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The cruise industry took swift action this week in response to U.S. and Canadian governments advising against non-essential travel to Mexico due to the outbreak of the swine flu.  

Starting this week, most major cruise lines cancelled calls at Mexican ports for at least the next two weeks, and some (led by Carnival) offered passengers the option of sailing to alternate ports of call on their cruise or a full credit towards a future cruise. In addition, the major lines calling at Mexican ports – which include Carnival, Celebrity, Princess, Holland America, NCL, and Royal Caribbean – promised to keep passengers updated about the situation and to avoid the area until they felt it was safe for passengers to go ashore.

In my view, the cruise industry has put the safety of passengers first by taking quick and decisive action. And they’ve done this despite already having some of the best health practices in the travel world such as hand-sanitizer dispensers throughout their ships, in-house doctors, and quarantine procedures for seriously ill passengers.

In contrast, there are still major airlines offering flights to and from Mexico City, although some like Air Canada have cancelled flights to vacation destinations in Mexico. And screening procedures on planes and in airports for people returning from Mexico are currently weak or non-existent. I know where I’d feel safer.

But while the cruise industry is putting the interests of travelers first, it hasn’t come without a cost. According to a recent report from UBS Securities, the two cruise lines with the most exposure to Mexico – Carnival and Royal Caribbean – could have as much as 17% of their ship deployments impacted by the swine flu issue. In financial terms, the investment bank estimates that a prolonged Mexican outbreak of swine flu could result in a 1% decline in full-year yields for both cruise lines.

Despite the hit to their bottom lines, most of the major cruise lines are doing the right thing from both a public relations and customer service perspective. And their promise to keep an eye on future developments and update their policies accordingly can only be seen as a source of comfort for anyone already booked on or contemplating a cruise to ports in both the east and west coasts of Mexico.

Ironically, just like after 9/11 and SARS, the swine flu issue could be a boon to travelers who don’t panic and keep an eye on developments. If history repeats itself, there could soon be a raft of fantastic deals on cruises to the Mexican Riviera even when the health advisory is lifted and things return to normal in Mexico. So savvy travelers would be well advised to keep an eye on these itineraries as the health situation changes.

But at the end of the day, my guess is that the cruise industry overall and the Mexican cruise itineraries in particular will be stronger in future as a result of the consumer-friendly policies implemented this week by most major cruise lines. While they may be taking some short-term pain, theyare adding to their long-term bank of trust and goodwill that can only drive more cruise sales in future.

There are lots of other industries out there that could learn from this example.

When it comes to cruising, I guess the Beatles were right – there really are eight days a week.  At least, that’s the impression some cruise lines are giving when they exaggerate the length of a vacation at sea.

What I’m referring to is the practice of including the check-in and check-out dates as full days in calculating the length of a cruise. For example, if you sail on a one-week cruise from one Saturday to the next, is that a seven or eight-day cruise? 

While a one-week cruise provides seven nights of accommodation, your holiday actually spans eight days. That’s because you check in during the afternoon of Day 1, and depart on the morning of Day 8. But while technically correct, is it fair to promote a one-week voyage as an eight-day cruise?

In my opinion it’s not only unfair, it’s misleading.

After all, passengers can’t board their ship until well after noon on the first day of their cruise, and then they must get off the vessel before 10:00 am on the last day. So while a one-week cruise may span eight days, passengers are actually getting just seven full days of vacation time or less on the ship. The so-called “eighth” day is spent getting to and from the pier. The same principle applies to any length of voyage, whether it’s one or 101 nights – getting to and from the ship is not part of the cruise vacation.

If cruise lines could actually provide passengers with an eight-day voyage each week, there would have to 35 days in a month, and something like 420 days in a calendar year. Unless the cruise lines are using a different type of calendar than the rest of us, eight-day weeks are just not possible.

So why do some cruise lines insist on exaggerating the length of voyages in their brochures and web sites? And what should you do about it?

I suspect one reason for this deception is that it’s an easy way to make some cruises look like an even better deal than they already are. For example, Costa recently promoted a series of week-long cruises in the Med starting at only $549 or what they hailed as costing just over $68 per day. But that per diem is misleading because it’s based on an eight- day week instead of seven.

Another reason some cruise lines exaggerate the length of a cruise is that it makes direct comparisons with competitors more confusing and time-consuming. For example, if I want to compare that 15-day South American cruise with a comparably priced14-day voyage, I may have to look at both itineraries and actually count the number of nights they offer to ensure I’m comparing apples to apples. Busy people might just assume the 15-day voyage is the better value when they could both be the same length –14 nights.

As a result, the best way to determine the length of a cruise is to look at the number of nights it offers rather than days. It’s the same principle used in the hotel industry – they calculate the length of your stay based on nights, not days.

Of course, this task would be a lot easier if the cruise industry adopted a common standard and made it mandatory for members to list the length of voyages using the same criteria. Until that happens, however, the difference between some cruises will continue to be night and day.

Family cruising is one of the fastest growing segments of the travel industry, which shouldn’t be surprising given all the new ships, great onboard activities and fabulous ports of call now available to people who want to vacation at sea. And with most cruise lines now offering great incentives for family travel such as reduced rates, special kids’ programs and even babysitting, there’s no longer any reason to leave the kids in dry dock.

But before you march the family up the gangplank, here are some tips that will help you choose the right cruise, save you money, and ensure everyone has a great vacation at sea:

1. Timing is everything: Most cruise lines have organized activity programs for kids of all ages, but they’re not much fun if your children are the only ones in them. So if you have school-age kids, book your cruise during school holidays when it’s more likely other children their age will be on the ship (e.g. major holiday periods and summer vacations). And be aware that kid counselors may not be available year-round, particularly on smaller ships.

2. Family friendly ships: Some cruise lines cater to families by building ships with lots of great attractions like water slides, video arcades, teen discos, rock climbing walls, wave pools, mini-golf courses, outdoor movie cinemas, etc. They also offer a wide variety of family dining options including pizza parlors, ice cream counters, and fast-food grills in addition to the formal dining rooms. Other cruise lines, particularly the ultra-deluxe ones, cater to adults and have much less of interest for kids. So choose a ship with the amenities that suit your family. In particular, cruise lines like Disney, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, NCL and Princess have large ships that are very kid friendly. On the other hand, smaller ships have less room for all the fun attractions and facilities that kids enjoy.

3. Cabin selection: Most cabins can accommodate up to 4 passengers (two upper and lower bunks). But if the kids are old enough to sleep in their own cabin, you may want to book a balcony cabin for the adults, and an inside cabin across the hallway for the kids. The cost of an inside cabin is so low that it can sometimes be just slightly more expensive that cramming two extra people into the balcony cabin. You may also want to consider two cabins with connecting doors so you can keep a closer eye on the kids. Some newer ships also have family cabins that come with a private bedroom plus a pull-out bed in the living room. 

4. Soft-drink cards: Family-friendly cruise lines sell fixed-price soft-drink cards that allow people to consume as much soda pop as they want during the cruise. These cards cost about $38 per person per week, and end up saving families lots of money versus the price of buying sodas a la carte. And no one worries when a half-empty soda is left behind.

5. Shore excursions: A few excursions with limited capacity that involve fun equipment like jeeps, beach buggies, personal watercraft, helicopters, hot air balloons, etc. may sell out before the ship even sails. So if the kids are really keen on something, book it online before you arrive on the ship. Also, consider doing some port visits on your own – it can often be cheaper for a family of 3 or 4 to rent a private taxi than to pay for a similar excursion organized by the cruise line.

So with these tips in hand, you should be able to find the right cruise for your family. And, of course, have a wonderful family vacation at sea.

(For those of you who may have noticed a rather long gap between this and the last blog post, I took a few days off to deal with a rather painful neck sprain that kept me away from the keyboard.)

 

 

 

Smart cruise lines reward passengers who book early by giving them a price protection guarantee. The way the protection works is that if cruise fares subsequently go down after passengers have booked their cruise, the lower price is passed along to those who booked at the higher rate.

It’s a smart way of encouraging people to make their cruise bookings early, which works well for both passengers and the cruise line. By booking early, passengers get the best choice of cabin categories and sailing dates, and the cruise line gets advance deposit money in the bank, and more time to plan the yield management of each sailing. And a bond of trust and loyalty is created and cultivated between passenger and cruise line.

In good times, price protection is a much easier benefit to provide because most ships sell a lot of cabins well in advance of departure and last-minute discounting isn’t as necessary. But when times get tough, cruise berths become more difficult to sell and there’s a greater need for wide-ranging price reductions as sailing dates get closer. In fact, this is exactly what’s been happening according to a recent report on the cruise industry from UBS Securities.

Giving up revenue by reducing cruise fares for passengers already booked at higher rates is an expensive policy, especially when prices drop by significant amounts. Let me give you a personal example. Last November I booked my family of 4 on an 11-day Mediterranean cruise this summer aboard the Celebrity Solstice. Since booking, we’ve received two price reductions totaling $580 per person, and 4 cabin category upgrades.  

But this kind of price protection is not necessarily automatic. In some cases, it’s up to passenger to keep any eye on cruise fares and advise the cruise line or their travel agent that fares on their cruise have been reduced and that they want a reduction. This is much easier to negotiate before final payment has been made as the passenger can simply cancel his/her cruise, get a 100% refund, and then book the same cruise at the lower rate. However, after final payment is made and cancellation penalties kick in, the passenger is at the mercy of the cruise line and its policies.

That’s why it’s important to understand what a cruise line’s price protection policy is before booking a voyage 90 days or more in advance of departure (the typical period at which final payment is due and cancellation fees begin kicking in).  A number of cruise lines, particularly the ultra-deluxe brands like Crystal, Silversea, Regent and Seabourn, provide the highest level of price protection for their clients.

While some of the premium and economy brands are holding the line, others have instituted policies that greatly restrict the level of price protection available to their passengers. For example, Carnival offers price protection as part of a program that only applies to a limited number of sailings, and I’ve heard from some people who have been adversely impacted by it.

At the end of the day, it’s important to realize that you have full price protection on most cruises until you make final payment and their cancellation policies kick in. But if you want a greater level of protection for that final 90 day period when many discounts are offered, you have two choices.

The first is to always book your voyage with a cruise line that offers full price protection right up until the day of embarkation. If the cruise line values your patronage and wants your continued loyalty, they should give it gladly. The second choice is to wait until the last minute, take your chances, and grab the best available deal. Smart cruise lines will do their best to ensure you make the first choice.  

With the end of another school term nearing, many parents are beginning to think about where the family can go for their summer vacation.  It’s never an easy choice, especially when there’s a range of ages and interests to please. And with household budgets being squeezed tighter than ever, parents are looking for vacation options that provide good value for money as well as lots of great memories.

So what’s a family to do?

Based on my experience, there’s nothing that will please everyone more than a family cruise. Over the years, I’ve taken my two girls on 6 cruises to the Caribbean, the Mexican Riviera and the Mediterranean. And we’ll be sailing on our 7^th cruise together when we visit the Greek Islands this summer to celebrate their 19^th and 21^st birthdays.

If you’re ready to be convinced, here are my top five reasons why you’ll be a hero for booking your next vacation at sea:

1. Lots to do. There’s something for people of all ages to enjoy aboard a cruise ship. For example, many modern ships have fabulous swimming pools with water slides and hot tubs. They have outdoor movie theatres, video arcades, basketball courts, mini-golf, and rock climbing walls. And they have night clubs, great restaurants, Las Vegas-style production shows, casinos, and fancy health spas. Our girls used to love the swimming pools, buffet lunches, and outdoor movie theatres; now they prefer the fancy alternative restaurants, the spa treatments and the night life!

2. Great destinations. There are lots of great summer cruise regions to choose from including Alaska, the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Canada/New England, the Mexican Riviera, Hawaii and the Caribbean. The latter three destinations are great for sun, sand, snorkeling, geography and tropical relaxation, while the former are excellent for culture, history, architecture and shopping. Our girls loved their first Med cruise to Italy so much they asked for another to the Greek Islands and Turkey. They have discovered things about the world that they could never learn in a classroom.

3. Time together, time apart. The family gets quality time together at meals, watching shows or taking land excursions, but the kids can make their own friends and do their own thing on the ship. For younger children, cruise ships have group and/or individual babysitting service so parents can have some quality time to themselves. For kids aged 2 to 18, there’s also the option of joining organized programs with age-appropriate games, activities and events. Disney even has walkie-talkies that parents can use to keep in touch with their kids aboard ship. So it works out to be a great vacation for both parents and kids.

4. Don’t worry, be happy. When the kids leave the cabin without you to explore their floating city at sea, you don’t have to secretly follow them. You know they are safely aboard ship with lots of staff around, lots of safe things to do, and usually other kids their age to do it with. And you don’t have to worry about them being run over, mugged, or getting lost. So once the family is aboard ship, you can relax and let them enjoy themselves!

5. Really good deals. Cruise lines are hurting and have lowered fares to rock bottom. Some are offering two-for-one fares, free air, big discounts or shipboard credits. Others are offering special deals for families like letting kids stay in the same cabin for free, or at reduced rates for 3^rd or 4^th person in the same cabin. For example, NCL is offering a 7-day Alaska cruise starting at just US$909 per person (double occupancy), and just $199 per person for 3^rd and 4^th person. Oceania is offering two-for-one fares on selected sailings with a 50% discount for 3rd and 4^th person per cabin. Regent is letting kids sail for free in the same cabin on select European cruises this summer. And MSC is allowing kids under 17 to sail free as 3rd and 4th passengers on all 2009 sailings. 

So if you’ve been wondering where to vacation this summer, take a serious look at cruising. It’s a choice that’s almost certain to please the whole family, while giving you great value for your vacation dollar and memories that will last a lifetime.

When Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas makes its maiden voyage in December of this year, it will set a new benchmark for the size of a cruise ship. At a massive 220,000 tons, this behemoth will stand 213-feet (65m) above sea level, stretch 1,181-feet (360m) long, measure 154- feet (47m) wide, carry 5,400 passengers, and become the largest passenger vessel to ever sail.

To put that in perspective, the Oasis will be nearly 50% bigger than the Independence of the Seas, which currently holds the size record at 154,000 tons. And she’ll be more than twice as big as the 101,000-ton Carnival Destiny, which in 1996 became the largest ship ever built since the 83,000-ton Queen Elizabeth was launched in 1938.

The Oasis will have a total capacity of more than 8,500 people (passengers and crew), which is almost as much as the population of the South Pacific nation of Tuvalu. And it will generate annual revenues in excess of the Gross Domestic Product of several lesser developed countries.

In addition, the $1.2 billion-ship will be too wide (by 48 feet) to fit through the Panama Canal, too long to tie up at several docks, and too bottom heavy to enter some ports. As a result, several Caribbean countries are widening their piers or dredging their harbours to accommodate the Oasis, including Mexico, St. Maarten, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.

So when it comes to size, can a cruise ship be too big? And if so, what is the ideal size for a passenger vessel?

Let’s start with where we are today. Over the last 20 years, the major cruise lines have been building bigger and bigger ships. As a result, where it was once rare to see a cruise ship over 80,000 tons, it’s now common to see ships weighing well over 100,000 tons. In addition, while 1,800-passenger ships used to be considered large vessels, they are now considered medium-sized ships next to the mammoths that carry 3,000 or more people.  

So the yardstick has definitely changed, and with a number of benefits to the cruising public. For example, larger ships have meant more facilities, better entertainment, more activities, more dining choices, larger cabins, etc. And the public has responded by filling more sea berths than ever before – a record 12 million in 2007.

If you need any convincing about how far cruise ship design has come, just take a look at what Royal Caribbean is planning for the Oasis of the Seas. This maritime marvel will feature seven distinct themed areas including a Central Park, a Boardwalk with an Aqua Theater, a Royal Promenade, a Pool and Sports Zone, a Sea Spa and Fitness Centre, an Entertainment Place and a Youth Zone. It will also have the first zip line at sea stretching 82 feet and suspended across the Boardwalk, diving performances, and an Adventure Ocean Theater and carousel for kids.

But while the Oasis will offer more choice, and while it will represent an architectural marvel at sea that will dazzle the senses, will it be enough to compensate for the lack of a traditional cruise-ship atmosphere? Will it be enough to make up for the inevitable line-ups that will occur when getting on and off the ship, and waiting to get in to the most popular activities aboard the vessel? And will it be enough to compensate for the crowded feeling that will occur on the streets of some of the smaller ports of call, which already suffer from too many same-day passenger visits?

The answers to those questions will be known in a few years. If cruise passengers continue to flock to the Oasis, and eventually its sister ship the Allure of the Seas, we could see even bigger ships in future that could nudge the 250,000-ton range.  

However, if vacationers feel these two super-ships are nothing more than floating versions of a bad theme park, it won’t be long before they start sinking under the bloated weight of their own excess.  

People who share their insights and views about cruising on the Internet are part of a close-knit community. So when one cruise community has a problem, we all feel part of their pain.

That’s exactly what happened this week when some key members of Cruise Freek Forums alleged that owner Jacqueline “Tina” Rinaldi had been involved in a cruel hoax. For those not familiar with CFF, it’s an online cruise community that was started in August of 2007 as one of several alternatives to Cruise Critic – the more established but sometimes heavy-handed and overly censorship-happy cruise message board. As membership slowly grew, selected travel agents were invited to be the “official” travel agents for CFF and assist in organizing group cruises.

According to an open letter released on Twitter on March 31 by some key CFF members and agents, Tina had organized a large number of contests for the CFF community and given away nearly a million dollars worth of free cruises to members. The idea was to build registered membership in CFF and increase user traffic so that the community would be a more attractive place for advertisers or partners – specifically the major cruise lines. In fact, Tina recently pitched Royal Caribbean International to buy into a $3.5 million advertising campaign with CFF without success.

Apparently, the contests failed to generate a significant number of new members or advertising for CFF, and therefore insufficient revenue to pay for the cruise prizes. As a result, CFF’s travel agent partners were left holding the bag for the cruises, and finally got fed up waiting to receive payment for them from Tina and CFF.

As a result, CFF is in turmoil and has stopped accepting new member registrations. In addition, it is doubtful that members who entered the contests and won cruises will ever receive them. A message on the CFF site from Tina Rinaldi claims that all accounts will be settled in the next three weeks, and that a new head and board will be appointed by May 1 to take over the operation of CFF. However, no one involved in CFF is putting much faith in Tina’s promises which in the past have been pretty hollow.  And if CFF does mange to survive, it will be in a much more diminished and less credible way.

While Cruise Freek Forums was a competitor to other cruise communities including CruiseMates, Cruise Critic and Tripharbor.com/Tripharbour.ca, no one is taking pleasure in their problems and potential demise. At the end of the day, it’s better for everyone in the cruise industry to have more people chatting about cruises than fewer, no matter where they go to do it. As the old adage says, a high tide floats all boats.

So if there’s anyone out there from Cruise Freek Forums reading this, we share your disappointment. If you need somewhere to go to chat about cruising, feel free to join our Tripharbor.com/Tripharbour.ca community. We may not have contests that give away free cruises, but we do run an honest community which respects and values the contributions made by all of our members, and where cruise lovers can speak their mind without fear of unnecessary censorship.

If there is a lesson to be learned from the demise of CFF, it’s that anyone who claims to be giving away dozens of free cruises in one year probably isn’t telling the truth. In other words, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

I’ve just learned a valuable lesson about cruise ships that are about to go into dry dock for an extended renovation: it’s better to sail on them AFTER the renovation, not before.

A case in point is our recent 5-day cruise on Holland America’s Veendam from Tampa to the Western Caribbean. We were aboard the Veendam for its final Caribbean cruise of the season before it sailed to Freeport, Bahamas on March 27 for a month of extensive renovations. And judging from the appearance of the ship during our cruise, it will certainly benefit from the facelift.

For example, the carpet in our cabin and the shower tiles in the bathroom were old and stained. There were strange odors coming from staff areas in the corridors. The ship’s carpeting looked worn in several sections. And some of the bar stools in the pool area were broken.

Of course, when a ship is scheduled to undergo an extensive renovation in the near future, there is understandably little incentive for owners to invest in repairs. After all, why pay to fix something that is going to be ripped out and replaced in just a few weeks or months?

The crew was also understandably grumpy and sloppy. Many were going to stay with the vessel during its month-long renovation, but would not be getting the lion’s share of their wages which come from passenger tips.

They were also distracted by the extra work and personal responsibilities that come with preparing a ship for dry dock. Consequently, the atmosphere, service and food were not up to Holland America’s usual standards.

In addition, shipyard personnel were on the ship all week directing the dismantling of anything that wasn’t essential to the rest of the voyage. For example, light stanchion covers suddenly disappeared in some areas, liquor bottles were boxed and removed as we sat at the pool bar, and chairs were stacked and removed from certain rooms a few days in advance of the cruise ending.  

Now, I’m all in favour of renovating older ships, especially good ones like the Veendam. In fact, I think the $200 million investment that Holland America is making to upgrade the Veendam and eventually its sister ships the Statendam, Ryndam, Maasdam and Rotterdam is money well spent.

For example, when the Veendam comes out of dry dock at the end of April it will boast a new resort pool concept, a new show lounge and entertainment concept, more luxurious cabins with renovated bathrooms, more veranda cabins and a host of upgraded fixtures, carpets, décor, etc. In addition, the ship will also have a new high-energy casino, and a new multi-themed area called “Mix” with three separate bars – Martinis, Champagne and Spirits & Ale. In short, it will be a more attractive and appealing ship than ever.

But what I am against is seeing a ship and its crew perform below par because their heads are already in a different space – in this case, the following week’s dry dock. It’s not fair to the passengers, and it’s certainly not good for the reputation of the cruise line.

So the next time I sign up for a cruise aboard a ship that is scheduled for renovation, I think I’ll play it safe and wait for it to come out of dry dock. It may still have some teething problems, but at least the crew won’t be stacking the deck chairs when I’m still in them!