Optimize Your Next Cruise: Here's What You Should Know Before Booking Your Next Cruise
Optimize Your Next Cruise: Here's What You Should Know Before Booking Your Next Cruise
Issue #11-23 features a look at things you should know before booking your next cruise
Optimize Your Next Cruise: Here's What You Should Know Before Booking Your Next Cruise
No matter how you choose to set sail - on a river cruise through Europe, with the family in the Caribbean, on a yacht in the Mediterranean, or an epic expedition to Alaska, there are a few things to know before booking that include what is included on a cruise, the type of cruise you want to experience and the best way to book a cruise.
What does a cruise include?
When booking a cruise, the fare price will typically include the following items:
Accommodations
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, including snacks at numerous venues
Access to the cruise ship amenities such as swimming pools, water slides, water parks, whirlpools, health clubs, and sun decks
Child care and supervised youth programs
Entertainment, such as theatrical and comedy shows, live music and casinos on some cruises
Visits to multiple destinations on the itinerary
Other items that are typically not included and are an extra charge:
Beverage packages, Internet packages, Shore excursions, Photo packages, Air packages, Onboard spending credits, Specialty restaurants and Service/Gratuity charges
Luxury, Premium or Contemporary: What’s the Difference & Who Owns My Cruise Line?
All cruise companies cater to different demographics and can be roughly broken down into the following three cruise categories: Luxury, Premium and Contemporary.
You may be surprised to learn that three companies own a majority of the cruise lines out there, with these cruise companies owning different brands within each of the cruise categories mentioned above. Between these three different categories, the main differences include the size of the ships, amenities available onboard, the type of dining available, itineraries, etc; which all translate into the different price ranges between the Luxury, Premium and Contemporary cruise companies.
There are three publicly held companies that control the majority of cruise inventory and include Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
Carnival Corporation owns the following brands: Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Cunard, Aida Cruises, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises
Royal Caribbean Group owns the following brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Azamara
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings owns the following brands: Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Other cruise lines include Disney Cruise Line, MSC Cruises and newer offerings from Ritz Carlton, Virgin Voyages and Explora Journeys.
The Best Way to Book Your Next Cruise
The best way to book your next cruise is with a travel advisor to get access to premium perks, extra amenities, preferred pricing and other benefits.
For example, a Virtuoso Travel Advisor (like The Family Travel Guy), can help you get access to exclusive benefits & amenities that include preferred pricing (not publicly available), shipboard credits, experience credits, spa treatments, airport transfers, speciality dinners onboard, and many other amenities. Amenities and benefits depend on which cruise line you’re booking. Learn more here.
Cruise lines bookings trend strongly towards travel advisor/company bookings, as opposed to being booked directly with the cruise line.
Despite an increase in online bookings in other segments of the industry, travel advisors continue to be the most important distribution channel for cruise lines everywhere and based on data from cruise lines, approximately 80-90% of sales come from travel advisors and related travel companies.
A lot of this is due to legacy and the way it’s always been done, but as consumers prefer to start booking direct more often, I think we’ll see a major shift in the years ahead to the current cruise booking model.
Cruise lines tend to tread lightly in seeking direct bookings because they don’t want to risk alienating travel advisors/travel companies, as that booking channel tends to bring the cruise line value in the form of higher revenue per passenger and serves as a sales/marketing avenue for them.
What this all means is that this allows the cruise lines to focus more on their core competency, which is providing a great vacation experience to their guests and allows travel advisors access to special benefits that they can provide to cruisers in the form of special offers and extra value for their money.
Have cruise sales shifted to direct? CEOs say yes, advisors ponder why
Is it better to book a cruise through a travel agent? We say yes
By utilizing this information for your next cruise, I hope you can optimize the value you receive the next time you set sail.
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Cousteau
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