Cruise line shopping experience to feature more, better information

by Chris Owen on

On any given cruise line, onboard programming includes a variety of activities, dining, shopping and entertainment options. While at sea, that programming is often themed to a particular port of call that will be coming up soon, providing information on the port, shore excursions and shopping options. Now, in a way similar to how they are handling onboard entertainment and dining options, Royal Caribbean International is taking on shopping.

Starting in October, Royal Caribbean will be working with a new partner to handle their port shopping program. Royal Media Group will greatly expand what the line is currently doing, adding to the standard shopping talks and fliers left in guests staterooms.

“We are very excited to once again be working with the team at Royal Caribbean International and to not only increase revenue for the port shopping program, but to be a partner in driving all onboard revenue,” said Philip Levine, president and CEO of Royal Media Partners.The plan is to embed the shopping program much deeper into the cruise experience.

Before the cruise, web and smart phone-based port shopping and concierge information will be available. Much like pre-reserving shore excursion, dining, beverage packages, Bon Voyage gifts and entertainment options is possible right now, guests will have much broader access to port and shopping information.

Television options on board will feature new destination programming in addition to port talks which have traditionally been thinly veiled sales pitches on many cruise lines.

The big question is

“Will this be more annoying shopping information or will it add value to our port experience with more in-depth information on ports of call?”


More, better information that will enable passengers to have a more meaningful experience ashore would surely be welcomed. Yet another way to advertise shopping options? Not so much.

The new program will be on Royal Caribbean ships sailing the Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, New England, Mexico and Alaska starting in October. Oh, catering to the American market just as the holiday shopping season begins.

Score so far on this particular topic: Sell us more stuff 1, Enrich experience 0.

It should be fun to watch how it all plays out.

Flickr photo by waldsee2008 who captioned “this lady talked about shopping in Mexico, but she spend 75% of the time talking about a good price for Diamonds…. like I wanted to buy them.?


Tips for solo travelers to make the cruise world fair

by Chris Owen on

An ongoing complaint about cruise vacations has been from solo cruisers; people traveling alone. Solo cruisers pay double the cruise fare most of the time because cruise lines base their world on double-occupancy. That does not mean that solo cruisers just have to resign themselves to either paying double or forgetting about going on a cruise. Things are changing and there are steps the solo traveler can take to get the best possible value.

To be fair, the cruise industry is changing a little. Not much, but a little. Norwegian Cruise Line added solo studios to their new Norwegian Epic, an industry first and quite the experiment. The cruise world watched closely to check the popularity of the new accommodations. Apparently the results don’t have other cruise lines rushing to the drawing board to see if they can modify ships and cash in on the bonanza. Still, Norwegian is trying and singles like the Epic studios which recently won a design award from Travel + Leisure magazine.

But other than that bold move by Norwegian, we’ve just heard some rumblings about Royal Caribbean maybe slapping a few on some of the older ships during drydock. There is not a lot of help coming for singles from the cruise industry. The solo traveler will have to take the lead to make it happen but significant savings can be realized by being actively involved over the life of their cruise booking. Check these tips:

  • Check prices twice daily. Prices change, sometimes only for a few hours. Now that you have your cruise booked, you need to check for price reductions and have them applied when available. Your travel expert can help with this.
  • Buy discounted fares whenever possible (duh) and use a travel expert who is consistently accessible either by phone or email to get those new rates applied to your booking. While yes, it’s true that singles usually pay double, some lines offer a discount on select sailings as an incentive to book.
  • Buy way far in advance. That’s always a good idea. You get the best selection of cabins and often the best price too. A possible bonus: If the price goes up for your cruise closer to sailing, consider the price difference if you were to buy now an early buy bonus. If you are really hung up on pricing, this can help ease your pain.
  • Consider bringing a friend. I know, that’s the easy answer but maybe its time to really seriously consider it. A relative, someone from the office, a neighbor, maybe someone you know who did something nice for someone else and deserves recognition.
  • Check in with Single Travel sources like Singles Travel International to learn about their world and what it can mean to you. The singles scene does not have to evoke thoughts of singles bars, lonely nights alone or other similarly depressing thoughts.
  • Look at it differently. Instead of “Oh no, I don’t have anyone to travel with!”, try “Yes! I am going all by myself and can do whatever I want to, without regard for others”. You don’t have to be concerned about who’s turn it is to use the shower, where you will put your stuff in the cabin and what shore excursions “you both” or “all of you” would like.

There is no one single tool or idea that will make the cruise world totally fair for solo travelers. But by taking another look at the whole process, from booking to sailing, and by being actively involved along with your travel expert, solo cruising can be a rich and rewarding experience.

If all that’s not enough, try these 10 Reasons To Travel Alone, hold your head up high and have the cruise of a lifetime.

Flickr photo by Lisa Sanderson


Carnival Splendor back in service on the West coast, repairs complete

by Chris Owen on

Carnival Splendor, the ship that was in the news after it caught fire in November, putting an abrupt end to sailings of the ship from the West coast, will be back in service February 20, 2011.

Taken out for repairs in November, Carnival Cruise Lines announced at the time that all sailings between then and January 16th had been cancelled for repairs to be made. Later, the line had to push that date forward when repairs took longer than normal. Now, the ship is ready to resume normal operations, doing seven-day sailings from Long Beach, California.

“Carnival Cruise Lines continues to be the number one West Coast operator with two ships based in Long Beach year-round, as well as a ship operating seasonal itineraries from San Diego and Laos Angeles. We have more year-round capacity dedicated to the West Coast than any other cruise line and we are committed to maintaining our leadership position in this important market,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s president and CEO.Carnival Splendor has been throughly inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard and Lloyds Registry, a ship classification society, which monitored the progress of repairs during the ship’s dry-dock period.

“We’re obviously very pleased that the Carnival Splendor is returning to service and we’re looking forward to welcoming our guests aboard this fantastic ship,” Cahill said. “We would also like to thank our guests for their patience over the past few weeks, as well as our travel agent partners, the ports of San Diego and San Francisco and all of the government agencies, repair contractors and countless others who have provided invaluable assistance and support.”

Carnival will carry nearly 400,000 passengers a year between Carnival Splendor doing seven-day sailings to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas on Mexico’s Pacific coast and Carnival Paradise doing three and four-day Baja, Mexico itineraries.

Photo courtesy Carnival Cruise Lines


Norwegian Epic studios win design award from Travel + Leisure

by Chris Owen on

Hailed by single cruise travelers as the first and only cruise line to offer special accommodations for the solo cruiser, Norwegian Epic’s studio staterooms were recognized for their innovative design.

“The Studio staterooms on Norwegian Epic have been extremely well received and we are pleased to be able to offer solo traveler’s an opportunity to visit great destinations while experiencing Freestyle Cruising on board our most innovative ship,” said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line’s chief executive officer and former star of TV’s Undercover Boss.

Norwegian Epic was awarded “Best Transportation” for its innovative studio staterooms, a private key-card access complex on two decks consisting of 128 staterooms and the Studio Lounge.

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The staterooms are secure and comfortable for one person…two on a lucky night at the Studio lounge, just steps away. (Well, the line does say “you’re free to do…whatever!”) Each Studio stateroom has about 100 square feet of living space and features a contemporary design with a full-size bed and separate areas for the bathroom, sink and a larger-than-average shower (two can easily fit). The separate areas for bathroom, sink and shower received mixed reviews when the ship was first launched, mostly by passengers sharing a stateroom with another person.

Singles, however, loved the design of the studios and gave the special accommodations rave reviews.

Design Awards were selected by an esteemed panel of judges, including Henry Urbach, curator of architecture and design for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Norma Kamali, fashion designer; Danny Meyer, restaurateur; Paulette Cole, CEO and creative director of ABC Carpet & Home’s; and David Childs, Chairman of Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill.

Photos- Nowegian Cruise Line




When you should buy a cruise predicted by new booking tool

by Chris Owen on

In the not-so-distant past, booking early, watching for sales, using a Travel Expert or just being in the right place at the right time meant a good price on a cruise. A new website takes some of the guesswork out of the process by predicting when to buy.

Traditionally, cruise lines have appreciated those who book far in advance. Ships need to sail full to make money and those who booked early had historically been prized almost as much as past-guests coming back for more. If a lower fare that you qualified for came along after booking, the cruise line would gladly pass that price along.

That was then, this is now.

Now, a new web site claims to know that when you should buy a cruise can be predicted.Enter Cayole.com, a travel agency that uses months of historical pricing data to predict what is likely to happen to the pricing on any given cruise sailing from the U.S. Its predictions are similar to the Price Predictions that bing.com/travel provides for airfares and tell you what your Travel Expert already knows. Trends.

The information is no big surprise but to have and it does give a graphic illustration of what has been happening with pricing. Cruise brokers, like stock brokers, would like this.

With cruise lines tightening up booking rules, your travel expert is more important than ever. Any additional data you can easily get and use will be helpful in your research phase but it needs to be tempered with review by a competent advisor.

Some cruise lines are moving away from courting those who book far in advance. On Royal Caribbean, for example, you could always count on them honoring any lower price that might come along throughout the life of a booking. It was wise to book far in advance, take advantage of the best cabin selection and often the best price. But with few exceptions, the line would lower your price if it went down along the way, no questions asked. If the price went down after final payment, they would issue onboard credit for the difference.

Now Royal Caribbean line has slipped in a Best Price Guarantee Program which gives 110% of the difference if you find a lower rate…within 48 hours. Now all of the sudden when you buy is important. You’ll have to weigh if price or cabin selection is more important and up until now you would have to pull out the crystal ball to predict when the best time to buy was.

Flickr photo by CubaGallery