2017 in Review

As the year draws to a close, we'll take a look at some of the industry headlines and review some of our cruise adventures.  Weather made the biggest headlines impacting the cruise industry in 2017.

The cruise lines continued to add capacity, but at the same time increased their presence in new markets, like China, which helped to stabilize pricing, which was a goal for the industry.   Now more than ever it is important for passengers to plan ahead so that they can take advantage of lead-in pricing.   The lines have vowed not to do "fire sale" pricing close in to the sailing date.

Viking Sky Photo Gallery

 "First New Cruise Ship
for 2017"

Honors went to Viking Ocean Cruises as it took delivery of the third ship in Viking Ocean's fleet, Viking Sky, in February. It's sister ship, Viking Sun, was delivered in October. They both are virtually identical to sister ships Viking Star and Viking Sea, featuring 930-passenger capacity with highlights such as the Explorer Lounge, a two-deck observation library with lots of comfy chairs and couches; the Nordic-inspired spa with Finnish sauna and snow room; the indoor/outdoor Aquavit Terrace dining venue; and a magrodome pool, with a glass roof that opens in warm weather.

Viking Sky and Viking Sun are all-balcony cruise ships with the smallest cabins measuring a sizable 270 square feet; the largest suites comes in at 1,300 square feet. The ships specialize in destination-oriented cruise experiences with long days in ports, plenty of overnights in major cities and few days at sea.

Cruise fares include a selection of free shore excursions, complimentary Wi-Fi, and beer and wine at lunch and dinner offering good value for the cruise price.

Love that New Ship Smell

Our 2017 National Conference took place on Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas. We had our pre-cruise reception, hosted by   MSC Cruises,  at Hilton Marina Fort Lauderdale.  MSC launched two large ships this year, the 4500 passenger MSC Meraviglia and the 4140 passenger MSC Seaside, which began sailing in Summer and December 2017 respectively.  These ships are part of MSC Cruises' nine billion euro shipbuilding program from now through 2022.

Prior to the introduction of these ships, Royal Caribbean had the corner on the market for massive passenger count at sea. Contrasting this year to 2016, the remaining ships were much smaller with the total added capacity being 13,900 berths in 2017 while last year there were 18,500 new beds added.

Having our conferences on a relatively new ship, Harmony of the Seas, was one of our highlights for the year.


If you have specific questions about the ships, the itineraries, or cruising in general, we'd love to hear from you.
 
Weather Impact on Cruises

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria changed parts of Texas, Florida and the Caribbean forever. The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season will long be remembered as one of the busiest and most destructive hurricane seasons on record.

Throughout September and October, we were posting itinerary updates as schedules were impacted by either the approaching storms or following the landfall.

Cruise lines rushed to aid victims with several voyages cancelled to launch rescue and supply missions.  The industry response was like no other in history.   We are proud to be part of this industry as everyone joined together to help in this time of need. 

At our conference, industry leaders from the cruise lines and organizations stressed that while there had been a tremendous response to date, it was crucial that we as Travel Professionals helped get the message out that the Caribbean is Open for Business.   They still need our help to recover from the hurricanes.   One of the ways this can be done is by bringing tourism dollars back into the regions hit hardest by the hurricanes.

Our Favorite Cruise for 2017

Having cruised for 30+ years, our cruise selections are driven primarily by destination and secondly by cruise ship. We love exploring new destinations from our bucket list as well as revisiting some of our favorites. Exploring new ships, including older ships we've never sailed on before, is also quite enjoyable. Of course, we love to share with our readers so that they can discover the world that awaits them.

Penguins of South America

Those of you who have followed me here or on Twitter, know that I love Penguins. That's what this trip was all about - having the opportunity to see multitudes of penguins in their natural surroundings. However, this trip wasn't only about penguins.

We arrived in Santiago, Chile on January 18, 2017. For the next 14 days, we explored South America including the countries of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and the Falkland Islands. We saw Amalia Glacier, Glacier Alley, Fjords, Cape Horn and many other magnificent sites along the way.

Having sailed the seas for more than 30 years, it's hard to narrow the list down to one trip as the "best", but this trip certainly is among the top contenders.  Read our Cruise Diary 

What's Ahead for 2018

It will be a rebuilding year for the Caribbean and another ship building year as well.   What will the added capacity mean?   There are still a large percentage of the population that have not experienced cruising.   The lines, including new players like MSC Cruises and Viking Oceans, will continue to advertise which will help spread the word.

As cruise prices stabilized, many lines have been looking to onboard expenditures as a means to increase revenue.   Items that had once been included, like room service, have started to see additional charges for example.   Some passengers aren't happy with the new trend to "nickle-and-dime" them and may look to cruise lines that have less optional charges.   Luxury lines are becoming an even better value since you know your cost of the entire trip up front.

It will be interesting to see how new players, such as Viking Oceans, impacts the industry as they grow their fleets.  They are bucking the tide to go big and instead opting for smaller ships and more emphasis on the destinations.  Of course, the river cruise industry is booming as the demand soars for this method of exploring the globe. Crystal has entered the market as well, bringing another luxury option to this growing market.

Travel Professionals are not going away.  In fact, their expertise is even more valuable now, as there are more and more options to sort through.   Matching the right ship and itinerary to the cruisers' desires is one of the biggest values they bring to bear.   Hope to see you on the seven seas in 2018.

Happy New Year

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Sunset of 2010

Red skies at night...

sailors delight. 

  
One famous nautical superstition has sailors looking to the evening skies to determine the weather for the next day.   A colorful sunset with red skies meant the seas would be calm and the weather favorable delighting the sailors.

What will the artist's canvas look like tonight as the final sunset is painted in the evening sky?    Let's hope that the sunset signals calm seas with favorable conditions for the coming year.

Year of Disasters - Natural & Man Made

Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Volcanoes, Hurricanes

Photo courtesy Royal Caribbean International

Early in 2010, a major earthquake hit Haiti killing or injuring  hundreds of thousands, causing billions of dollars of damage, and devastating this already struggling nation.

The cruise industry and others rallied to try to help the country following the disaster.   Royal Caribbean, who has a long-standing relationship with the government of Haiti, led the cruise industry response (even while being criticized).  The nation would later suffer additional loss of life and damage when a hurricane struck the country.

Later in the year, the world's eyes turned to the skies over Iceland as volcanic ash grounded flights over Europe disrupting travel across the entire world.   Passengers were stranded in airports for days until the ash cleared.

Some passengers were unable to get to their cruise ships on time while in other cases, the ships provided an alternate means of travel for stranded air passengers.   It was a logistical nightmare for the entire travel industry and put additional strain on the economy.

Hurricane season began with a vengeance and it was feared that the NOAA predictions of a higher than normal season would become a reality.   There were a larger than usual number of named storms and hurricanes, but fortunately, they didn't produce the devastation of years past. 

That doesn't mean that there wasn't any loss of life or property damage.  As mentioned, Haiti did have substantial damage as did St. Lucia and other Caribbean countries.  Cruise itineraries were changed as storms approached or in their wake as services were restored.

Oil Spill, Ship Fire

During the height of hurricane season, an explosion on an oil rig caused loss of life and a major oil spill that would consume resources from the federal government and other agencies.  The spill severely endangered the ecology of the Gulf Coast region.    It took months to clean up and the effects of the spill will remain for many years to come.

Cruises were not impacted during the spill as the impacted ports remained open. Despite the continued cruise line presence, the economic impact from the oil spill took its toll on the region.  Many people changed their vacation plans as the cleanup continued.

The most recent major event of 2010 was the engine room fire on Carnival Splendor which stranded passengers on that cruise and impacted vacation plans through February next year.  The good news is that the industry will learn from this event and become even safer.

Cruise Line Expansion

2010 saw the introduction of several new cruise ships including Costa Deliziosa, MSC Magnifica, Celebrity Eclipse, P&O Azura, Norwegian Epic, Seabourn Sojourn, Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam, Cunard Queen Elizabeth, Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas, and Disney Dream.

The introduction of these new ships means there are more choices for the consumer.  As demand continues to increase, the capacity is keeping  pace assuring that a cruise vacation is well within the realm of possible vacation choices.

While the economy and disasters have been front and center all year long,  passengers are returning to cruising and we anticipate prices will rise as 2011 pricing comes out.   There might be some time yet to take advantage of lower prices, so it is wise not to procrastinate.  

Just like 2009, we saw an increase in first-time cruisers and those that have tried cruising continue to return year after year.    A cruise vacation remains an extremely good value making it a wise choice for those that decided to take a vacation.

Let us close the book on this historic year together. Tomorrow, when you awake, open the book on what I hope will be a brighter tomorrow. Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year to all!!