$49.94 a day for a HAL cruise

[Barrheadlass]

So how does $37.44 per day sound? Two cruise (Trans Atlantic) in March now posting this fare!

 

 

DaveOKC

 

It is making me wonder why we are paying "big bucks" on another cruise line for a TA next year. We booked it so we could try that line, and the trip is costing just as much as a "normal" HAL ship at a high demand time.

[DaveOKC]

The problem comes when they start getting rid of the older, smaller ships and only adding larger ones.

 

Staff on Princess confirmed to me a few years back that the larger ships indeed "pay the way" for the smaller ones, which generally make little or no money for the line. Since then, they have only added more large ships and I fear the days of the smaller R-ships currently in the Princess fleet are probably numbered.

 

I'm not against large (well, within reason, like 2,000 to 2,200) ships in principle. It's just that, as I'm sure you know, they tend to have less interesting itineraries because 1) they have to sell those itineraries to a larger pool of passengers and 2) larger ships can't always access smaller ports with fewer facilities/infrastructure.

 

I heard the same comment from an officer on a HAL ship - no more ships below 2000 passengers since the larger ones are much more profitable.

 

DaveOKC

[DeepWaterMariner]

It is making me wonder why we are paying "big bucks" on another cruise line for a TA next year. We booked it so we could try that line, and the trip is costing just as much as a "normal" HAL ship at a high demand time.

 

It certainly emphasizes the need to keep on top of price reductions before final payment. We had a repo booked on another cruise line a couple of years ago which had a good itinerary so we booked early. The price dropped over 50% by the time we sailed. Fortunately the line honored the price drops with refundable OBC.

[SwissMyst]

I heard the same comment from an officer on a HAL ship - no more ships below 2000 passengers since the larger ones are much more profitable.

 

DaveOKC

 

We heard from the HM last year on one ship they intend to keep the small ones afloat as long as they can - but once the plumbing pipes go, there is little more they can do for them. He did give assurances he knew how popular they were for HAL repeat passengers. I felt "safe".

 

And look how long some of these older ships have still been running under different names. Island Princess finally got retired by MV Discovery - the sister of the original Love Boat (600 passengers).

[cavecreekguy]

This whole discussion saddens me. I am at a point in my life where I have the desire to do some of the longer HAL itineraries, but don't have the time. I expect to have the time in around 20 years, but it sounds like the cruising opportunities I want will be all dried up by then.

 

I really enjoyed my Alaska cruise on the Rotterdam, partially because of its size. Oosterdam was nice, but I think I preferred the smaller ship. I really want a longer experience on a smaller ship. Ah well. Guess I will have to adapt.

[whogo]

Sadly, the logic doesn't work well in this case.

Port fees are never nearly as much as the cost of fuel for a full day at sea.

Also, passengers eat 50% more food on a sea day than on a port day.

Just the cost of the extra food consumed on a sea day wipes out any savings on port fees.

 

Since Transatlantic repositioning cruises tend to attract many people who cannot really afford to take a cruise, onboard spending on sea days across the Atlantic amounts to very little money or profit.

 

 

BruceMuzz, you have been in the business long enough that I take your statements as gospel. As far as onboard spending goes, I know I spent much less per day on our transatlantic that I did on our Cape Horn cruise. The casino and shops were dead whenever I went by and they did not even have a couple of their announced raffles. I did not see much interest in the photographers. With only five ports in fifteen days, excursion sales (our biggest onboard expense) had to be down. I have no way of judging liquor or spa sales.

 

I assume that the longer the cruise and the fewer the ports, the less people spend onboard per day.