Out and Back Cruises why is it only some cruise lines

[getting older slowly]

HI All...

 

Question   Why is it that only some of main stream cruise line do out and back cruises... start and finish at the same port ????

 

Another observation the some of the up end cruise lines.... basically do a round the world trip and breaking it up into smaller cruises....

 

Has it got something to do the demographic of the cruisers... people whom travel with the higher end of cruising loved flying round the world to catch a ship...

 

Or has it got something to do with cruise line making more money......

 

Cheers Don

[clo]

2 minutes ago, getting older slowly said:

people whom travel with the higher end of cruising loved flying round the world to catch a ship...

It's unlikely that we would ever cruise anywhere if the beginning/ending ports weren't interesting to us. Where we'd go in early and stay over at the ending. But I've learned here that there are those who cruise solely for the ship experience.

[cruisemom42]

I would say older cruise passengers -- some of whom frequently complain on this site that flying is tough on their older bodies -- probably are one of the target demographics for longer cruises that start from/return to the same point. 

 

Round-the-world cruises have long been a "thing", and from what I read, the majority of passengers tend to be pretty elderly. After all, they are most likely to have the time and the money.

 

If you are talking about short cruises, a number of mass market lines do offer week-long cruises (plus/minus a few days) that begin/end from the same port, at least in the US. Part of the reason for that is the "passport exception" that exists if cruises start and end at the same point, which is part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative:

 

U.S. citizens on closed-loop cruises (cruises that begin and end at the same U.S. port) are able to enter the United States with a birth certificate and government-issued photo ID. Please be aware that you may still be required to present a passport to enter the countries your cruise ship is visiting. Check with your cruise line to ensure you have the appropriate documents.

 

In some places though, as clo suggests, it's often considered more desirable to start and end your trip in different cities (e.g., in Europe), to experience them as well as your cruise.

[Flatbush Flyer]

45 minutes ago, getting older slowly said:

HI All...

 

Question   Why is it that only some of main stream cruise line do out and back cruises... start and finish at the same port ????

 

Another observation the some of the up end cruise lines.... basically do a round the world trip and breaking it up into smaller cruises....

 

Has it got something to do the demographic of the cruisers... people whom travel with the higher end of cruising loved flying round the world to catch a ship...

 

Or has it got something to do with cruise line making more money......

 

Cheers Don

We do mostly longer cruises of 4 weeks +\- that almost always start/end in different locations. And one of the factors in choosing those itineraries relates to picking start/end ports where we want to spend extra days (e.g., pre-cruise Safari for Cape Town cruise). And occasionally, one of these ports will be in the U.S. (e.g., home in SF, NYC for a Broadway binge). But, seldom would you ever see us doing a Swamplandia RT unless it was something unique like sandwiching the Amazon with a few Caribbean ports.

 

In each of these cases, we make the most out of our time away from home as well as our bizclass airfares.

 

At the bottom line, these types of single long multi-city land/cruise combos are far more efficacious than several short separate cruises each with duplicative air and other arrangements.

 

If you've got the time for this type of travel, do the math.

Edited June 14, 2020 by Flatbush Flyer

[John Bull]

Pretty-well all the major cruise lines offer cruises which end up at the start point, in fact I'd say that's the majority of cruises . And I know that includes sailings out of Sydney.

But  we prefer one-way cruises, for much the same reasons as Flatbush. (except instead of bizclass flights it's cattle-class )

 

We also used to enjoy the "Grand Voyages" of now-defunct Voyages of Discovery,  which meandered around the globe like a tramp, rarely repeating a port for up to a year. You could book segments of 2-3 weeks, much like legs of a Round-the-World. We once managed about 5 weeks, but met folk who'd been on the ship since our previous cruise on her. A budget cruise line, elderly ship, visited off-beat ports and well within our pockets.  Sadly, yet to find an equivalent.

 

JB 

[CruiserBruce]

Round trip, or out and back cruises, are very appealing to the average working family booking a cruise...roundtrip airfares, relatively simple travel arrangements.

 

Almost all cruise lines do at least some cruises that start and end at different ports. And virtually every one does cruises that are roundtrip out of a port. Some cruise lines do more than others. And those cruises appeal to different types of cruisers...yes, typically older. 

 

 

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, getting older slowly said:

HI All...

 

Question   Why is it that only some of main stream cruise line do out and back cruises... start and finish at the same port ????

 

Another observation the some of the up end cruise lines.... basically do a round the world trip and breaking it up into smaller cruises....

 

Has it got something to do the demographic of the cruisers... people whom travel with the higher end of cruising loved flying round the world to catch a ship...

 

Or has it got something to do with cruise line making more money......

 

Cheers Don

EVERYTHING about cruising has got something to do with the cruise line making more money.

 

Round the world cruises are not that easy to sell:  how many people can (or want to) spend three or so months on one ship?  But the pricing has to be the key element.  If you think of a ninety day sailing do you think it might be easier to fill a cabin by selling six fifteen day segments for $15,000 each (two passengers paying $7,500 each) or the whole itinerary for $90,000.  Not only is it highly likely that there would be more than six couples out there willing and able to pay $15,000 for each couple willing to pay $90,000 — but the weekly on board spending (a significant revenue element) must be a lot higher among people not on board for the long haul.

[Hlitner]

We are pretty adventurous travelers/cruisers and have long preferred cruises that begin and end at different ports.   Why?  Because it gives us an opportunity to conveniently spend some land time at both ends of the cruise.  So, for example, we could fly to Spain, spend a few days or weeks driving around the country (and perhaps also Portugal) and then board a cruise in Barcelona that might end, for example, at Civitavecchia.  From that port we would pick up a rental car and spend a few weeks driving around Italy.   The cost of so-called "open jaw" air is generally about the same as a basic round trip fare so it all is good.  Even in the USA we have done quite a few cruises that start and end in different ports such as the an annual repo cruise where we start in NYC and end up at a Florida Port (or once we went all the way through the Panama Canal and ended at San Diego.

 

The OP might not be aware that there is a pretty large group of cruise lovers who are retired and have the time for longer voyages and trips.  Many of the more exotic itineraries sell-out far in advance and are often priced at higher (cost per day) then shorter 7 day round trip cruises.  If I want to take a 7 day Caribbean cruise I can always find something at the last minute (often at amazing prices).  But some of our longer cruises need to be booked months (or even more then a year) in advance.   While some of these can be what the OP called  "high end" cruise...other ships are just basic mass market vessels.  One can take the Regal Princess in the Caribbean.  or One could have booked that same ship for a 56 day cruise from Southampton to Sydney (COVID-19 cancelled that voyage).  Same ship, same food, etc. but different itinerary.

 

Hank

[calliopecruiser]

4 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

Or has it got something to do with cruise line making more money......

It always has something to do with the cruise line making more money.  They'll try to arrange their itineraries in a way they think they will sell the most.

 

Closed loop cruises (that start and end at the same port) are also often shorter - both those things can be attractive to younger, working cruisers who may be able to drive to the port and have limited vacation time from their job (or schools).   One way cruises are more attractive to people who have more time, and want the embarkation and debarkation locations as additional places to visit and tour -- adding days or weeks on to the cruise for a land vacation.  Those cruisers are more likely to be retired or semi-retired.

[ldubs]

5 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

HI All...

 

Question   Why is it that only some of main stream cruise line do out and back cruises... start and finish at the same port ????.

 

Cheers Don

 

We used to do a lot of those when our kids were younger. Mostly Mexican Riviera. It was more of a fun family group enjoying the ship-board experience than it was about seeing sights.   We frequently did this with our family groups of 10 or more.   I guess that doesn't explain why some lines do and some don't, which is really what your question is.  

 

We still do the family group cruises but now it is usually just us "oldies" as all the kids are grown and into their own things.  Now our group cruises are a little more itinerary focused. For the last one out of Singapore, just ahead of the CV-19 shut down, we were 21 total in the group.     

[getting older slowly]

Background for the question

 

Yes we are retired.....  we live Australia and have been doing 13+ night cruises with Princess

Out and Back either New Zealand, or South Pacific Islands  from Home Port......

 

Other Lines HAL, Celebrity, Oceania  all do one way cruises to New Zealand....

ending of starting in Auckland.... The better half doesn't fly....  It would just be nice to go on a different line......   Also enjoy being at Sea and being on the Ship  as it is a real holiday no driving, cooking, or cleaning

 

as well as seeing new place. we particularly enjoy New Zealand  which we had done 6 times and enjoy seeing different things in port on each visit..

 

One day we will do the circumnavigation of Australia 26 nights.

 

Cheers Don

 

Edited June 14, 2020 by getting older slowly
spelling adn fat fingers

[sverigecruiser]

We prefer roundtrip cruises. One of the  reasons for that is that the cruise is the most important part of the cruise so when it's over it's a waste of time and money to spend some days in the town where we disembark. It's better for us to spend a few days in the place where we shall embark and fly straight home after the cruise. It should also feel like waste of money to disembark in a new town and not spend some extra time there but we should still not really enjoy it when the cruise is over.

 

The problem for us is that most longer, more than a week, roundtrip cruises are on older ships and we prefer the newer ships.   

[navybankerteacher]

There are two distinct products:  the mass production, mass market cruise - largely from US ports - typically to Mexico, the Bahamas or the Caribbean, three to seven days, to and from the same port - for people who are largely interested in just the shipboard experience (which also accommodate the bargain cruisers who do not want to bother with passports);  and then the “traveller’s” cruise for people who want to experience different places - who see different embarkation and debarkation ports as a significant part of the deal - 

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, sverigecruiser said:

the cruise is the most important part of the cruise 

 

Of course I meant to write that the cruise is the most important part of the vacation!

[CruiserBruce]

7 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

Background for the question

 

Yes we are retired.....  we live Australia and have been doing 13+ night cruises with Princess

Out and Back either New Zealand, or South Pacific Islands  from Home Port......

 

Other Lines HAL, Celebrity, Oceania  all do one way cruises to New Zealand....

ending of starting in Auckland.... The better half doesn't fly....  It would just be nice to go on a different line......   Also enjoy being at Sea and being on the Ship  as it is a real holiday no driving, cooking, or cleaning

 

as well as seeing new place. we particularly enjoy New Zealand  which we had done 6 times and enjoy seeing different things in port on each visit..

 

One day we will do the circumnavigation of Australia 26 nights.

 

Cheers Don

 

Relatively speaking, the options in Australia are somewhat restricted, compared to other parts of the world. With that in mind, cruise lines set schedules that are focused on their likely clients. As Princess has ships based in Australia year around, they cater more to Australians, and have a somewhat wider range of types of cruises. The other major cruise lines, when operating in Australia, typically for limited seasons, build their schedules to be appealing to their main clients, which aren't Australians, and are traveling from great distances. So seeing more areas, a wider range of areas, on a one way cruise, appeals to those pax.

 

Don't forget your restriction on flying is a serious limiting factor as well.

[CruisingAlong4Now]

I would find it boring to start and end at the same port.  Why go someplace twice on the same trip?

 

Crystal often runs their ships in a continuous run: eg Miami to Los Angeles to Brisbane to Hong Kong to Tokyo to somewhere else.  You can sign up for a short segment or take longer cruises with the b2b of multiple segments.

[navybankerteacher]

34 minutes ago, CruisingAlong4Now said:

I would find it boring to start and end at the same port.  Why go someplace twice on the same trip?

 

Crystal often runs their ships in a continuous run: eg Miami to Los Angeles to Brisbane to Hong Kong to Tokyo to somewhere else.  You can sign up for a short segment or take longer cruises with the b2b of multiple segments.

The point is a huge proportion of cruise passengers want the short itinerary, large ship, no-passport, low cost deal offered by the mass market lines with their fleets sailing out of Florida and Gulf Coast ports - they are, in large part, far more interested in the ship experience than the travel experience.

[CruisingAlong4Now]

15 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

The point is a huge proportion of cruise passengers want the short itinerary, large ship, no-passport, low cost deal offered by the mass market lines with their fleets sailing out of Florida and Gulf Coast ports - they are, in large part, far more interested in the ship experience than the travel experience.

Yes I understand - huge proportion is a mass market.

[whogo]

10 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

Other Lines HAL, Celebrity, Oceania  all do one way cruises to New Zealand....

ending of starting in Auckland.... The better half doesn't fly....  It would just be nice to go on a different line......

There are plenty of other cruise lines that do round trip voyages from Australia to New Zealand. I did not check to see if any of the following have been or will be changed because of the coronavirus:

Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas, 10 nights from Sydney on January 21, 2021 and other dates.

Celebrity Eclipse, 14 nights from Melbourne, October 18, 2021 and other possibilities.

Cunard Queen Elizabeth, 12 nights from Sydney on February 17, 2021 and other possibilities.

Holland America Osterdam, 14 nights from Sydney on January 2, 2021.

Carnival Splendor, 12 nights from Sydney on February 20, 2022.

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, CruisingAlong4Now said:

Yes I understand - huge proportion is a mass market.

This thread got me thinking about mass market cruises doing round trips from/to the same port.  A little checking for what sailings are scheduled for JUST ONE DAY: Feb. 6, 2021.  On that SINGLE DAY FROM FLORIDA PORTS ALONE, 20 different ships from 9 different lines are scheduled to sail - carrying up to 71,000 passengers.   19 of those ships will return to the same port - only Zaandam, with about 1400 passengers will end up elsewhere.

 

Looking at  round trip sailings scheduled for February 6, 2021 from other US ports, another nine ships capable of carrying a further 27,000 passengers are scheduled for the same day - that’s 28 ships possibly carrying just under 100,000 mass market passengers on round trip cruises. Damn!

 

Kind of scary - on a number of levels.

Edited June 14, 2020 by navybankerteacher

[sverigecruiser]

4 hours ago, CruisingAlong4Now said:

I would find it boring to start and end at the same port.  Why go someplace twice on the same trip?

 

For us the second time is only to get a cab and go to the airport to fly home.  

[calliopecruiser]

5 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

For us the second time is only to get a cab and go to the airport to fly home.

Yup, or (I wish) get a cab to my car and drive home.

[All That Jazz]

The answer is that corporations target multiple segments of the market by offering different products. How many different cars/trucks does Ford make? Lots - with each model tailored to a distinct market segment. Same with cruise corporations - their products (a combination of price sensitivity, ship design, and deployment stratagems) cover virtually all actual and potential customer choices. Want out and back from Florida every week? Gotcha covered. Want to cruise around the Cape Horn? Gotcha covered. Want a ship with 5,000 new friends? Covered. Want a luxury cruise with 300 new friends? Covered.

 

For the cruising market, there is a business plan for every demographic. Carnival Corporation currently owns nine brands: Carnival, Costa, P&O Australia, P&O, Princess, Holland America, AIDA, Cunard, and Seabourn. Nine brands, nine business plans.

[SRF]

Many cruises are out and return to the same port, called Closed Loop cruises, due to cabbotage laws.

 

In the US, this is the PVSA (Passenger Vessel Service Act).  It requires any vessel that moves people from one port to another in the US must be US constructed, owned, and operated and meet US safety requirements.  And that the crew must hold US mariner certificates.

 

This does not apply to cruises from one country to another.  And also, the US exempts cruises that call on a "distant foreign port."  Which is defined as another continent (South America) or the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, or Curacao).

 

There used to be cruises to nowhere, where the ship would leave a port, sail around for several days, then back to that same port.  These were stopped when CBP changed the interpretation of the crew work visa requirements.

[cruizergal70]

On 6/14/2020 at 11:50 AM, navybankerteacher said:

The point is a huge proportion of cruise passengers want the short itinerary, large ship, no-passport, low cost deal offered by the mass market lines with their fleets sailing out of Florida and Gulf Coast ports - they are, in large part, far more interested in the ship experience than the travel experience.

Not necessarily. Flying in/out of the same port also makes flights cheaper and easier to arrange. Cruises all over the world have out and back cruises.

 

You are so biased against "mass market lines" that's it's funny.