What happen to 10 day Mexican Rivera Cruises?

[sissylala]

Looking for a 10 Day cruise out of Los Angeles and found 6 cruises through April 2018. Why are the scale back, 7 day cruises are too short? Maybe they are not profitable, last time we went each got 300 on broad credit?

[beg3yrs]

Unless you get someone here on CC who is employed by Princess and is willing to spill company private information, all you're going to get here is speculation for answers.

[moki'smommy]

Statistically, cruise lines make more money per diem on shorter cruises vs. longer, and do better when there is a higher percentage of newbies and passengers with low numbers of previous cruises.

 

Why? First timers have more of a "need to try everything" personality, and will spend more to get it all in. They are also more concerned about going off the ship on their own so will book excursions thru the cruise line. People with a high number of previous cruises know what they like and don't like and will stick to their budget purchasing those things that they have planned. They've learned how to have an enjoyable cruise without paying for a lot of "extras."

 

Short vs. long cruises--again, more newbies on shorter sailings. Many people decide that they will do one specialty dining or one spa thing per cruise, and they do that whether the cruise is 4 or 10 nights. Also, the bill overall looks a lot bigger on a longer cruise (people see the bottom number, not the per diem amount), so often they cut back a little on the long cruises.

 

These comments are based on overall industry stats, I have no info that relates specifically to Princess.

 

As to why more short cruises scheduled...we can speculate all day, but my guess is that it is financial. That's the engine that drives the company.

[HUNKY]

Many cruise lines have pulled out of the Mexican Riviera due to safety concerns. Our last one on Royal Caribbean was $481 per person all in, for an ocean view. 10 nights.

[fishywood]

What year was your last 10 night cruise from LA? For quite a long time the only LA 10-nighters have been the Sea of Cortez cruises, usually one each at the beginning and end of the season. Ten night cruises to Acapulco and Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo disappeared from Princess years ago.

Edited June 25, 2016 by fishywood

[SadieN]

Let's see

Economy started to tank in 2008

H1N1 flu in 2009.

Cartel issues in Mazatlan and Alcapulco.

Zihuetenejo tender pier was severely damaged in a storm.

 

For several years only Carnival was out here. We finally got a few ships back. Mazatlan is now a bit safer.

 

We've sailed a 10 day three years ago, 9 day last year. Last January we sailed on a 13day MR cruise on Carnival.

Edited June 25, 2016 by SadieN

[Astro Flyer]

The 10-day Mexican cruises have been replaced with 10-day Baja Peninsula & Sea of Cortez cruises. It's something different & friends have enjoyed this itinerary much more than the previous 10-day itinerary.

 

I think Princess made a sound financial decision by limiting the number of each itinerary from my homeport of LA. Since limiting the number of each itinerary (Hawaii, Coastal, Panama Canal & Mexico) there's been a significant price increase particularly to Hawaii & Panama Canal. I think that's a result of with less supply and the same demand cruise fares are now more expensive.

 

I regularly check for short-notice deals from LA because being retired we can book such deals & drive to the port. However it's now less common to have those deals so by limiting the number of itineraries to each destination they're filling their ships without having to frequently lower prices. That is most often the case to Hawaii & Panama Canal because sometimes there are still some great deals to Mexico & on Coastals.

Edited June 25, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[Sea Hag]

The 10 day Mexican Riviera round trip San Francisco cruises are still being offered. Since you live in Foster City, maybe you've done that one too many times?

[Cruise Raider]

I always fall back on the 10 Mexican cruises myself but have noticed they rotate between the 14-15 night Hawaii cruises, the 7 day coastal cruises and lastly the 10 night Mexico cruises....both out of LA and SF. I like the itinerary of the 10 night Mexican cruises from Los Angeles than the one leaving out of SF. In the summer, they move all the ships up to Alaska so even less offerings for any of the above.

Edited June 26, 2016 by Cruise Raider