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

"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