Up next in 10
After listening to what cruise lines are telling investors they're doing this year, I'm convinced that in 2024 we are going to be facing five new and unwelcome challenges. But I also have some suggestions on how to work around these and get ahead of them, including one solution that you may not even realise is possible.
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ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 101 cruises I have done to date.
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00:00 Start
00:35 Capacity Changes
04:50 On Board Changes
06:57 Experience Changes
08:49 New Ship Changes
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0:00
after listening to what cruise lines are
0:02
telling investors they're doing this
0:04
year I'm convinced that we are going to
0:06
be facing five new and possibly
0:08
unwelcome challenges in 2024 but I also
0:11
have some suggestions on how to work
0:13
around these and get ahead of them
0:15
including one solution that you may not
0:18
even realize is possible if you're new
0:20
here welcome aboard I'm Gary bambridge
0:22
helping you to get cruising right
0:23
especially right through 2024 there is
0:26
something I've seen happening that is
0:27
going to be increasingly common this
0:29
year and that is people being bumped off
0:32
cruises due to over booking the practice
0:34
hit the headlines at the end of last
0:36
year when 11 sets of Cruisers waiting to
0:39
board Royal Caribbean Quantum of the
0:41
seas in Brisbane had their vacation
0:43
dreams shattered the ship was oversold
0:47
and there weren't any cabins available
0:49
for them so they were sent home now on
0:52
investigating I found that this is
0:54
happening way more than I realized but
0:56
wasn't making the news like this one was
0:58
done because Cruisers were being bumped
1:01
off from their cruises in the runup to
1:03
their trips not once they actually got
1:04
to the port so what is going on and
1:07
should you be worried this year the
1:09
lions are aiming to have ships sell full
1:12
and over capacity all three major
1:15
cruising groups the carnival Corporation
1:17
Royal Caribbean group and Norwegian
1:18
group have told their investors that
1:20
sales in 2024 are way above any previous
1:24
year and occupancy of their ships is
1:26
already running at 109% capacity at and
1:30
increasing so for those of you who are
1:32
not sure what that means the capacity of
1:33
a ship is measured based on the number
1:35
of fixed Beds which on average is
1:38
basically double occupancy per cabin but
1:41
many many cabins on cruise ships have
1:42
sofa beds or beds that can be pulled
1:44
from the ceiling recesses so kids and
1:46
friends can share cabins now because
1:49
demand is high they are overselling
1:52
using guaranteed fairs which basically
1:55
just guarantees a cabin grade not a
1:57
specific cabin and they're then assuming
1:59
the people will drop out you know when
2:00
fin little balance payment is due and
2:03
again then you know between then and
2:05
departure date and then they will be
2:07
able to take everyone but all the
2:10
affected Cruisers who are being bumped
2:12
off Cruisers have been booking
2:14
guaranteed Fair cabins like those people
2:16
I mentioned earlier so knowing that this
2:18
is an issue for this year what can you
2:20
do to manage your risk or first of all
2:24
consider booking the slightly higher
2:26
Fair where you get to choose a specific
2:29
cabin so you know you will be on that
2:31
sailing second though if you have booked
2:34
or prefer to book a guaranteed Fair
2:36
check in as early as possible when it
2:38
opens online because that often triggers
2:40
your cabin allocation process now there
2:43
is another huge implication of Demand
2:46
Being high and ships sailing Fuller than
2:48
ever this year fairs if you've not
2:51
booked a 2024 cruise yet you're likely
2:53
to be paying more than those that have
2:56
and you'll find it harder to get closer
2:58
to departure deals Cruise Lines use
3:01
what's known as Dynamic pricing this
3:03
means as the ship fills up the prices
3:06
increase so unlike in previous years
3:08
holding out and booking late probably
3:10
this year will not mean lower or deep
3:13
deals now I do have though some
3:15
suggestions on how to deal with this if
3:17
you're still looking to book in 2024 and
3:19
you want to book kind of later first of
3:21
all the highest demand and where ships
3:24
are sailing fullest are in the Caribbean
3:27
and Alaska these are regions that are
3:29
popular in hand for us-based Cruisers so
3:31
you may find it way harder to get deals
3:34
in those two regions however I have seen
3:36
Cruise Line leaders asking travel agents
3:39
to push Europe both the Mediterranean
3:41
and Northern Europe because North
3:43
American tourists still are steering
3:45
clear of booking this year due to the
3:47
kind of ongoing and uncertain situation
3:49
between Russia and Ukraine and the
3:50
Middle East so there will be more deals
3:53
it seems in Europe second the biggest
3:55
opportunity for this year for deals will
3:58
still be when final balance payment is
4:00
due so if you want to cruise at shorter
4:03
notice then be ready 60 or 90 days
4:06
before sailing that's the point when
4:08
Cruise Lines know who has dropped out
4:10
and what capacity they must fill now
4:12
I've noticed a lot of activity around
4:15
that time particularly with short flash
4:17
sales often advertised to their mailing
4:19
list and on social media like this one I
4:22
got from Seaborn but if you go this
4:24
route you need to move fast I've had
4:26
several people contact me booking
4:29
cruises in in 24 they saw those deals
4:31
they thought maybe we will think about
4:33
it overnight but it was gone by the next
4:35
morning demand is high deals go faster
4:37
than ever before it seems but high
4:39
demand and ships sailing full and over
4:42
capacity is not all that the cruise
4:45
lines are telling investors they are
4:46
doing this next one will also hit us
4:49
harder this year all lines have said
4:51
they're working hard to increase the
4:53
amount of money we spend on board
4:56
Norwegian for example say they've
4:58
already got passengers on average to
5:00
spend up to 15% more versus 2019 and
5:04
they see scope to grow that even more
5:08
what I found fascinating and also
5:09
telling is they also told investors that
5:12
the main way they get us to spend more
5:15
is through packages they say passengers
5:17
that buy packages are spending more than
5:20
people that don't and who pay ad hoc on
5:23
board often in past videos I've said
5:26
that whenever the cruise line introduces
5:28
anything personally I assume that it's
5:30
there to make them more money so all
5:32
those packages like celebrity always
5:34
included Holland America have it all
5:37
princess plus Norwegian free at se they
5:40
all make us on average spend more than
5:43
if we did not buy them that's what
5:45
they're telling us but so do the
5:47
individual packages like drinks packages
5:49
dining packages Excursion packages and
5:51
so on so my suggestion in 20124 is when
5:54
looking at the packages don't
5:56
automatically assume you're getting a
5:58
savings versus what you really actually
6:01
would spend if you were buying ad hoc I
6:03
know that I will tend to spend more if I
6:07
go with a package and I spend less if I
6:09
go without a package overall because I
6:11
just don't go to as many especially
6:12
dining restaurants I don't have as many
6:14
drinks I don't use as much Wi-Fi or
6:16
whatever try and cost it out for example
6:19
use the drinks package calculators on
6:21
sites like Cruis le.com and Cru mommy.
6:24
co.uk that by Cruise Line you can input
6:26
the drink amounts you think you'll have
6:28
and it will tell you where the it's
6:29
worth buying a package or not look at
6:32
the Excursion options and do comparisons
6:35
of Excursion options I talk about these
6:37
and I how to do that in recent videos on
6:39
the topic like this one but remember the
6:43
lines are working hard to get us to
6:46
spend more on board than in past year so
6:48
simply be ready for that but talking
6:51
about on board there is a massive change
6:53
that I don't think most passengers have
6:55
realized is coming it is one thing that
6:59
I have noticed and is affecting the way
7:01
that I personally choose cruise lons
7:03
this year and looking further a field
7:05
the lines of to investors they are
7:07
focusing on attracting new to cruise
7:10
Travelers and they're increasing their
7:11
marketing spend to attract them and
7:13
they're looking to cater more for a
7:15
changing type of cruise passenger in
7:18
practice at the expense of their
7:20
traditional ones on some lines for
7:22
example a few weeks back I spotted ads
7:25
by Holland America pushing and
7:27
advertising their kids and family fairs
7:29
a line that used to be seen and was
7:31
catering for a more traditional older
7:34
couple Cruiser on my last H America trip
7:37
over Christmas there were 400 kids and
7:40
teens totally changing the dynamic of
7:43
the line that I'm used to my princess
7:45
Cru in Alaska last summer was Again full
7:47
of Families versus historic also couples
7:49
and older crowd it was a very different
7:51
experience as the year rolls on you may
7:54
find a different and evolving Vibe and
7:56
mix from lines you think you know many
7:59
lines have been launching different
8:01
classes and styles of ships and working
8:04
to attract different Cruise passengers
8:06
that is different to what they used to
8:08
do and it will potentially start to
8:10
affect your cruises this year for
8:12
example celebrity Edge class ships so
8:15
Edge Apex Beyond Ascent are very
8:18
different ships very different
8:19
experience and they're attracting a
8:21
different passenger to celebrity I found
8:23
it's almost like going on a different
8:25
Cruise Line compared to selling on their
8:26
Solstice or Millennium class ship as are
8:30
guests on those ships so as you plan
8:32
what lines to use this year and Beyond
8:35
take time to check and reflect is the
8:37
line still as relevant to your needs or
8:39
should you be looking elsewhere to get
8:41
that experience that you're used to but
8:44
there is some good news wrapped up
8:45
within all of this in the next issue to
8:48
think about the cruise lines have still
8:50
committed to investors to add capacity
8:52
in 2024 which means nine new ocean
8:55
cruise ships for you and me to try this
8:57
year and the good news is that it looks
9:00
like the delays and disruptions that we
9:01
saw over the last couple of years where
9:04
most new ship launches had to be pushed
9:06
back from what the lines are telling
9:07
investors these are expected to happen
9:10
on schedule though looking at the lineup
9:13
one disappointing thing struck me is
9:15
that almost all of these continue the
9:18
trend by every single line to go bigger
9:21
and bigger and most are adding family
9:23
focused features and activities so again
9:26
focusing on that very specific audience
9:28
in 24 there is Royal Caribbean icon of
9:31
the sea with 7,600 passengers Utopia of
9:34
the Seas carrying
9:35
6,700 Princess Cruises is launching Sun
9:38
princess it's a 4,000 passenger ship and
9:41
a new class called sphere class with
9:43
those of you got families will really
9:45
appeal to you because it's introducing
9:47
things like Park 9 seab Breeze ride rope
9:49
courses and the ship within a ship kind
9:51
of yach Clubby experience so it's again
9:53
a changing and evolving princess Disney
9:56
treasur is coming uh that also carries
9:58
over 4 ,000 passengers silver sea is
10:00
launching the second in their silver NOA
10:03
class with silver Ray again it's more
10:05
passengers than any of their other ult
10:08
luxury ships carrying 728 even the
10:10
Luxury Line Viking Cruisers is now
10:12
launching a bigger ship called Viking
10:15
Vela that can carry 998 passengers
10:18
instead of the usual around 900 kunard
10:20
are also launching a bigger ship with
10:23
Queen Anne carrying 3,000 passengers the
10:26
other two ships are a second ship for
10:28
Explorer Journeys with Explorer 2 and
10:30
Ritz carton are launching their second
10:32
shipped ILO yes this year ships are
10:35
absolutely getting bigger and bigger but
10:38
to avoid one of the big mistakes I saw
10:40
Cruisers make last year join me over in
10:42
this video looking at how to make sure
10:44
what you do in Port this year does not
10:47
ruin your cruise see you over there
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