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Cruise lines planning to scale back Europe???
This one is from the For What It Is Worth department.... based on a few
conversations I had with people who are in a position to know....... Cruise lines are not making as much money in Europe as they had hoped and are thinking about putting fewer ships in that market for 2009 and 2010. A few factors are causing this.... 1) Costs in Europe are in Euros. The US dollar is taking a beating so costs are rising. 2) Sales are slow causing some price lowering, especially in Mediterranean itineraries. Why bother selling $599 cruises in Europe where costs are high when they can sell $599 cruises in the Caribbean where costs are lower. 3) Airfare is killing the market. Higher fares equal less cruise/fly sales. Lower the price of the cruise and with high airfare, it still isn't a good over-all deal. Sell it cruise-only at a reduced price... and people can't find reasonable airfare on their own. 4) Again, because of the weak dollar, hotel, transportation and food prices in Europe are prohibitive. Bottom line is that there are cruise people muttering to themselves that maybe they should keep a few ships in North America next year and in 2010 until they see how the economy shakes out. For people who have frequent flyer mileage stacked up, there are going to be some great deals this Fall, but with airlines getting more restrictive on how FF miles can be used, fewer people will be able to use them. -- George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm Feb. 8, 2009 Solstice Valentine http://www.cruisemaster.com/solstice.htm May 10, 2009 ALASKA http://www.cruisemaster.com/moagc4.htm |
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Cruise lines planning to scale back Europe???
"George Leppla" wrote in message ... This one is from the For What It Is Worth department.... based on a few conversations I had with people who are in a position to know....... Cruise lines are not making as much money in Europe as they had hoped and are thinking about putting fewer ships in that market for 2009 and 2010. A few factors are causing this.... 1) Costs in Europe are in Euros. The US dollar is taking a beating so costs are rising. 2) Sales are slow causing some price lowering, especially in Mediterranean itineraries. Why bother selling $599 cruises in Europe where costs are high when they can sell $599 cruises in the Caribbean where costs are lower. Very logical... 3) Airfare is killing the market. Higher fares equal less cruise/fly sales. Lower the price of the cruise and with high airfare, it still isn't a good over-all deal. Sell it cruise-only at a reduced price... and people can't find reasonable airfare on their own. Not just airfare... but we looked at costs to London next year. We found round trip air for like $498 from Newark... PLUS another $498 or so for Heathrow Security Costs/Charges/Taxes. I know it's part of "airfare"... but not something that the airlines are making money on. They have to absorb the fuel costs against the $498 fare. 4) Again, because of the weak dollar, hotel, transportation and food prices in Europe are prohibitive. When Jonathan spent his spring semester in Berlin, they had several classes on European economics... and some of the German lecturers were bemoaning that they'd ever gone to the Euro. Seems they want to be an EXPORT ECONOMY (seems like EVERY country in the world, like Japan, China, Germany, Korea, etc., except the US, wants to be an export economy so that they can have a "positive" balanace of trade)... and with the high Euro vs. the low dollar, they can't sell their expensive cars in the US. They'd rather now have a currency that they can adjust to keep at the level of the US dollar. I guess that they're interested in protecting their automobile industry... as opposed to the US. --Tom Bottom line is that there are cruise people muttering to themselves that maybe they should keep a few ships in North America next year and in 2010 until they see how the economy shakes out. For people who have frequent flyer mileage stacked up, there are going to be some great deals this Fall, but with airlines getting more restrictive on how FF miles can be used, fewer people will be able to use them. -- George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm Feb. 8, 2009 Solstice Valentine http://www.cruisemaster.com/solstice.htm May 10, 2009 ALASKA http://www.cruisemaster.com/moagc4.htm |
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