We're in the middle of Wave Season, that time of year when cruise lines offer enticing packages in the hopes of garnering a bump in bookings. Last year at this time, the deals were incredible. This year, while there are some solid values, nothing amazing has jumped out at me.Yet, cruise lines are downright giddy about their recent bookings. Deals or no deals, we travelers are making cruise reservations for 2010. According to Crystal Cruises, bookings during January 2010 are 205% over the line's sales during January 2009.
Yachts of Seabourn also announced a record number of bookings during January 2010. According to the press release, "numbers of bookings showed a 106 percent increase compared to 2009, and were up 215 percent compared to 2008. The number of first-time guests booking a Seabourn cruise in January surged 79 percent over the same period in 2009 and 155 percent over January in 2008, which was Seabourn’s best year to date."
Crystal shared a similar interesting statistic, saying 89% of its guests booked for 2010 are new to the line. I have to wonder why that is. Crystal had some terrific marketing materials last year to coincide with their 20th anniversary and it's possible the campaign reached cruisers who've always thought about trying Crystal but never sealed the deal with a reservation. Likewise, Seabourn enjoyed wonderful publicity with the launch of Seabourn Odyssey last summer.
So, why are so many cruisers "jumping ship" from former favorite cruise lines to Crystal, Seabourn, and other new-to-them lines? It could be because of changes in smoking policies, pricing, or shifts in overall service.
Have you booked a 2010 cruise on Crystal, Seabourn, or another new-to-you line? We actually started the year sailing with a new-to-us line: SeaDream Yacht Club. We also hope to book with the new Paul Gauguin Cruises soon.
I'd love to hear about your cruise plans for 2010. Where are you cruising and with whom?
No comments:
Post a Comment