Norwegian CEO shares his plan for a cruising comeback — and it isn’t what you think

[CruisingNole]

https://thepointsguy.com/news/norwegian-cruise-ceo-frank-del-rio-future-of-cruising/

 

I literally laughed out loud when I read this part.

 

"Waiting for crazy discounts from Norwegian’s brands? Don’t count on it.

Even if demand is down, Del Rio said the line would stick to its time-tested strategy of holding price, even if that means ships sail less full.

“Our strategy has always been not to be the deepest discounter,” he said. “We believe in our product. We believe in the value proposition of cruising, the value proposition that our three brands offer and our customers obviously believe in it because we have [had] the highest yields.”

[seaman11]

[complawyer]

sure, what does he care. he makes 17 million a year

[seaman11]

a new ceo is needed , one that understands without the customer you have nothing .  inflating prices and not refunding or giving the proper fcc in a timely manner is a bad move imo. 

Edited May 8, 2020 by seaman11

[HowardK]

2 minutes ago, seaman11 said:

a new ceo is needed , one that understands without the customer you have nothing .  inflating prices and not refunding or giving the proper fcc in a timely manner is a bad move imo. 

amen to that- Kevin Sheenan seemed to love cruising .

bad karma was when del rio said "Our customers spend money on board like there is no tomorrow"- 

My DSC had risen twice since my booking but they were nice enough to say I could prepay at the 2nd price vs. paying the 3rd.

Oh well its all Karma.

Although i respect the fact he has a business run, there is something to be said about treating your current customers okay.

[csopi]

I really don’t know when cruising will resume.
I have a cruise booked with another cruise line for February 2021.
Lately I have not found anything worth booking with Norwegian, they have been way more expensive with overall costs than other even better cruise lines than them.
For example port taxes I don’t see how going to the same ports as another cruise line. Norwegians port taxes are more than $100 higher.
Too bad I enjoyed all the Norwegian cruises I have taken but not to the point that I am willing to pay $400-$600 more for 2 people with almost identical itinerary and perks.

[complawyer]

basically you are correct, but its hard to beat (1) freestyle dining,(2) 24 hour on call butler (3) priority boarding (4) concierge service.

 

while there is not much a concierge can do for me on board,  (its not like i need him to get me tickets to a broadway show), the ability of the concierge to get me disembarked and to my luggage within 10-15 minutes while everyone else is clogging the halls and stairways waiting to get off the ship is to me well worth the price of admission

[Sunseeker810]

I just called NCL to ask a question about "social distancing".  I wanted to know about how they were going to handle the pool deck.  I asked if they were planning to sail at a lesser capacity in order to space out the chairs.  The answer was no.  I was told to get out there early.  Perhaps 3AM???

[jacksonx]

19 minutes ago, complawyer said:

basically you are correct, but its hard to beat (1) freestyle dining,(2) 24 hour on call butler (3) priority boarding (4) concierge service.

 

while there is not much a concierge can do for me on board,  (its not like i need him to get me tickets to a broadway show), the ability of the concierge to get me disembarked and to my luggage within 10-15 minutes while everyone else is clogging the halls and stairways waiting to get off the ship is to me well worth the price of admission

 

Try MSC Yacht Club.

Usually much less expensive than Haven, MUCH better service and amenities.

[HuliHuli]

1 hour ago, seaman11 said:

a new ceo is needed

Can I be assured you won't carp about the first decision a new CEO would make?

[luv2kroooz]

1 hour ago, CruisingNole said:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/norwegian-cruise-ceo-frank-del-rio-future-of-cruising/

 

I literally laughed out loud when I read this part.

 

"Waiting for crazy discounts from Norwegian’s brands? Don’t count on it.

Even if demand is down, Del Rio said the line would stick to its time-tested strategy of holding price, even if that means ships sail less full.

“Our strategy has always been not to be the deepest discounter,” he said. “We believe in our product. We believe in the value proposition of cruising, the value proposition that our three brands offer and our customers obviously believe in it because we have [had] the highest yields.”

He is either out of touch with how he operates or is lying. He's been deep discounting last minute cruises for years to fill ships. Those 15 plus day April 2020 Transatlantics were starting at $399 and $499. NCL has been hands down the cheapest for bottom feeder, last minute cruisers like me. He's been talking about this for many years. A better representation of his time tested strategy is to hook people early at higher prices, and then sell whatever is left at deep discounts to the bottom feeders.

 

Again, the interviewer was uninformed and failed to challenge him on this.

[seaman11]

1 hour ago, Sunseeker810 said:

I just called NCL to ask a question about "social distancing".  I wanted to know about how they were going to handle the pool deck.  I asked if they were planning to sail at a lesser capacity in order to space out the chairs.  The answer was no.  I was told to get out there early.  Perhaps 3AM???

the reps dont know the plans .  the cruislines are working with the cdc , im sure there will be a decent plan in place by the time they sail. 

[david_sobe]

We can flame FDR all we want but his crazy policy worked for several years.  Its a new day which calls for new ways.  With unemployment at 15% far less people are going to cruise which means deep discounts.

Just like with new cars and homes.....its a buyers market.  I have always thought NCL pricing was overvalued during the last few years.  Lets see what happens.

BTW, in the same interview he talks about an Asian demand for cruises.  Was it not him who put the new JOY in China because of the "China demand."  Huge mistake costing 50 million dollars.

Yet he talks like that never happened.  
Every interview or speech FDR gives really has nothing to do with cruising or luring customers with a better model or pricing.  Its only about raising prices and fooling customers.  Nothing he ever says is customer based.

Edited May 8, 2020 by david_sobe

[NutsAboutGolf]

40 minutes ago, blcruising said:

He is either out of touch with how he operates or is lying. He's been deep discounting last minute cruises for years to fill ships. Those 15 plus day April 2020 Transatlantics were starting at $399 and $499. NCL has been hands down the cheapest for bottom feeder, last minute cruisers like me. He's been talking about this for many years. A better representation of his time tested strategy is to hook people early at higher prices, and then sell whatever is left at deep discounts to the bottom feeders.

 

Again, the interviewer was uninformed and failed to challenge him on this.

 

This was my exact same thought.  It's possible Del Rio isn't fully aware of the sailaway discount percentage yet because the interviewer didn't bring this to his attention, who knows.  He seemed shocked at carnivals "$30 a day" cruises.  Took me one minute to go to a 3rd party cruise site, pull up all NCL sailings for 2020, selected all, copied, pasted in a spreadsheet, divided the fare by night and sort.  Note, these are base fares.  Nov 23rd TA from Barcelona to San Juan, 13 nights and $399, that's $30.69/night, also if disembarkment day counts as a day then we divide $399/14 which is $28.50/day.  Cheapest non-TA has two sailings for $39/night.  Spreadsheet shows 68 sailings in 2020 that are under $50/night.

[Corliss]

1 hour ago, blcruising said:

He is either out of touch with how he operates or is lying. He's been deep discounting last minute cruises for years to fill ships. Those 15 plus day April 2020 Transatlantics were starting at $399 and $499. NCL has been hands down the cheapest for bottom feeder, last minute cruisers like me. He's been talking about this for many years. A better representation of his time tested strategy is to hook people early at higher prices, and then sell whatever is left at deep discounts to the bottom feeders.

 

Again, the interviewer was uninformed and failed to challenge him on this.

 

Basically I agree with you completely.  That is the way NCL markets cruises and I benefit from it greatly.  17 cruises with them last year....all with the solo supplement removed after they had repeatedly marked down the cruise near the sailing date. 

 

I had been hoping to see that continue, but if they are only going to bring 3 ships on line initially unfortunately they will not have to do much dramatic price cutting...:-(  And make no mistake about it NCL will return to cruising with a big advantage over its competitors because of their excellent covid safety record.  A comparison of the negative Cramer remarks about cruise lines and cruising in March vs. his statement the other day that he is going to book a cruise with Del Rio is a good example of how much value people are likely to give NCL.  

Edited May 8, 2020 by Corliss

[complawyer]

im not going to be the cheerleader for ncl, but i have been cruising with them exclusively since 2010 when i was offered a free cruise thru cesars entertainment. while the freebie was an inside cabin, my wife and i have always upgraded.

 

ive checked other cruise lines, and after 10 years i have determined that regardless of all other factors, in terms of price,ports, days of the cruise and all amenities, ncl still gives you the most bang for your buck.  per prior note, i did look up msc yacht club, and although the amenities are similar, the choices of ports and times i want to sail dont work for me.

 

at the end of the day, whatever problems have arisen on our cruises (and there have been about 15 since 2010 all on ncl) they were all little annoyances that could  be overlooked. 

 

if ncl stays afloat (no pun intended) i will continue to book with them. i will concede, however, that we always book a suite or a haven whenever possible.  once youve been in the haven or a suite its hard to downshift to anything lower and i dont man that to be snobbish in anyway

[sfaaa]

Since this news came out, I  booked two NCL cruises today. One in 2021 and the other 2022. Prices are pretty good, with low deposits and refundable. Figure it's worth to gamble a few hundred dollars and lock in the low saleaway rates. 

[cruiser4801]

DelRio is the worst thing that ever happened to NCL.  He wasn't supposed to get the job after NCL's Oceania acquisition but former CEO Kevin Sheehan had a problem (I know what it was) that caused him to step down.  The Oceania people then took over NCL.  NCL's customer disservice has to be the worst in the industry.

 

NCL has lost a lot of formerly loyal customers as a result of the 90-day refund debacle they have instituted.  I will never cruise on  NCL again and they can keep my platinum level status.  

 

Bye, bye, NCL.  I will not miss you.

[fstuff1]

6 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/norwegian-cruise-ceo-frank-del-rio-future-of-cruising/

 

I literally laughed out loud when I read this part.

 

"Waiting for crazy discounts from Norwegian’s brands? Don’t count on it.

Even if demand is down, Del Rio said the line would stick to its time-tested strategy of holding price, even if that means ships sail less full.

“Our strategy has always been not to be the deepest discounter,” he said. “We believe in our product. We believe in the value proposition of cruising, the value proposition that our three brands offer and our customers obviously believe in it because we have [had] the highest yields.”

 

NCL has a time tested strategy of holding price?! 

since when???

 

every cruise in the past 5 yrs that i booked directly from NCL's website was $50/day or less and solo pricing!

they were all last minute pricing. ie: 1 week before sail

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by fstuff1

[eroller]

Words and actions are two different things.  What sounds good to investors and the industry isn't necessarily reality.  FDR has always been good at talking out of his a--.  

 

Sister brand Oceania just announced $999 lead-in fares, quite inexpensive for this upscale cruise line.  Sounds like the discounting at NCLH has already begun.  

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/oceania-cruises-sale-has-fares-starting-999

 

I expect to see similar discounting at NCL and Regent.  

 

The cruise industry as a whole is in damage control mode.  Yes diehard cruisers will return, but the perception of the industry to non-diehard cruisers is at an all time low.  Diehard cruisers are not enough to fill ships week after week.  Spiking demand will be a challenge.  It will have to be done with a combination of low fares and confidence building that cruising will actually be safe.  One thing that will help cruise lines with yields are capacity restraints, whether that be with a reduction in max capacity or some ships remaining in warm layup for the foreseeable future.  Matching capacity with demand along with yield management should keep pricing from reaching rock bottom levels, but for sure there will be discounting.    

[seaman11]

5 hours ago, HuliHuli said:

Can I be assured you won't carp about the first decision a new CEO would make?

i am not in the habit of running down the ceo , so i don't get your dig. I am a business owner. and what i have noticed is a series of missteps that have left would be customers hesitating  a bit on whether to cruise with them or not in the future. 

 

i don't care who the ceo is, that is a big problem. 

Edited May 9, 2020 by seaman11

[skywonder]

7 hours ago, seaman11 said:

a new ceo is needed , one that understands without the customer you have nothing .  inflating prices and not refunding or giving the proper fcc in a timely manner is a bad move imo. 

Agreed Del Rio needs to go!

[jotjot]

His statement makes sense in an convoluted way, not to sound cheap but is. Like giving you free drinks but ending up costing you more.

[numberguy]

9 hours ago, complawyer said:

basically you are correct, but its hard to beat (1) freestyle dining,(2) 24 hour on call butler (3) priority boarding (4) concierge service.

 

while there is not much a concierge can do for me on board,  (its not like i need him to get me tickets to a broadway show), the ability of the concierge to get me disembarked and to my luggage within 10-15 minutes while everyone else is clogging the halls and stairways waiting to get off the ship is to me well worth the price of admission

 

While I will continue to sail NCL, not everyone has access to items 2, 3, and 4 in your list above--only the people who pay for the Haven and/or have the correct loyalty level can access those items.

 

--Michael

[sverigecruiser]

12 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

 

"Waiting for crazy discounts from Norwegian’s brands? Don’t count on it.

Even if demand is down, Del Rio said the line would stick to its time-tested strategy of holding price, even if that means ships sail less full.

“Our strategy has always been not to be the deepest discounter,” 

 

This is excellent news if it's correct, which I doubt it is!

 

I don't like to read here on cruise critic how cheap cruises lots of people can book when they book late!

 

I wish they had a fixed price which everyone had to pay because I think that price should be lower than the "early" price they have now.