To Whom It May Concern:
We received this information/press release from the trades/Business Courier
and thought it may be of interest to this
newsgroup as well.
Happy sailing...
John Sisker - SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY (sm)
(714) 536-3850 or toll-free at (800) 724-6644 & (Agency ID: 714.536.3850)
www.shiptoshorecruise.com
So I was talking to an associate about our modified vacation plans, and she
told me that after much research, she finally decided she is taking her
daughter on a seven-day Caribbean cruise. Less than $600, she said, and
everything is included.
I think she is on to something. With $1 equal to roughly .70 euro, and with
air fares climbing in the double digits (not to mention the baggage costs,
fuel surcharges, stand-by fees, etc.), there is something very reassuring
about planning a trip that you can budget with a good degree of certainty.
That is, for those of us still taking vacations away from home. Overall,
vacations have been on the decline, said Greg Wingham, president of Joy Tour
& Travel in West Chester. But relatively speaking, he said, cruise orders
have been rising, particularly to Europe.
"We encourage people, if they are going to go to Europe, to cruise because
it is all-inclusive," he said. "You pay for it in advance, in dollars."
And the more in advance the better, because it translates to more offers,
said Elaine Zeinner, public relations manager at AAA downtown. Some vendors
are giving discounts on 2009 cruises if they are paid for by the end of
2008. (Alaska Cruises, for instance, is offering up to $600 discounts on
early bookings for 2009 trips.) For those travelers who take any such
offers, that means the vacation taken next summer could be long paid for.
"The number of people coming and booking trips is indeed up from last year,
and that's especially true for the cruises - the kinds of trips that are
prepaid, where you can lock in a rate," Zeinner said.
The cruise industry is growing, with 34 ships contracted or planned to be
added to the North American fleet from 2008 through the end of 2012,
according to the Cruise Lines International Association. Average capacity
rose at a rate of 7.6 percent from 1981 to 2007.
With the added ships, and demand, capacity is expected to increase at an
average annual rate of 4.6 percent over the next five years, with 333,197
berths contracted in 2012, from 267,145 in 2007, according to the
association's research.
Among those added ships will be the Carnival Cruises Carnival Dream, with
room for 3,652 passengers, in 2009; and the Royal Caribbean Cruises Oasis of
the Sea, with room for 5,400, in 2010.
But European cruises are especially gaining in popularity because they
eliminate so many of the unknowns about overseas travel these days, namely,
the damage caused by the conversion rate. No matter how far in advance a
plane ticket is acquired, it's anyone's guess where the dollar will be
trading next spring.
Adding spas, niche offerings.
Of course, many people traveling to Europe these days are among a
socioeconomic slice of society less affected by high fuel costs and the weak
dollar. They don't need to budget so much. This might explain why some
cruise operators are actually adding exclusive services that can pad the
bill.
"The big trend right now, on all cruise lines, is adding luxurious
amenities," said Jeffrey Laign, editorial director at Porthole Cruise
magazine. "They're not paring back, they're adding spas."
There's also a greater emphasis on food (as if the chow hasn't always been
central to a cruise). Some lines are signing on celebrity chefs who will
create one-of-kind menus, while others are offering excursions to select
vineyards.
This doesn't mean the cruise lines are abandoning the middle-market
traveler; they are just tailoring their offerings to a broader audience,
from retirees to families to the adventurous. "You're seeing a lot more
niche marketing in the cruise industry," Laign said.
True enough, a quick hit to the Cruise News Web site (www.cruise-news.com)
shows garden-themed cruises, personal health and fitness trips featuring Dr.
Deepak Chopra, and a Nickelodeon Family Cruise.
The point being, I suppose, that the traveler knows exactly what to expect.
That might not be for everyone - some of us prefer a little less
predictability in our time away.
In the end, I guess it just depends on how surprising we like our credit
card statement to be.
Source:
* Business Couier
* By Lisa Biank Fasig
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http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/09/15/focus1.html?b=1221451200%5e1698507&brthrs=1
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