is why don.t they make it a prize for the mist interesting & doable itineraries like a free cruise & or free tips ,drink pkg & wifi ,ie ,Seems to me that would stir some excitement & more bookings 😆

Just got off the phone with a lovely HAL lady representative . Apparently Koningsdam will still service the San Diego market but nor until some time in November .I have no idea where she will be between October to November 2023 ,unless in Dry dock Gave her a couple of Unique itineraries they could add from San Diego .Certainly a West Coast partial transit i of the Panama Canal is doable . with stiops on Alcapulco (a beautiful city ) Xtapa ( the west coast version of Cancun) Hultaco along with a new port of Manzanillo the PortoVallarta & Cabo San Lucas to Ensenata to SD Another unique cruise would be a Round Trilp Alaska including ports like San Francisco , Astoria Oregon ,a fabulous city on the Columbia river , then on to alaska including Glacier Bay & ports of call before heading bacjk with stops in Victoria Canada on Vancouver Island ,Monterey ,Ca , Santa Barbara to SD

The ships water is distilled from sea water to clear beautiful drinking & bathing water .Hope this helps & bring your drinking device to fill & refill & A no cost😄

HAL has 5 ships ending the Alaska Season in September 2023 yet no ships showing in October 2023 for San Diego . We think that is strange .In fact nothing in San Diego for HAL Sept or October 2023 * here we are already October 11 ,2022 as I write this . Perhaps there will not be HAL ships here for all we know right now . BTW the Koningsdam is not one of the 5 ships What do you think now besides HAL has not let out those itineraries or is there some other more important reason ?

Yes that is true . I need to check how many ships HAL has in the Alaska market first & then see where they deploy to

After April 3 ,2023 is the last cruise by Zandam ,then nothing . What do you think or know for itineraries from San Diego ?

Got it .15% off for the special restaurants .Not a biggie but some thing

It has been awhile since we sailed Celebrity but we are back , We are Elite Plus level ,Are there discounts for restaurants like the tuscan Grill ?

The foreign port would or could be Victoria Vancouver Island , This is imo far better than the city of Vancouver BC .I can see SD to SF to Astoria Oregon then to Ketchican , Juneau , Shagway , Juneau & Sitka with Glacier Bay . then to Victoria to SantaBarbara to Catalina to San Diego .A very nice cruise with a great mix of ports

There is no doubt in my mind that Celebrity is a far better choice that any Princess ship . Personally , there are only 2 lines that I like to sail one is this line & the other is Holland America & especially for Alaska . Holland America brings in board a specialist in Alaska to explain every thing

In todays world & at ages 83 ,we want to be a comfortable as we can with out standing out like a saw thumb . I wear nice slacks a nice shirt & a sweater .no jackets as they no longer fit LOL & ties don't have the latest designs & mot buying those pricy ones that will be out of style in a year .Further got to consider the luggage weight these days or pay through the nose at the airport

Go with the flow is my motto