Reason's for HAL' deep discounts in Carribbean

[RedneckBob]

Oceania pricing is anything but straight forward but we are used to it.

 

I think Redneck Bob is getting Florida resident pricing. I cannot get that pricing.

 

We’ve met Oceania cruisers who enjoy Celebrity and go back and forth. Celebrity solstice class is an excellent value.

 

The discount pricing I get on Oceania is not Florida resident pricing. It is for everyone. In fact I just got an email yesterday from an Internet TA that discounted various Oceania cruises by 40% ! And I to like the Celebrity solstice class.

[SilvertoGold]

 

One of our favorite cruise agents explains that cruise lines really covet new cruisers and want to make them "loyal." But those that have already cruised many times are more set in their ways and there is little need to add extra inducements.

 

Hank

 

Get newbies with incentives and make them loyal. Loyal ones won't require inducements.

 

Nice set up if it works, but does it actually? All those V&V, Explore 4, etc promos aren't going just to newbies.

[iancal]

When we look ar the cruise line loyalty programs it does lead us to believe that the cruise lines are more focussed on new business. Especially when we compare some of the hotel and airline program benefits that we enjoy as regular customers to the rather poor benefits of the cruise line programs.

 

We find rhat many of the so called loyalty perks are nothing but ego strokers with little cost to the cruise line and marginal value to us. Not certain why some people seem to fawn over them so much or even remain loyal because of them.

 

We want the right cabin at the right price on the right ship. That is where our loyalty resides.

[G&G]

Get newbies with incentives and make them loyal. Loyal ones won't require inducements.

 

Nice set up if it works, but does it actually? All those V&V, Explore 4, etc promos aren't going just to newbies.

 

Hi Silver to Gold,

Maybe not so. Years ago one of our grandsons sailed with us for the first and only cruise on HAL. He did not have an email address so I put him on mine. What has happened over the years is emails from HAL to our grandson's email address with special deals that I never receive. :eek:

[Hlitner]

I just want to stear this blog back to the OPs question. Because while we can offer our opinions and speculations....the answer to the OP is very simple. HAL offers deep discounts because they must do that to sell their berths. Some other lines do not need to have major price discounting...but HAL obviously needs to do this to try and fill the ships. What is another interesting factoid is HAL has some of the smallest, oldest ships doing regular Caribbean cruises.

 

Bottom line is that supply/demand dictates prices (the cruise lines all use very sophisticated yield management programs to integrate supply/demand) and HAL simply cannot compete in the Caribbean without deep discounting. And perhaps DW and I represent part of the reason. We are 5 Star Mariners who cruise in the Caribbean for about 3 weeks every year. But we will not even consider another HAL cruise in the Caribbean (but will book HAL for nearly any other itinerary).

 

Hank

[RedneckBob]

I just want to stear this blog back to the OPs question. Because while we can offer our opinions and speculations....the answer to the OP is very simple. HAL offers deep discounts because they must do that to sell their berths. Some other lines do not need to have major price discounting...but HAL obviously needs to do this to try and fill the ships. What is another interesting factoid is HAL has some of the smallest, oldest ships doing regular Caribbean cruises.

 

Bottom line is that supply/demand dictates prices (the cruise lines all use very sophisticated yield management programs to integrate supply/demand) and HAL simply cannot compete in the Caribbean without deep discounting. And perhaps DW and I represent part of the reason. We are 5 Star Mariners who cruise in the Caribbean for about 3 weeks every year. But we will not even consider another HAL cruise in the Caribbean (but will book HAL for nearly any other itinerary).

 

Hank

 

Totally agree with you Hank. We still sail the Caribbean every year but on newer ships; Koningsdam, Eurodam, Equinox, Riviera. Would never ever sail on HAL' s older ships. Just doesn't have the bells and whistles of the newer ships.

[SilvertoGold]

Hi Silver to Gold,

Maybe not so. Years ago one of our grandsons sailed with us for the first and only cruise on HAL. He did not have an email address so I put him on mine. What has happened over the years is emails from HAL to our grandson's email address with special deals that I never receive. :eek:

 

Hi, G&G

Happy New Year! You are right, HAL has different promos for different stars, plus the regular promos like V&V and Explore4 for all.

 

Enjoyed reading a bit about your last cruise. Where to next?

[JRG]

Back to the OPs' question (again). If you remember your Economics 201 ...Profit Maximization and the Perfectly Competitive Firm, you'd agree with Hitlner's comment 'they need to sell berths'

 

I'm not going to cover that theory here, but its a safe assumption that the VP's in HAL pricing group use sophisticated techniques and modeling to manage the process.

 

For sure, external factors like the damage we saw last year from Hurricanes play into the equation, but they affect both the supply AND the demand. Cruiseline management is very similar to Hotel Management and the name of the game is "maximize occupancy".

 

I'm not as familiar with the product mix of ships used in the Caribbean, but that logic certainly holds water. We choose HAL for the itinerary/value mix, but not for the Caribbean.

 

The last HAL Caribbean cruise we did, we only did it because we won the 'free cruise' at Bingo. We like when they did the West Coast sailings out of our home port of San Diego, but that's when people weren't getting gunned down in the Mexican ports.

Edited January 1, 2018 by JRG
corection

[sammiedawg]

The discount pricing I get on Oceania is not Florida resident pricing. It is for everyone. In fact I just got an email yesterday from an Internet TA that discounted various Oceania cruises by 40% ! And I to like the Celebrity solstice class.

 

There is a lot of targeted marketing directed to residents of different states. A travel agent has asked me If I have a Florida address for better deals. Friends who snowbird there always book with their Florida address for better deals.

I get fabulous email offers from another line based on their erroneous info that I am a New York resident. Lived there years ago and still have a kid in Manhattan. One time I called to book the targeted deal but was ineligible for the advertised pricing as I don’t live in NY. I still get the “NY resident” offers.

[chill6x6]

Sorry but I just don't see any deep discounts...

 

I JUST priced a few caribbean cruises for November 2018....similar itineraries...

 

7- day HAL Oosterdam or Nieuw Amsterdam, pick your ship...Neptune suite- $5088 :eek:

7- day Oasis OTS- GS....$3751

7- day Liberty OTS GS...$3345

 

That's kind of a no-brainer isn't it?

[Sea42]

Sorry but I just don't see any deep discounts...

 

I JUST priced a few caribbean cruises for November 2018....similar itineraries...

 

7- day HAL Oosterdam or Nieuw Amsterdam, pick your ship...Neptune suite- $5088 :eek:

7- day Oasis OTS- GS....$3751

7- day Liberty OTS GS...$3345

 

That's kind of a no-brainer isn't it?

You won't see the discounts this far out. After final payment is when the sales really begin.

[iancal]

HAL is a great cruise line.

 

I think that it is important to match your expectations and preferences to the right ship, the right itinerary, and the timing of the right cruise for you.

 

It is possible to end up with a truly wonderful cruise. If you fail to do this I suspect the chances for a disappointment may be higher than would be otherwise.

 

No different than the other mass market cruise lines out there.

[Takes Notes]

I agree a lot with what has been said already in this thread. Another thought.....on the Caribbean sailings, HAL needs to rely on onboard revenue to make the sailings profitable. So, the dollars spent on liquor, casino, and shore excursions help to keep the base price of the sailings lower than those for other parts of the world, including port-heavy itineraries in Europe and South America. Also, the novelty of Cuba can't be underestimated, and those sailings tend to be at least $100 pp higher. Just my two cents.

[DaveOKC]

Sorry but I just don't see any deep discounts...

 

I JUST priced a few caribbean cruises for November 2018....similar itineraries...

 

7- day HAL Oosterdam or Nieuw Amsterdam, pick your ship...Neptune suite- $5088 :eek:

7- day Oasis OTS- GS....$3751

7- day Liberty OTS GS...$3345

 

That's kind of a no-brainer isn't it?

 

Thats a high price for a 7 day cruise in a Neptune. Usually its more like $2500-3000 pp.

[Aussie Jeep]

I booked an 11 night on the Koningsdam yesterday Was a great price $1,349- single in an inside room I see that there are many vacant cabins so I guess the price will fall further but I am happy with the price I paid and with luck the upgrade Fairy may call!!

 

I am glad I booked. I booked this cruise only a few days ago and got a cabin on Deck 11 There are now no cabins left on deck 11 (I like the higher decks) and the cost has gone up by over $200

[chill6x6]

Thats a high price for a 7 day cruise in a Neptune. Usually its more like $2500-3000 pp.

 

Hi Dave...

 

ACTUALLY...that was the rate for TWO. I didn't make that clear...

[Jade13]

I just want to stear this blog back to the OPs question. Because while we can offer our opinions and speculations....the answer to the OP is very simple. HAL offers deep discounts because they must do that to sell their berths. Some other lines do not need to have major price discounting...but HAL obviously needs to do this to try and fill the ships. What is another interesting factoid is HAL has some of the smallest, oldest ships doing regular Caribbean cruises.

 

Bottom line is that supply/demand dictates prices (the cruise lines all use very sophisticated yield management programs to integrate supply/demand) and HAL simply cannot compete in the Caribbean without deep discounting. And perhaps DW and I represent part of the reason. We are 5 Star Mariners who cruise in the Caribbean for about 3 weeks every year. But we will not even consider another HAL cruise in the Caribbean (but will book HAL for nearly any other itinerary).

 

Hank

 

 

 

Normally I would agree and say no way on HAL in the Caribbean. But, having not been to Cuba yet, will consider Veendam because the prices look great with 2 different Cuba port stops, Celebrity doesn’t go there, and Azamara is too expensive to be sitting in Caribbean ports in my opinion.

[EDLOS]

As OP, why doesn't HAL book more of their ships to So. America/Antartica where typically, they get higher prices and are often sold out in cabin categories???????

[Hlitner]

Normally I would agree and say no way on HAL in the Caribbean. But, having not been to Cuba yet, will consider Veendam because the prices look great with 2 different Cuba port stops, Celebrity doesn’t go there, and Azamara is too expensive to be sitting in Caribbean ports in my opinion.

 

We actually agree with you on this issue. However, there are just too many questions we have about the Cuba Cruises (such as can we go off the ship on our own, are we forced to take HAL Excursions, can we book private tours?) so we are not considering one of the Cuba cruises until there is more detailed info available. A good friend of ours recently gave up on the Cuba cruise thing because of the lack of good info. Instead, they booked their own air to Cuba (via Mexico....to avoid the US rules) and have actually booked 15 days on the island (some hotels, some airbnb) and will hire car/driver. We are leaning the same way...but are waiting for our friends to report on their experience (hopefully not from a Cuban dungeon).

 

Hank