Cruise Ship Bookings Down
Though Publicly Cruise Lines Deny It
March 15, 2007
The cruise lines have been active in saying lately that bookings are up. They build new ships, and claim these new ships are needed to keep up with demand. Cruise Bruise takes a look at the statistics looking for trends.
In viewing the Port Of Miami Statistics, passenger numbers are way down.
In 2003 there were 3,960,614 boarding through the Port Of Miami. The next year in 2004, the number fell 11.6% to 3,499,584 passengers. By 2005 the numbers had rebounded some, but were still below the 2002 numbers of 3,642,990, finishing at 3,605,201 passengers.
From the high in 2003 through 2005 there was a net loss of 816,443 passengers at the Port Of Miami. The Port Of Miami is the number one port in the United States for cruise ship departures.
This reduction of passengers entering through the Port Of Miami is explained by the cruise industry move to diversify the home ports for their vessels. More ports have been added ,and this has reduced the number of passengers at Miami, the far southern port in the mainland United States.
This diversification has been done to reduce the airfare cost of the cruise package, in order to leave money for the actual cost of the cruise. One port added was the port of Jacksonville, Florida. Jacksonville in the far northeast corner of Florida, and cuts off 327 miles of air travel versus going to Miami for a Caribbean cruise. This makes the cost of cruising more affordable, to those travelers on a tight budget.
Not only that, the Port Of Miami has become undesirable. One CEO sums it up. Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Bob Dickinson said Miami’s port facilities are “third world” and that construction of the new cruise ship terminals has taken too long. Dickinson's family is well known for their exception level of personal living and high standards. With such high standards and such contempt for the Port Of Mami, it is unclear why his ships call there at all.
In image 1 (opens in a new browser - disable pop-up blocker) you can see the increase in departure ports from 2003 to 2006.
While Dickinson has issue with the 'third world' quality of the Port Of Miami, he has no problem pulling into third world countries, with little or no docking facilities at all. His captains are careful to warn the passengers about venturing into ports he calls at though, lest they be attacked by bandits who sharpen their knives as they wait for the cruise ship passengers to disembark. Only after being hammered in the media for his years of cruise orgies where drinking spiking, rape, and underage drinking were out of control, did he finally profess to begin responsible leadership.
At Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention at The Miami International Exhibition and Conference Center held March 12-15, 2007, the industry leaders admit that the cruises to the Caribbean have gone soft. Passengers are losing interest in the Caribbean cruises. Image 2 (opens in a new browser - disable pop-up blocker) supports this evidence. Caribbean destinations have dropped in 2006. While the industry is quick to point the finger at a weak and declining U.S economy fuel by declining value home sales and high gas prices, other reasons may very well be at play.
In the past year cruise ship passengers have been robbed enmasse by weapon wielding marauders. Caribbean drug dealers still use the cruise ships as their transportation of choice, and adults as well as children have been stalked and sexually assaulted onboard cruise ships.
While some of this is outside the control of the cruise line, their marketing efforts are bringing the type of passengers onboard, that contribute to their problems. It hasn't helped that cruise ships officers have become so incompetent, many are unable to get an excellent score with their cockroach infested gallies during their sanitation inspections and simply navigating the ship in calm seas without rolling it onto the side, grounding the vessel and dumping oil in the harbor, ramming another vessel, or skewering a whale, has become a task too challenging for many officers.
But, then just showing up to work sober was a task too great for one captain. Through all the rigid screening, they are not able to explain how live ammunition ended up on the deck of their vessel lobby, having made it through inspections. Maybe, just maybe the vacationing American, who can vacation anywhere, has decided that cruising is not what it used to be, and have moved onto better destinations, with better customer service than passengers like Debi King got.
At the conference, Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises, said they need to demographically target specific groups such as "blacks and hispanics and the physically disabled" because they would add to cruise vacation demand. Fain apparently thinks that the Caribbean cruises will be more appealing to the disabled and minorities, than they are to able bodied causasians. For the cruise industry this would likely mean targeting the local Florida blacks and hispanic that comprise 27.2% of the population in Florida.
Next, Fain will want to offer passenger paycheck advances onboard from yellow and black kiosks found on the lower three decks.
Colin Veitch, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line, said stagnant and decreasing housing prices in many areas of the country are the primary reason for the current weakness in the Florida–Caribbean cruise market. The consumer at the low end of the market is being pinched" financially, Veitch said.
"It's very important as you go down the scale to people who are living paycheck to paycheck," Veitch told an audience of more than 1,000 convention delegates. Targeting the poor for cruising, seems pretty bottom of the barrel for a marketing strategy. These are people he says are living paycheck to paycheck, and yet he would target his marketing at them, trying to rake away money with tempting advertising as they live "paycheck to paycheck" to come on one of his cruises and drink and gamble away resources they simply can't spare.
With booking softness in the U.S., the profit hungry cruise lines are moving to Europe and futher east to hawk their cruises. Many of those countries have lower expectations for cruises, and may be less disenchanted with the poor quality of service and ship maintenance that has become a huge problem with the ships disembarking from many U.S. ports in recent years.
One things is sure. There are less Europeans reading Cruise Bruise than Americans. This may be in their favor, for now.
