cruise costs

with cruise lines wanting to start from the carribean. are they willing to subsidize passengers for added cost of round trip airfare? Passengers who want to cruise badly don't seem to realize that they have to obide by the carribean countries rules for the virus plus rules on the ships. Is it really worth the extra cost and aggravation just to get on a ship?

9 Answers

Perhaps at this moment, but that could quickly change when the situation changes.

However

Call me cynical & jaded (don't worry, I'm used to it) but I'm not completely sold on the claim that demand and bookings are as rosy as the cruise lines are claiming. Think of it. What are they going to say in a situation like this, that demand is flat, or it's fallen off the table? As of yesterday, I could still book a RCL balcony cruise cabin for [4] out of Nassau in June. The bookings have been open for over 3 weeks. Based on what I've read, I would have thought those berths would have sold out in a few days.

As for the original question on this board. If your local grocer decided to close a store in your neighborhood, would you expect them to reimburse you for the extra gas it will take if you choose to travel to their next closest store? I admit it's not the greatest example, but I think the principle is the same.

Prices up and less travellers I would say.

I agree with the comment above, axillary costs are never covered by the cruiseline.

I don't foresee the cruise lines offering or reimbursing passengers for axillary travel and accommodations to get to the "island" home ports and through the various governments Covid requirements. The number of berths is still limited on these departures and the pent-up demand to cruise is high. In fact at least 1 cruise, Royal or Celebrity, sold out it's first "guaranteed" departure date island to island cruise within a week or so of it becoming available. Since all of these non-CDC involvement cruises require a proof of achieving the efficacy date for the particular vaccine received, many islands are waiving their arrival quarantine periods.

For those that routinely fly to any departure port the extra expense is minimal, as most seasoned cruisers already expect to have at least 1 overnight stay pre- or post-cruise to accommodate flight schedules and the cruise check-in/debarkation times. So the only additional costs are needing a passport if not in possession of 1 already and a good possibility of extra days at a hotel post-cruise while waiting on whichever local approved lab processed Covid tests results your home nation accepts for the re-entry flight.

Wow, this is interesting. I never thought that this would be an issue.

I booked a cruise out of St. Maarten on Celebrity for June 12,2021 on the First Day they offered them. I booked the flight at the same time through Flights by Celebrity and a few days later the cost of the same flights had increased as the airlines figured out the Demand had gone way Up.

I started booking Future Cruises for 2021 and 2022 back in December 2020 because It doesn't take a Banker to figure out that the Cruise Lines will have to start raising the fares to make up for the huge losses. The same for the Airlines. I have a Round Trip from SFO to Sydney AS in Dec. 2021 that now cost Twice what I'm locked in at. I have deposits on 10 cruises through December 2022. On looking at some of those Today the Prices have already increased from what they were a few months ago.

Deposits are small and are refundable in most cases up until the Final Payment day 90 days before the sail date.

I did a quick price comparison aa couple weeks ago. I found flights to Miami were about the same as flights to Nassau, which made sense since they're under 200 miles apart. I don't know about flights to Barbados or St Maarten, but no matter. They are banking on the pent up demand.

I suspect quite the opposite. Although they really want your business the cost of running the ship with new increased safety protocols and reduced capacity means the cruise lines will need to generate more revenue from the fewer travelers just to break even. Some of the lines have promos for reduced airfare. You might be able to bonus in on one of those but i would expect higher costs all around.

Why would they compensate you for additional airfare? They don’t do that for those of us who fly now! Yes it would be worth the extra cost.

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