Some 4 day cruises not selling?

[Potstech]

When it costs more to fly to the departure port than the cruise itself then it is a no go. On the East coast if the only choice is New York or FLL that leaves out many people from these cruises. There are many other ports up and down both coasts that can handle cruise ships that might work to attract more customers for a basic cruise. Also these cruises re labelled by many as party and drunk cruises that families shy away from. These will continue to lose money until the cruise lines figure out how to get customers to them cheaper and get them labelled as family cruises instead of a three or four day drunk party.

[MCC retired]

If these short cruises are indeed not selling well , Princess will not hesitate to pull the plug on them next year .

I agree that those 9 day itineraries consisting of 2 short cruises don't excite me at all and the middle day is a total waste of a port or sea day that could have been.

[kruisey]

Vancouver return via Hawaii Islands would be a big hit with one of the newer ships.

This would cover BC and Alberta,Washington State passengers. Not too long and not too short.All these areas don't have long flights so that would be cheaper.Certain folks working in the oil Industry in Alberta would love the break.:)

[Roses2]

Princess management has made exceptional decisions for many years and that is the reason the line has almost always sailed with full ships that have made money for the parent company. Generally, cruise lines fit into relatively easy to define niches and appeal to a specific demographic.

 

They appear to have misread their demographic quite badly --- or the parent company desires to modify that demographic.

 

Princess never has been in direct completion with Carnival running 3-5 day cruises for the very casual party cruiser. In fact, its claim to fame always has been the honor it gets every year for the best itineraries (those are not 3 day runs to Princess Cays).

 

Recently there has been a big shake up in Carnival Lines management that has included moving the long time great Princess CEO and placing Princess under the Holland America management team.

 

Only time will tell what this change may bring. Long time Princess cruisers would hate to see significant changes to the model that has made Princess so successful. Hopefully the short cruises are a test and since they are not proving to be very profitable, Princess will return to its previous itinerary models.

[Casey12]

 

Recently there has been a big shake up in Carnival Lines management that has included moving the long time great Princess CEO and placing Princess under the Holland America management team.

 

Only time will tell what this change may bring. Long time Princess cruisers would hate to see significant changes to the model that has made Princess so successful. Hopefully the short cruises are a test and since they are not proving to be very profitable, Princess will return to its previous itinerary models.

 

From what I gather, Carnival Corp wants more centralization between the lines as opposed to each line running independently. If I was to guess -- I would guess that Carnival Corp prefers how HAL runs their lines better than Princess and this is why Princess was put under HAL. I expect major changes in the future for Princess. I am not sure if these are going to be positive changes or negative changes but changes are going to happen.

[jean s]

One change I would like is the reinstatement of the 7 day cruise to the southern Caribbean. We loved this cruise with stops at Aruba and Curacco. We were so sad that the 7 night cruise appears to be ending this February.

[caribill]

From what I gather, Carnival Corp wants more centralization between the lines as opposed to each line running independently.

 

On their recent stock analysts phone conference, Carnival Corp. (not Carival Cruise Lines which, like Princess, is owned by Carnical Corp.) management stated that:

 

o The intention is to continue to allow each line to be run independently, especially in regards to most aspects involving the customers.

 

o However, the intent is also to capitalize on procurement for services and goods that are used by a number of the CCL Corp cruise lines. For example, the number of outside printing suppliers has been reduced from dozens to less than ten. This saves $$$ and should not affect the customer experience.

[Posaune]

We just got upgraded to a BE balcony on Aloha. Nice move from an IF inside guarantee.

[JimmyVWine]

The goal is to get new cruisers on to expose them to a shorter cruise with the hopes of them opting for longer cruises after trying a short one. In theory, this works well...

 

The problem here is the port(s) used as the base of operations for 4 day cruises. As has been pointed out by a number of people, the 4 day cruise only makes sense for people within driving distance of the port, and since FL is so big, that basically means FL residents. While there are many people in FL, the cruise industry has been in their front yard for as long as there has been a cruise industry. If they were the least bit interested in cruising, they would have done so already, so I don't see this as a way to entice new cruisers. If they wanted to do that, they would do 4 day cruises out of NY (to, say, Boston), or vice versa, or perhaps 4 day cruises out of Baltimore, (maybe to Charleston). To my way of thinking, a successful strategy for 4 day cruises on the East Coast has to be one that starts and ends in a more centrally located area, can attract people from a wider range of states, and goes places that aren't more widely served by the 7-10 day market. No offense to the FL residents here, but the numbers speak for themselves. That demographic cannot make the strategy work. But if they were to position a couple of ships such that folks from Portsmouth, NH to Norfolk, VA were within a relatively short drive of the pier, who knows what might happen.

[OCruisers]

Seems it would only be of interest to those in easy driving distance.

Even so, don't think I'd want to do a 4 nighter. :o

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Thrak]

Most short cruises don't leave out of SF or I would probably book them. We are taking one out of SF in May but it doesn't come back - which is a pain. I'd love to be able to cruise to Vancouver and back again with a b2b but the only return is to LA which is illegal.

 

The short cruises out of California almost all go out of LA and it's just too much hassle to get there and back home again. Short cruises out of SF would work great for a lot of people but maybe they don't work financially for Princess. Too bad for me.

 

There is no way I want to fly from CA to FL for a 4 day cruise...

[MCC retired]

The problem here is the port(s) used as the base of operations for 4 day cruises. As has been pointed out by a number of people, the 4 day cruise only makes sense for people within driving distance of the port, and since FL is so big, that basically means FL residents. While there are many people in FL, the cruise industry has been in their front yard for as long as there has been a cruise industry. If they were the least bit interested in cruising, they would have done so already, so I don't see this as a way to entice new cruisers. If they wanted to do that, they would do 4 day cruises out of NY (to, say, Boston), or vice versa, or perhaps 4 day cruises out of Baltimore, (maybe to Charleston). To my way of thinking, a successful strategy for 4 day cruises on the East Coast has to be one that starts and ends in a more centrally located area, can attract people from a wider range of states, and goes places that aren't more widely served by the 7-10 day market. No offense to the FL residents here, but the numbers speak for themselves. That demographic cannot make the strategy work. But if they were to position a couple of ships such that folks from Portsmouth, NH to Norfolk, VA were within a relatively short drive of the pier, who knows what might happen.

 

Hard to find a foreign port other than Canada on a 4 day cruise from the North East ports .

I still suspect that these 4/5 nighters from FLL will be eliminated when Princess sets new season itineraries.

[Dudleydog73]

Hard to find a foreign port other than Canada on a 4 day cruise from the North East ports .

I still suspect that these 4/5 nighters from FLL will be eliminated when Princess sets new season itineraries.

 

Bermuda is always an option.

[JimmyVWine]

Hard to find a foreign port other than Canada on a 4 day cruise from the North East ports .

Which is why the law needs to be changed. It really serves no further purpose. Go to Princess Cay? Legal. Go to Boston? Illegal. Who does that help?

[bhopal21]

Someone enlighten me please.

 

We are considering a Maine Coast and Harbors cruise rt from Portland ME on American Cruise Lines this August and it does not visit a foreign port.

 

Why does the foreign port clause not apply to that cruise?

 

Mike:)

[Coral]

Someone enlighten me please.

 

We are considering a Maine Coast and Harbors cruise rt from Portland ME on American Cruise Lines this August and it does not visit a foreign port.

 

Why does the foreign port clause not apply to that cruise?

 

Mike:)

 

The ships were built in the US.

 

Click on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Cruise_Lines and then click on the ships and most were built in Maryland.

Edited January 3, 2014 by Coral

[bhopal21]

I think the ships were built in the US.

 

Thank you so much! I have never understood that PVSA act or whatever it is called and had no idea that where the ship was built made a difference.

 

I have learned something!

 

Mike:)

[GottaLuvCruising]

Someone enlighten me please.

 

We are considering a Maine Coast and Harbors cruise rt from Portland ME on American Cruise Lines this August and it does not visit a foreign port.

 

Why does the foreign port clause not apply to that cruise?

 

Mike:)

 

American Cruise Lines has to be registered in the USA, employ people eligible to work in the USA and (yikes!) pay USA taxes.

[Coral]

American Cruise Lines has to be registered in the USA, employ people eligible to work in the USA and (yikes!) pay USA taxes.

 

Yes - that too!

[AE_Collector]

Nine days out from a 4 day on Ruby and I see more than 150 balcony cabins available. Is this unusual?

 

How does one get an idea of how full a ship is before the cruise? I would have thought they kept tat very quiet to avoid people waiting until last minute for the deals.

 

Terry

[AE_Collector]

Vancouver return via Hawaii Islands would be a big hit with one of the newer ships.

This would cover BC and Alberta,Washington State passengers. Not too long and not too short.All these areas don't have long flights so that would be cheaper.Certain folks working in the oil Industry in Alberta would love the break.:)

 

We are about to do Tahiti to Honolulu and then on to Vancouver. With the cost of flights to Tahiti, I can never figure why they don't do some occasional trips to South Pacific that start and end in Hawaii as it is so much less expensive to fly in and out of there from North America.

 

And occasional cruises that spend multiple nights in many ports would save more fuel as well as provide cheap accommodations in many of these expensive ports to stay in hotels. Not every cruise but just fit in an occasional cruise in the rotation that takes twice as long to do the circuit. Maybe port fees are more expensive than fuel.

 

Terry

Edited January 3, 2014 by AE_Collector
Typo

[Wehwalt]

How does one get an idea of how full a ship is before the cruise? I would have thought they kept tat very quiet to avoid people waiting until last minute for the deals.

 

Terry

 

About a year ago, Princess introduced cabin maps on their web sites, that show availability. After that, it's just a matter of counting on your fingers.

 

That being said, being able to check availability in that way is great.

 

I can't think of a 4 day cruise out of FLL that would be desirable. Princess Cays sure beats Nassau.

 

I'm taking the B2B2B Ruby 5 days/4 days/5 days tomorrow but that is purely because of the Getaways promotion. Mass market Caribbean ports like Cozumel are otherwise not of great interest to me.

 

We are about to do Tahiti to Honolulu and then on to Vancouver. With the cost of flights to Tahiti, I can never figure why they don't do some occasional trips to South Pacific that start and end in Hawaii as it is so much less expensive to fly in and out of there from North America.

 

And occasional cruises that spend multiple nights in many ports would save more fuel as well as provide cheap accommodations in many of these expensive ports to stay in hotels. Not every cruise but just fit in an occasional cruise in the rotation that takes twice as long to do the circuit. Maybe port fees are more expensive than fuel.

 

Terry

 

I suspect that it is because it takes a few days to go from the Hawaii group of islands to, well, anywhere. And I think you'd find local authorities a bit shirty about cruise ships competing with the local hotels.

Edited January 3, 2014 by Wehwalt

[caribill]

We are about to do Tahiti to Honolulu and then on to Vancouver. With the cost of flights to Tahiti, I can never figure why they don't do some occasional trips to South Pacific that start and end in Hawaii as it is so much less expensive to fly in and out of there from North America.

 

 

Princess does offer cruises from Hawaii to Tahiti, but not always round trip.

 

See Pacific Princess 9/28/14, Ocean Princess 1/18, 1/29

 

In 2013, it was offered on the Ocean Princess 1/8, 2/18, 3/1

[mollyanne]

Do you think Princess has made a mistake trying to market itself as a 4 day cruise product, do you think they will continue to offer this type of sailing.

 

I think it is a mistake to turn over a ship every 4 days - can you imagine the work for the poor room stewards? Not to mention if the ship is not sailing full they will suffer the loss of tips.

[Wehwalt]

I think it is a mistake to turn over a ship every 4 days - can you imagine the work for the poor room stewards? Not to mention if the ship is not sailing full they will suffer the loss of tips.

 

That, presumably was one factor in their decision to do the "Getaways" promotion. Other lines do seem to make a success of the 4 day out of FLL/Miami, for example NCR with Freeport/Nassau/private island.