As service goes down profits go up

[RDC1]

Cruise lines have to be competitive. There is really no comparison to the cruise line capacity of today, compared to 20 years ago.

 

In 1990 you had 3.7 million passengers carried by cruise lines, today you in 2016 that number will be almost 23 million. To get that much of an increase the cruise lines need to appeal to a much larger demographic, which means a much lower average price point.

 

Cruise lines are also in a business that is very capital intensive and that has relatively low margins. Since so much of the expense is fixed on a given cruise, profit requires high occupancy levels (in excess of 100% of 2 bed rates).

 

Couple those items with the fact that the industry is in very competitive environment that provides the companies with very limited ability to increase prices and you get the requirement to control costs or go out of business. Cruise lines not only compete with each other, but also the rest of the leisure travel industry. Cruise line capacities have increased substantially and other travel choices have also increased.

 

It also leads to the other very visible changes in the business. The increase of additional fee services (outside of the base fare), and the increasing trend of ship within a ship at a higher price offerings.

Edited December 29, 2016 by RDC1

[RDC1]

Those three issues don't even make the radar with us-sandwiches, library, promenade deck.

 

We select a cruise based on value. Our perception of HAL over the past few years is that their value, based on our perception, has slipped below that offered by several other lines. Specifically Princess, Celebrity, and lately some RCI ships. I suspect that there are those who still view the line as a premium product. It isn't.

 

We vote with our feet, cherry pick the best cruise that meets our criteria. HAL is not making the shortlist as often as it once was. Not an issue for us since there are other good lines and many very good ships to select from.

 

Cruise line musical chairs. I feel the same way about Princess and Celebrity and have increased my HAL choices this year.

 

As the old saying goes familiarity breeds contempt. It seems to apply to cruises lines very well.

[geoherb]

I throw Princess, Celebrity and HAL together. Princess and HAL have won more of our cruise dollars because I can usually get a better price on them (plus my Carnival shareholder on-board credit). I'll miss my Princess perks on our upcoming HAL cruise--but using the self-service laundry once during our cruise won't ruin it for us.

 

In terms of service and entertainment, our last HAL cruise was sort of disappointing. (For instance, I had never been on a cruise that did not have any male dancers in the production cast.) But we still had a great time. I'm hoping that going back to a larger ship (Zuiderdam) will be an improvement over the last cruise (on the Veendam) in those areas.

[OlsSalt]

We enjoy westbound transatlantic cruises and had to cancel our scheduled Eurodam cruise this October.

 

Trying to find one for 2017 was an eye opener. HAL has severely reduced the number of port stops...in half!

 

Much to my dismay, I booked Royal Princess because it has a decent itinerary...and will forego the four star perks that we enjoy.

 

Using an online cruise search engine, I couldn't find your Oct 17 Eurodam TA, but found a similar TA Westerdam for $2100 - 12 ports, compared to the Royal Princess for $2700 - 14 ports

 

Biggest difference was the relative size of the ships - Royal nearly 4000 passengers and Westedam a little over 2000.

 

However, I agree the Princess itinerary looks very interesting compared to the Westerdam, but beyond that not sure this is a proper comparison to make for current "higher prices and lesser quality" argument. Westerdam still looks like the better TA deal for the price - personal itinerary choices not withstanding.

[hattack]

service levels are a direct reflection of the increase of the size and technology of the vessels and the changing demographics of guests who cruise as compared to 10-15 years...veteran cruisers are willing to do the trade off in exchange for cruise fares to remain low...it's a balancing act for the cruise lines...I started cruising in the mid 70's and have as much fun today as way back then...IMHO service levels of today for the most part are pretty much what I expect which is why I cruise every year

[iancal]

It is often very difficult to compare cruise prices outside a short window of a day or so. They can change so frequently...up or down. And the changes can be significant. We have seen prices change within an eight hour time frame.

[kira5]

There are times I have felt like this when onboard.

[whogo]

We enjoy westbound transatlantic cruises and had to cancel our scheduled Eurodam cruise this October.

 

Trying to find one for 2017 was an eye opener. HAL has severely reduced the number of port stops...in half!

 

Much to my dismay, I booked Royal Princess because it has a decent itinerary...and will forego the four star perks that we enjoy.

Great looking itinerary, innlady1, you chose wisely.

 

Saturday, October 21 Barcelona, Spain 7:00pm

Sunday, October 22 Valencia, Spain 7:00am 5:00pm

Monday, October 23 Cartagena, Spain 7:00am 5:00pm

Tuesday, October 24 Gibraltar, UK Territory 8:00am 11:00pm

Wednesday, October 25 Cadiz, Spain 7:00am 5:00pm

Thursday, October 26 At Sea

Friday, October 27 Tenerife, Canary Islands 8:00am 9:00pm

Saturday, October 28 Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands 7:00am 4:00pm

Sunday, October 29 At Sea

Monday, October 30 At Sea

Tuesday, October 31 At Sea

Wednesday, November 1 At Sea

Thursday, November 2 At Sea

Friday, November 3 At Sea

Saturday, November 4 At Sea

Sunday, November 5 Fort Lauderdale, FL 6:00am

[dogo88]

Those three issues don't even make the radar with us-sandwiches, library, promenade deck.

 

We select a cruise based on value. Our perception of HAL over the past few years is that their value, based on our perception, has slipped below that offered by several other lines. Specifically Princess, Celebrity, and lately some RCI ships. I suspect that there are those who still view the line as a premium product. It isn't.

 

We vote with our feet, cherry pick the best cruise that meets our criteria. HAL is not making the shortlist as often as it once was. Not an issue for us since there are other good lines and many very good ships to select from.

 

Over the past few years we have taken the exact same approach and have been pleasantly surprised.

 

Dan

[cbr663]

Those three issues don't even make the radar with us-sandwiches, library, promenade deck.

 

We select a cruise based on value. Our perception of HAL over the past few years is that their value, based on our perception, has slipped below that offered by several other lines. Specifically Princess, Celebrity, and lately some RCI ships. I suspect that there are those who still view the line as a premium product. It isn't.

 

We vote with our feet, cherry pick the best cruise that meets our criteria. HAL is not making the shortlist as often as it once was. Not an issue for us since there are other good lines and many very good ships to select from.

 

That is exactly the OP's point. HAL's value proposition no longer meets their needs and they are moving on. I am guessing that we are finding ourselves in the same position when I wrote earlier that we recently cancelled a HAL cruise due to the lack of motivation to sail. We haven't abandoned HAL - but the shine is definitely not as bright.

 

Nothing wrong with that. HAL still meets the needs of lots of people. Surely we can understand though that it doesn't meet the needs of everyone.