Carnival Cruises Curtails Air Sea & other Programs

Quoted in Tranvel Market Report, Carlos Garcia, vice president, Travel Services & Guest Logistics, explained the reason for the canceled programs: “Over the past several years the number of guests choosing to purchase these ancillary products from us has been decreasing for a myriad of reasons,” he said, citing guests’ use of hotel or credit cards points as one way in which they book their own pre- and post-hotel nights. for some time now consumers have been using their frequent flyer miles to get to and from the port cities.

Regarding the Deviation Program, which was the most active of the two cancelled programs, Garcia said that most guests who purchase air from the cruise line do so through the FlyAweigh Program (which is continuing). “They choose a regular program and do not need to make changes. Most of them are interested in flying in to meet their ships on the day of sailing.”

In 2007, the cruise lines cut back their air-sea blocks significantly as the price value proposition waned. They also cut back on staffing in these areas to reflect the more modest use. With cruise lines growing rapidly and air traffic still stalled or growing modestly there will be spot outages of matched capacity which resulted in some interesting situations last year when significant discounts were offered to locally boarding traffic in Florida's key cruise ports such as Port Everglades and Miami.

Interestingly the sale of cruises through non-traditional outlets such as cruise only non-ARC or Airline websites are continuing to grow as a share of the total distribution pier for cruise products.

So if you are in the cruise business - better make sure that you can secure your flights to and from the cruises. Its going to get a lot harder to find space.

Cheers

Farewell Cruisematch 2000

I note with a twinge of sadness the passing of Cruisematch 2000. In its time it was revolutionary. Founded in the early 1980s by Pete Arnette (Forgive me if I spelt his name wrong) who started this after leaving Pan Am where he was the Air Sea guy.

Originally a multi-cruiseline engine it was purchased and absorbed into RCCL and became the external reservations system.

Originally an IBM System/38 it went through several iterations.

However effective April 2010 it will lose its Green Screen capability and emerge phoenix like in a next generation mode with much more capability.

Cheers

What's Behind Carnival's Sudden U Turn on Agents?

It is interesting to see that Carnival - the world's largest cruise company - is suddenly rediscovering agents, at least in the USA market.

Why are they making such a big deal about this when they had been going down the direct path for quite a few years and why now?

I believe the answer could possibly lie in a number of factors over and above the stated reasons.

Obviously there is the simple issue of the product complexity. You should talk to an expert before plonking down your cash. But there are two very good reasons that lurk behind.

1. Risk of Buyers's remorse. Given the number of calls that a cruise generates - it is clear that the buyer wants to minimize the risk of making an incorrect decision.
2. Lack of air capacity.

The cruise companies are now just starting to see the impact of the lack of air. Having heaved a huge sigh of relief last year when they gave up commissions on air, the process this year has been - "don't bother us with air - get it yourself." I have spoken to several cruise lines reservations centers over the last few weeks and that is the standard answer from their call centers.

Well this has come unglued when the airlines cut back capacity. So paying full wack for the airline tickets is discouraging a lot of people from buying a cruise.

Oops!

So back to the trusty agents to put that right since agents have more patience and will actually do the searching for the customer for a seat to match the cabin. Thus its a win for everyone - the consumer gets someone to handle the hassle, the cruise supplier gets a willing and able partner and the agents get a rise in sales.

So everyone is happy right? Sure - at least until the buyers return and the air capacity comes back - then, well I am sure you can figure out what happens then.

Cheers

Timothy