Europe not selling so well....

[Esprit]

We had to book our Med' X cruise without flights included and discovered it was so much cheaper that way than if we'd been able to book it as a package (as we usually do). I will certainly consider a cruise only booking in future.

 

As for flight costs they are on the up with lots of hidden extras. We flew to Vegas earlier this month and with our weak £ against the $ found everything there expensive. As much as I'd like to go to the US again it wont happen for some time now.

 

I'll miss the nice immigration officer at the LV airport too. How considerate of him to wear a surgical face mask and matching blue gloves so not to pass his germs onto us travellers as he checked our passports.

[kat228]

We just booked our airfare for our cruise out of Rome in late October/November. ...and we did it after watching it climb, and climb and climb.... Quite honestly, if it weren't our honeymoon, I think we would have pulled our deposit on the cruise and taken a different vacation because of how high the airfare was...

[bellybutton530]

I agree on all counts, also how about from Tampa to the East coast? A lot of us retired seniors would like that.

 

I did not mean to snub Tampa. I also loved sailing out of Jacksonville.

 

DO NOT care for Miami though....

 

Thanks, CruisingChick. I follow your posts too.

[bajathree]

With the summer Olympics taking place in London July/August of 2012....the cost of flights to Europe....at least those connecting thru London are going to be crazy next summer.....something else the CL's are going to have to contend with.

[islandgirlejfan]

Having lived in Europe, I just can't imagine cruising there....maybe it's just me, but I don't think I would be happy staying only the day in each place. If you are going to spend that much money to go to Europe, you certainly want to see something and not from the seat on a bus tour.

 

I'm in agreement that the ships might be getting a tad bit too large. NCL's prices are a bit lower than Celebrity's. If I'm not mistaken, they also offered a promotion a few months ago where they had $99 airfare which probably filled some of the softer sailings they could have been encountering.

 

I would love Celebrity to do a partial transit of the Panama Canal. That would be awesome! If it left from the east coast, even better!:D

[texkan]

We did our second cruise from Galveston Texas on the Celebrity Galaxy. It was a partial sailing of the Panama Canal. What a great 11 days!!! Would like to see Celebrity offer

partial sailing of the Canal from Galveston. I would be onboard.

 

Coastal cruises would be nice. Have a friend that is doing Wine Cruise (10 day cruise) on the Millie in May 2011. Do not see this 10 day cruise offered for 2012 :(

[scruffts2007]

the biggest problem is the price of air travel, it often is as much for 5 hours in the air as 7 days full board at sea

 

we look after here in portugal some holiday villas, some are still empty for the peak month of august, again two tickets on easyjet before they charge for luggage are now 550 pounds which in my view is why the villas are not so far booked. Again the villains of the piece are the govts with their air travel taxes which now often exceed the price of the ticket

 

the best thing the cruise firms can do is to base their ships around europe so for europeans anyway - we do not have to pay sky high (excuse the pun) prices just to get to the terminal

[teajak]

I did not mean to snub Tampa. I also loved sailing out of Jacksonville.

 

DO NOT care for Miami though....

 

Thanks, CruisingChick. I follow your posts too.

I didn't think you were snubbing us. People seem to forget about ports like Tampa and Jacksonville for example. The problem with Tampa is that large ships can't fit under the Sunshine Skyway bridge. Nice port with easy access to the airport and lots of west coast cruisers.

[rainbowhays]

The prices this side of the pond don't seem to have dropped very much, although there are a number of last minute deals about.

[Shooraq]

I feel that airfare and vacation time from work are limiting factors. I'd love to do Celebrity more, but it's challenging trying to do 10-14 day cruises... I only have 2 weeks vacation right now!

 

I booked early and got an amazing 7-day northern european cruise with Royal Caribbean in May for only $502 per person. The flight to get to copenhagen = $800 per person! Quite the difference.

 

At least I have the flexibility to avoid summer months and stick to May or fall for European travel... cuts down on airfare and price of cruise.

 

I have to accept the fact that if I want to cruise, I gotta go abroad. My husband is so tired of the Caribbean when there is so much of the world to see. So... Baltic cruise this year, Greek/Italy/Turkey next year, who knows for 2013? I just keep saving in advance (over a year for some trips) to be able to afford it once it arrives.

[lysolqn]

Europe not selling well? I could have given USA Today's travel desk that non-scoop a while back just judging from the steady increase in the number of emails I've been getting on a daily basis from cruise lines and TAs advertising sales, deals and specials of all flavors for European itineraries. Add a soft economy, skyrocketing airfare, the cost of crude, geo-political uncertainty, oversaturation of the market and whole bunch of other "stuff" into the mix and you could see that train coming at you from ten miles away on a foggy day. Unfortunately, putting all (or most) of its eggs in one (European) basket has not boded well for for the cruise industry.

[YOW]

There are alternatives to the Caribbean.

 

How about some closed-loop Panama Canal itineraries?

 

What about coastal cruises?

 

How about some transatlantic cruises during the summer?

 

Sail a ship out of one of the Gulf of Mexico ports, such as Galveston or New Orleans.

 

 

Personally I think it is time to stop building those megaships. But that is just me....

 

These are constructive suggestions. Thank you. :)

[bajathree]

Europe not selling well? I could have given USA Today's travel desk that non-scoop a while back just judging from the steady increase in the number of emails I've been getting on a daily basis from cruise lines and TAs advertising sales, deals and specials of all flavors for European itineraries. Add a soft economy, skyrocketing airfare, the cost of crude, geo-political uncertainty, oversaturation of the market and whole bunch of other "stuff" into the mix and you could see that train coming at you from ten miles away on a foggy day. Unfortunately, putting all (or most) of its eggs in one (European) basket has not boded well for for the cruise industry.

 

lolol....yep, I hear you...the signs have clearly been there.

[nordski]

It appears to me that not just the market in Europe is soft. I'm seeing a number of specials for Alaska.

 

Perhaps the cost of air flights is a factor in that region as well.

[will773]

I would love to go to Europe, but sheese... I pay more to fly there than cruise for two weeks.

 

This is the issue. It is crazy that the airfare can come even close to the cost of a 14 Night cruise. I guess it just goes to show the value of cruising. :rolleyes:

[will773]

How about some transatlantic cruises during the summer?

 

That would be very interesting! They could have a few Caribbean sailings, a transatlantic, a few Med sailings, and then another transatlantic. That would be so cool!

[bellybutton530]

That would be very interesting! They could have a few Caribbean sailings, a transatlantic, a few Med sailings, and then another transatlantic. That would be so cool!

 

I was actually speaking of a ship doing ONLY transatlantics.

 

That would be a B2B I would consider. No flying. I like that.

[Hollywood Traveler]

I was actually speaking of a ship doing ONLY transatlantics.

 

That would be a B2B I would consider. No flying. I like that.

I think that would be fantastic, too. But we're probably in the minority.

[bellybutton530]

I think that would be fantastic, too. But we're probably in the minority.

 

I'm loving your avatar, Larry.

 

I need a new one.... one that folks will talk about....:eek:

[Bridge Maven]

I was actually speaking of a ship doing ONLY transatlantics.

 

That would be a B2B I would consider. No flying. I like that.

 

bellybutton, I love that idea :)

[Can'tstopcruising]

bellybutton, I love that idea :)

 

Only if they offered Bridge!

[bellybutton530]

Hey Celebrity, are you listening??????

 

Think of it; a couple Caribbean islands, then the crossing; then a couple of European ports. 11 days

 

Repeat in reverse. 10 days

 

That would be 3 weeks , and Celebrity would have a "captive audience" for 5 days each way.

 

I'd do it; in a heartbeat. And if you made it an annual event, you'd have to deal with me on an annual basis....

 

This would be perfect for Constellation, instead of those stupid 4 and 5-night sailings.

 

 

[teajak]

I was actually speaking of a ship doing ONLY transatlantics.

 

That would be a B2B I would consider. No flying. I like that.

MY DH would love that and sign up in a heartbeat. It's that 10 hour flight he hates.

[TMLAalum]

I like the idea of Transatlantics during the summer. Personally, I wouldn't do a back-2-back, but would either do a one-way and return via air or space out cruises to give more time on the Continent.

 

Some airlines, such as American, allow for one-way bookings using ff miles. For those who can travel spring/fall the TAs are perfect, but until I fully retire, summers are my only option.

 

I'd also like to see Canada/NE itineraries for summer, possibly going further afield up to Laborador & Greenland. Also, more British Isles itineraries.

[Snorkel Dawg]

Would be great to have Celebrity sailing from Galveston, TX. - We did our first two cruises from Galveston (first cruise RCCL, second Celebrity Galaxy). Many cruisers from the Mid-west as they could drive to Galveston.

 

We have to fly to FLL to sail Celebrity in the Eastern Caribbean. Would like to sail in Europe but the airfare is just more than we can afford.

 

 

 

That would be awesome! Then we could visit our great cruiser friends in Texas pre or post cruise as well! Celebrity please put a ship in Galveston, we'll be most interested.

 

ALSO I'd love a different 7 day itinerary other than going Jamaica, Grand Cayman, & Coz...how about heading to Columbia? Panema? Costa Rica? Just a thought...