Caribbean cruises losing market share, says Cruise Holidays

Cruise deckA smaller percentage of cruisers have booked Caribbean sailings for 2015, according to a forecast by Cruise Holidays International.

The survey shows 50.5% of cruise bookings for next year have the Caribbean as their destination, down from 54.8% in 2014.

Europe is gaining, with 12% of ocean cruises booked there next year, up from 10.4%. European river cruises account for 6.7% of bookings, up from 5.7% last year.

Cruise ship capacity in the Caribbean peaked in 2014 and is currently scheduled to begin declining in the second quarter of 2015, leaving fewer available berths.

The 2015 Cruise Trends forecast is based on bookings by 1,300 agents affiliated with Cruise Holidays.

A Dutch waterways cruise beginning in Amsterdam again is the most popular river cruise for 2015, followed by the Rhine/Main/Danube cruise through Central Europe, the Rhine Valley cruise, and a cruise through France on the Seine and Rhone rivers.

River cruises departing from two cities in Myanmar joined the list of top five non-European river cruises, after cruises departing from Beijing and Shanghai (tied for first) and one departing Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
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Carnival Corp. posts ad concepts for consumers to vote on

Carnival Corp. has posted six ad concepts for its next marketing campaign, with tools for consumers to vote for the one or ones they like best.
The ad ideas are featured on the revamped WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com website, along with a new tool to help consumers sort out what kind of cruiser they are and information about Carnival’s various brands.

Each ad concept runs about 90 seconds, including a 20-second introduction by comedian Cedric the Entertainer. The concepts are presented like advertising storyboards, black-and-white sketches accompanied by narration and sometimes background music.

In one, entitled “Unicorn,” a pair of unicorns watch other animals getting on the boat as it starts to rain. The unicorns run through the reasons not to go — too crowded, boring, bad food. The viewer sees scenes of other animals living it up on the ship. The narrator calls the unicorns “clueless,” and says “they think the rain is letting up but we know better.”

Another ad, “Cruise Virgin,” is full of light sexual double entendre and seems tailor-made for a Carnival Cruise Lines audience. “No Robots” turns the obstacles to enjoying a cruise into a series of annoying, intrusive robots.

Coincidentally, Carnival rival Royal Caribbean International features a pair of robot bartenders on its newest ship, Quantum of the Seas.

“Message In A Bottle” and “Getaway” seem to embody some of the themes of Princess Cruises’ current campaign, “Come Back New,” that plays on emotional connections.

In “Message in a Bottle” a fairy tale atmosphere prevails in which the narrator remarks “I can’t believe this is a cruise ship.” A young girl finds a message in a bottle and magical things happen, such as “people become young with a touch” voiced against an image of a massage.

“Getaway” speaks to the need to escape the stresses of life, get away and connect with what matters. Everyday life is represented by a mob of angry, noisy people trying to prevent a cruise ship from sailing, while onboard everything is soothing and relaxed, a playground of oblivious people reconnecting with themselves and loved ones.

The final ad, “Mystery Spot” shows and describes the wake of a cruise ship in lyrical terms. A vaguely Hawaiian melody plays in the background. The narrator says there is a big surprise hidden in the spot. “Let your imagination take over. Check it out,” he says.

Carnival says it will use audience input to pick which of the six concepts will be turned into a first quarter digital and television ad campaign for the company’s nine brands.

Explorer of the Seas damage does not affect safety

Explorer of the Seas damage does not affect safety

The Explorer of the Seas has sustained a bit of damage during a storm, although the Royal Caribbean has said it does not affect the safety of the cruise ship. A large wave smashed into Explorer of the Seas and hit its lifeboats, where one sustained some damage, but seeing as though new cruise ships have more than enough lifeboats, there is still enough for all passengers and crew.

According to Royal Caribbean Blog a huge wave that measured around 40 feet hit the lifeboats on deck four, which you can see an image of above. We would imagine that these passengers were scared when sailing through those rough waters, although it is to be expected at this time of year in certain regions.

We do love a good cruise, but there are areas where we tend to stay away from, choosing to go places where the waters are calmer.

Doors are closed so that water cannot enter the ship during bad weather, but some water managed to get through a sliding door on deck four, which in turn flooded the aft of the deck. Water then came into the Aquarium bar, dining room lobby and flooding down the stairs

There are no reports of injuries and the ship has continued on its normal course.