It’s “wave season” and you are likely seeing a lot of cruise commercials everywhere (that dumb jingle is stuck in your head) so let’s talk about cruises. Cruises lines were hit hard during the pandemic and restarted sailing in July 2021 offering cheap cruises to anyone willing to take a covid test, wear a mask or prove vaccination.  Given the large number of people needed to fill a cruise ship each week, the discounts were needed to fill the ships with any level of capacity. Sailing with 50% capacity was seen as a win even if operating at a loss.  It was cautious restart with health and safety protocols for everyone involved. Now that vaccination and testing requirements have been lifted, more folks are finding the joys and ease of cruising especially with families and groups they haven’t seen in a while.

The discounts and “free extras” continued well passed the restart period and now nearly two years later, after retiring older ships and bringing new ones online, it’s time to rethink the cruise product and how the cruise line operates. This includes top to bottom resets to include not only financial pressures of a potential recession but also the staffing challenges, environmental pressures and the expectations of current and potential cruise passengers.  The industry relies on a steady stream of boomers in my opinion, and I wonder if they are filling up the pipeline with enough GenX, Millennials and GenZ passengers to sustain the businesses for the future? That’s a longer conversation for another time.

Cruise Changes to Pricing, Beverage and Services

The past few weeks we’ve seen cruise companies announce pricing and service changes that are causing many loyal cruise folks to complain with a few “announcing” they are changing cruise line loyalty.  In reality, some of these changes make sense as the world and customer preferences evolve, a few seem like money grabs and others are reactions to staffing challenges. Here are just a few of the changes from the well-known brands such as Carnival, Norwegian (NCL), Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Celebrity. Consult your cruise brand to find out the exact pricing changes for your sailing based on your brand status and/or cabin category booked.

• Beverage Packages – Fee increases and selection changes (e.g.- bottled water, specialty coffees) from basic and premium levels.
• Gratuities increased.
• Room Service fee implemented.
• Menu changes (food is expensive for everyone and food waste is a huge concern)
  • A fee for ordering a second lobster tail on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and NCL (this one surprised me – who is eating two lobster tail dinners? apparently, a lot of folks and $16.99 extra is causing grief among RCL customers)
  • A fee for ordering/eating more than two entrees (again who is eating three full dinner entrees? I can barely finish one)
  • Reduce or eliminate “every night standards”. (Goodbye low calorie grilled chicken option! It also affects all those escargot lovers too)
  • Addition of food theme nights (RCL) to showcase a cuisine (think Italian night) rather than have it available every night.
• Housekeeping: Reduction of evening turndown on NCL – adios towel animals!
• Entertainment changes at NCL and Holland America (this one I agree with read my 5 things I hate about cruising)
• Corporate partnership licensing changes on Holland– Holland America Discounts with Wynn Reward

None of this is a surprise to be honest as the cruise lines are a business with shareholders including you (your 401k likely holds travel related stock like cruises and/or all the business that they buy products and services from), to keep happy.  The fine line in the hospitality business is maintaining your product value that people want to choose and spend their money. With global inflation affecting everything from gas/petrol to eggs, the price increases definitely hit the cruise lines hard. Cruise executives also know many of their sailings are underpriced for the services delivered.  Add in the environmental pressure, food waste and a zillion other highly visible ills and it’s a tough go for the cruise industry as they hit “reset”.  I like discounts as a solo traveler but the finance girl in me thinks there’s a lot of opportunity to resize the sailings and offerings.

Finding Value in Cruises

I was able to take advantage of the restart and sail solo with Celebrity Cruises for a reasonable price (single supplement of 25% instead of 100%) on one of their newer ships, Celebrity Edge.  I also took advantage of the close booking window (two weeks before sailing) discounts. Add to that the Celebrity Air discount on my American Airlines flights. It was a no-brainer deal that my travel agent found. Once onboard, I was spoiled to be honest as we sailed at 50% capacity with no lines at the buffet, no waiting at the restaurants, easy to find a lounge chair at the pool and could even dip a toe in the pool without the masses.  It was cheaper to cruise than to do a land vacation (airfare + hotel + food + rental car + attractions). And the cruise line CEOs are now recognizing that some of their cruise product is priced too low in comparison to alternatives on land. And while they won’t outprice the competition for fear of losing business, they have room to move the needle in pricing to be lower than the land option and offer a good vacation opportunity. In general, it’s still cheaper to do a cruise than a comparable land vacation.

Now that folks realize that cruising is a good vacation option, they will likely pay the extra fees, right?  Travelers got used to the discounted pricing as the normal range (it wasn’t) and will now have to pay the regular rates and hope to find a deal along the way.  They aren’t happy (visit any Facebook cruise fan page to read complaints/moaning) but are they really going to abandon the cruise industry?  The super fans have four, six, eight upcoming cruises booked – they cruise a few times a year and book years in advance. Let’s be realistic, those Celebrity cruise fans aren’t leaving for Carnival or NCL.  Nor are they moving up to the more expensive cruise lines like Seabourn, Crystal or Ponant. I talked to my travel agent, and she said cruises are already at 60% for 2024 sailings which has surprised her as have 2025 bookings she has made already.  So, folks aren’t abandoning ship despite the higher prices it seems or maybe the cruise lines have found a way to convert those “never cruisers” into forever fans.

Cruise Pricing Confusion

What does this mean for you who wants to do a cruise vacation?  Well, you’ll need to be savvier than you have been in the past. The new year presents the traditional “Wave Season” which in the past was when the ships filled for the summer and rest of year so while you’ll see “discounts”, you’ll likely have issues finding the “cheapest fares”.  Here’s the thing though, the ships are pretty full already (those cruise folks who booked ahead for 2024 and 2025) so there’s less space left to fill – the cheapest fares and the handful of single balconies are gone already. I know from my searches alone that I’m late to the game and what used to be $1,500 is now $2,800+.  But what if you want to sail in 2023?

You’ll need a cruise PhD to decipher all the fare combinations to be honest to find the real pricing as well as the “deals”.  A few of the confusing pricing items that are making me angry trying to price out online.

• All-included fare includes drinks (basic package), tips and WIFI (basic package) – you’ll find this on Celebrity.
• “Cruise only” pricing. Drinks, gratuities, wifi is extra cost either as package add on or ala carte onboard.
• Pricing includes tour credits, specialty restaurants, premium drinks (do you need or use these – might not be worth the add on pricing “included”) – you’ll find this on NCL.
• Free up to two children
• 2^nd guest discounts of 30%, 75%, 80% (is this really a deal or did the pricing go up a lot to then apply the discount)
• 2^nd guest free airfare (required to book 1^st guest airfare with the cruise air group)
• On board credits (OBC) up to $800 (UP TO is important wording as your inside might only give you $50 OBC)
• Refundable deposits but lower discount
• Non-refundable deposits with higher discount

It’s all so very confusing even before you have to decide on deposit amounts (refundable which are higher and offer lower discounts or non-refundable which are lower but have higher discounts).  Add to this is the anger I feel when pricing out solo pricing (at 100% or more) and it’s a minefield that didn’t exist a few years ago or even last year.

You can do a few online searches to get an idea of what the prices will be but I’m strongly advocating you use a cruise travel agent this year.  Especially with the various airline meltdowns (Southwest) and debacles (FAA outage) that affected the flights, a good travel agent can help sort that messiness out, so you don’t miss the boat, literally!

The new pricing models, which seem to resemble the crazy revenue pricing of the airlines, will likely price me out at some point (unless I want to go back to the smallest inside rooms).   I’ve been able to ride the wave of opportunity into balcony cabins for less. I even upgraded to an Aqua Class premium cabin on Celebrity via the cruise upgrade bidding process which I doubt I’ll ever be able to do again given how full the cruises will be and the competition willing to outbid me as the upgrade process does offer a discounted way to upgrade and savvy travelers book lower class and take their chances.

Right now, I have price tracker notifications turned on for a few cruises as well as having my travel agent and cruise travel agent look out for any last-minute deals they see.

Cruise Changes – The Future

So, the era of cheap cruises (less than $50 a day per person) is likely over (for now) as the cruise industry enjoys the benefit of newer modern amenity filled ships which they can charge a premium price (consumers want and expect newer ships). It’s an evolution that had to happen but with the increased passengers and scrutiny, the cruise lines will need to up their game too. Nickel and diming (aka customer choice) definitely gives travelers what they want “to pay for only the things they want or use” but at the same time it can go too far. If their pricing gets too complicated or the perceived value drops travelers will likely go elsewhere or will they really? Cruise loyalty is pretty strong. I have friends who only sail on a particular cruise line, and I doubt they will change brands, but they might only cruise once a year instead of multiple times.  As for me?  I have no loyalty, having sailed Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland America, Disney and Celebrity based on itinerary and price.  I’ll continue to chase the unicorn of no or discounted single supplement to visit interesting places and where needed grumpily book at 200%.

It will be interesting to watch this space……